ROME 23/04 – Day 25: Rose and Rogation

0613 for sunrise today and 2004 for sunset.  The Ave Maria is still in the 2015 cycle on this 115th day of the year.

It is the Feast of St. Mark, Evangelist, liturgically rich.  Today is a Rogation Day.  Latin rogare means “to ask, beg”.  Even before the time of Pope St. Gregory I, “the Great” (+604) this day, 25 April – thought to be the day that Peter began to “oversee” the Church of Rome, was a time for a procession and the singing of solemn litanies, the “Greater Litanies”.

Processions and litanies are ways in which the Church responds to our needs in time of natural disasters or famine or plagues or invasion.  Today in the Church there are some unnatural disasters in key positions, sacramental famine from the closing of churches during Covidian Theatre and restrictions placed on the Vetus Ordo, plagues in the form of sickening parishes and Catholic identity resulting in demographic decline, and invasions from non-Catholics even at the altars in our loftiest places of worship in Rome itself.

Perhaps those sound priests out there should take matters into their own hands and organize processions and the signing of litanies.

In the Rome of old, we would be gathering at San Lorenzo in Lucina, where there is a lovely Crucifixion by Guido Reni.  Then, by way of the Via Flaminia, we would process to St. Peter’s taking the Milvian Bridge.   Later, in the Medieval period, there were two processions to St. Peter’s, one from the Lateran Palace with the ecclesiastical figures and another from San Marco near the Capitoline Hill wherein civil figures participated.   Every aspect of society bringing petitions to God.

Meanwhile, there was concelebration this morning in church.

A bride’s bouquet is still at the Marian altar.  (One might see a list of intentions for the living and for the dead during the Roman Canon.)

The Campo was mighty quiet this morning, though the shops are set up.  It is a national holiday.  You should be able to right-click for a larger version of this “pano”.

Breakfast was had.

I stopped to greet the folks at my regular flower stand, the only one open today.  The owner, Pippo asked if I was going to church and gave me a lovely long-stemmed rose: per la Madonna.

Back to church went I and gave it to Mary Help of the Suffering, a beautiful image at Ss. Trinità.  I gave her that flower – adding it to some tulips – and also lit a candle for the mother of one of my closest and longest friends whose mother is seriously ailing from major kidney problems and quite a few other maladies as well.

Back in the street again and heading home.  Once again I asked St. Philip for help with a place in Rome in this neighborhood.

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Here’s a puzzle.  White to move.   Be sneaky and win material.

Igor has helped my game.