This month the boys and I planted several fruit trees – peach and fig, so we are extremely grateful for all the rain we have received the last few days. However, the weather has pushed back our annual outdoor Rogationtide festivities. On these Grass Days we ask and thank God for the blessings of His providence and earthly creations. As part of this commemoration, our family beats the bounds as we sing a hymn and blesses our few crops for the year using the Rogation Days: Blessing of Fields and Gardens from Catholic Household Blessings and Prayers. (It can be found here toward the middle of the page.) After this blessing we have our traditional picnic of rammalation biscuits (cookies, muffins, or scones) and gangling beer (root beer). This year as part of our celebration, I also want to share the related Hymn Study we are using for these holy days. Please join us!
What are your family’s Rogationtide traditions? Old or new, great or small, please share them with me in comments!
This Year’s Rogationtide Hymn Study
This week we will be learning We Plow the Fields, and Scatter, by Matthias Claudius. As a Lutheran pastor from Holstein, Germany, Claudius wrote this hymn in 1782. The hymn’s tune is Wir Pfügen published in 1812 by Johann A. P. Schulz.
We typically begin our Hymn Study time by reviewing an older hymn we have learned, then proceed to the new hymn. Only two of my sons are of reading age, so I introduce a new hymn by having everyone repeat the lines of the first verse after me. Next I sing the first verse once and then have my boys join in the second time through with humming, a neutral syllable, or attempting the words. We sing the current verse we are learning about three times a day during our Morning Liturgy (Morning Time). They pick up a verse in about a week. After our singing we choose a few of the additional activities below to help us dig a little deeper. I have provided some printable sheets for your family’s use, should you be interested in having them participate in any of the following with us.
A few ideas to try for expanding a Hymn Study are:
- Catechesis: discussing the theological truths painted in the text.
- Commonplacing – Florilegium entries: choosing to copy down a line that is personally meaningful.
- Dictation: use a selection from the hymn text (blank writing page below)
- Ear Training: have your family practice Attentive Listening by drawing what is heard in the text or music(page below)
- Handwriting: use a selection from the hymn text (both print and cursive pages below)
- Memorization
- Narration of Hymn Text: have your family speak and/or write what they remember about the hymn text in their own words (blank writing page below)
- Singing for Beauty and Enjoyment: add hymn singing to a meal or bedtime ritual
- Vocabulary Enrichment: discuss unfamiliar words and phrases with your family (blank writing page for new words below)
Additionally, I have shared a printable text page to add to your family hymnal. There are also recordings of the sung hymn and the organ accompaniment only for your family to use, based of your familiarity with the hymn.
Voice with Organ Accompaniment
Organ Accompaniment Only
(Just click on each picture to download)
