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To learn about Rogation Days, consider listening to this Rector's Weekly Message from 2011.

That we should remember to be thankful for, and good stewards of, the earth on these three days before Ascension Day makes a good deal of sense. After all, on Ascension Day we commemorate Christ's ascent to the right hand of the Father, thereby leaving us to go forth throughout the world, and (among other things) to care for the world.

So Rogation Days remind us of our placement in time and space, and prepare us for the physical absence of Christ, who will come again, but who for the present moment is not with us in the way he once was. He has sent the Comforter to guide us in our work, and Christ remains with in the Eucharist, and the Father provides all we need, the Father and Christ remain accessible to us through prayer. Yet, the work we have been given is for us to do, and it is very much tied to our lives as physical creatures in time and space. Therefore, Ascension Day, and these Rogation Days leading up to Ascension Day, ground us.

Collect:

O merciful Creator, whose hand is open wide to satisfy the needs of every living creature: Make us, we beseech thee, ever thankful for thy loving providence; and grant that we, remembering the account that we must one day give, may be faithful stewards of thy bounty; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with thee and the Holy Spirit liveth and reigneth, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

As you contemplate the ascension, consider these sermons:

He Ascended into Heaven (2011) by Fr Spurlock
Ascension Day Greetings (2010) by Fr Mead
A Presence within an Absence (2008) by Fr Austin
The Ascension, the Church, and the World (2006) by Fr Austin
The Ascension: Christ Fills All Things (2002) by Fr Mead

Collect:

Grant, we beseech thee, Almighty God, that like as we do believe thy only-begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ to have ascended into the heavens, so we may also in heart and mind thither ascend, and with him continually dwell; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.

The first Christian missionaries came to Uganda in the 1880s. By 1886, thirty-two young men, all members of the court of the Ugandan king, were burned to death when they refused to renounce their faith. Accepting their fates, the martyrs went to their deaths with prayers for their tormenters on their lips, which so impacted and impressed observers and onlookers that interest in Christianity rose as a result of the public martyrdom. By the time of the Uganda Census of 2002, approximately 85% of Ugandans were Christian (about half of whom Anglican), making Uganda the most Christian nation in Africa.

At Saint Thomas, Uganda is third (after South Africa and Nigeria) in the number of visitors to our website from countries in Africa.

Collect:

O God, by whose providence the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church: Grant that we who remember before thee the blessed martyrs of Uganda, may, like them, be steadfast in our faith in Jesus Christ, to whom they gave obedience even unto death, and by their sacrifice brought forth a plentiful harvest; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.