Garden Blessing?
Today I will plant my garden. I’m a horticulturalist-come-lately; for the past two years I’ve gardened in pots on apartment decks, but today I will plant my first-ever garden in the actual ground. I’ll rototill, I’ll rake in extra “organic matter,” (featuring bat guano, apparently the queen of manures. Who knew?) I’ll carefully select the hardiest-looking prospects at the garden store. Optimistically, I might even put big tomato cages over tiny tomato plants, hoping that they’ll see that as a sign of encouragement rather than a sign of oppressive expectations. I already worry about squirrels and their savagely herbivorous ilk, who I suspect are already evilly plotting to nosh tender young produce.
We bless people and relationships at their outset–we baptize children barely dry from birth, we celebrate marriages and ordinations even though everyone knows that those blessed haven’t really done anything in those new roles yet, and, heck, don’t even really know what those roles will ask of them in time. We pray our hopes into them.
But as far as I know, we only bless agriculture when it produces–we celebrate first-fruits, not planting. And while I will certainly rejoice when the first tomatoes and peppers (salsa!!) and cucumbers and such come to the table, I worry most about them now, when they’re young and tender and especially vulnerable, like babies and newlyweds and the newly launched in any endeavor.
So how shall I mark the time of the planting? (From another thread, I know better than to sing “On Eagle’s Wings,” even though, let’s face it, an eagle or two would put the fear of God into those squirrels.) Is there a blessing of the sowing, when every hope is still possible, and every danger seems magnified?
Lisa: The Spring Rogation Day (they were eliminated after Vatican II) was, I believe, a blessing of the spring plantings.
Since animals have more acute hearing than we do, playing “On Eagle’s Wings” on an outdoor speaker might be just the thing for driving squirrels away.
Anyway, Happy Gardening! My brother and I, and sister and niece, are busy getting our vegetables in the ground, and many flowers too. Unfortunately, the chickens took care of my first sowing of lettuce, spinach, and radishes. Where are you located?
I think a good way to mark it is too share with the Creator that this is how you will be honouring the Sabbath this summer. You have a kindred spirit in Emily Dickinson who has written so beautifully of gardening and who, like you, shared her experience of honouring the sabbath.
The Catholics eliminated Rogation Days?? They didn’t tell us that in RCIA (among so many other things …)
“All Creatures of Our God and King,” which was sung today with words by St. Francis would be good. If you don’t know it, go here:
http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/a/c/acoogak.htm
(You may also get a kick out of some of the “hymns” of the God’s Gardeners from Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel, “The Year of the Flood.” See them at the book’s Web site: http://www.yearoftheflood.com/us/music)
And please add my blessings to your garden. However it turns out, spending time with the soil is never time wasted! Everytime I see my chives poking up (always first thing in the garden to come back after winter), it leads to spontaneous prayer!
“But as far as I know, we only bless agriculture when it produces–we celebrate first-fruits, not planting. ”
Don’t underestimate the liturgy! It does include a blessing of planting.
In fact, the Book of Blessings has a lot on agriculture — no fewer than three chapters: 26–28. There are readings, psalms, litanies, blessing prayers, instructions for who does it (lay people can do them) and all sorts of things.
What you are looking for is to be found in Chapter 27 of the Book of Blessings. Although the title is “seeds,” in the text it makes clear it can be used for seedlings, young plantings.
26 Blessing of Fields and Flocks
27 Blessing of Seeds at Planting Time (there’s an Order of Blessing, and a Shorter Rite)
28 Blessing on the Occasion of Thanksgiving for the Harvest.
There’s nothing for warding off squirrels or chickens.
(Maybe an exorcism?) :)
Fantastic! Rogation Days/planting blessings it is! Here in Oakland California, (where I’m really a little late in getting things going,) you can garden something year-round. Still, tomatoes and the summer crops are special.
Just finished rototilling and raking, which, as my late step-father, (himself an indefatigable Vermont tomato-grower) would have said, is “a lot like work.” Ayuh. A lot like work.
And thanks for your blessings for my little dirt-patch. Here’s to all of our summer plantings, literal and metaphorical!
I hate to pull out one text out of context, because the whole blessing is not this text, and should be seen with the rich scriptural and liturgical whole in which it occurs.
But for those who may be interested and don’t have the Book of Blessings (and I imagine most readers of this blog do not), here is the blessing prayer itself:
Lord of the harvest,
you placed the gifts of creation in our hands
and called us to till the earth and make it fruitful.
We ask your blessing
as we prepare to place these seeds (seedlings) in the earth.
May the care we show these seeds (seedlings)
remind us of your tender love for your people.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Very spare, not effusive. But, as I say, the context gives the relative simplicity of the text added depth. I suspect that the Order of Blessing of Fields and Flocks, which has longer texts, may have been derived from prayers for rogation days, but I do not know.
The litany in the blessing for planting is a litany of deliverance, so there you go — one is mindful of dangers in the act of planting, as Lisa mentions above.
Please come plant in my hometown of Detroit. We have the space, and we could use someone with your talents.
A friend of mine is a farmer with a Community-Supported- Agriculture project with about 50 partner members. For more than ten years he always invites his members to a blessing, which is very interfaith because of the make up of his members. I was a member for many years and still miss it. Today he and his “community” are blessing their fields.
I’d check out the resources of the National Catholic Rural Life Conference – http://www.ncrlc.com/
And, of course, don’t forget the feast of Saint Isidore the Farmer on May 15.
No more Rogation Days? I remember quite well our grade school processions making a grand circle around the church, the parking lot, and the school buildings chanting, “Te rogamus, audi nos.” I also remember the occasional switch from “Ora pro nobis” to “Orate pro nobis,” which I always thought gave an interesting rhythmic and melodic variation to the chanting. It was only when I looked it up a few minutes ago that I realized orate is the second person plural form. (Which shows how much an impact four years of studying Latin in high school had on me.)
Lisa –
Do include some herbs in your garden. They’re beautiful — they come in a great variety of shapes, sizes, shades of green, etc.. These are easy to grow: basil (sweet and purple ruffles), thyme, chives, curley parsley, sage. oregano, marjorem, cilantro (for salsa :-) Some herbs attract butterflies and hummingbirds. You might want some of them :-)
You might want to ask the help of St. Fiacre, the patron saint of food growers and growers of medicinal plants.
Thanks for the blessing, Rita. We certainly could have used it last summer, when it poured and poured and we ended up with a version of the potato blight! Somehow I have feeling this year will be better.BUt your blessing prayer will certainly come in handy and I will pass it around among the locals!
Isn’t St. Isadore the patron saint of farmers? Maybe a prayer to him would be a shot of spiritual Miracle-Gro :-)
Saint Fiacre, intercede before God for all gardeners, that their gardens may produce well and be a place of peace and meditation. Amen.