Rogation Shrines

In the early centuries of Christianity, the Western Church instituted Rogation Days to invoke God's mercy. According to local custom, processions were held on the three days prior to Ascension Thursday, when after mass the priest led parishioners from the church to a rogation shrine while the rosary was prayed, the Litany of the Saints was sung, or other prayers were said asking God to bless the fields and newly planted crops so a bountiful harvest would follow in the fall. Shrines were located one mile east, west, north and reportedly south of St. Lawrence Church, Stangelville, and today only the one to the north remains at the intersection of Highway AB and Pine Grove Road. Another Bohemian shrine still exists one mile north of St. Joseph Church, Pilsen, at the intersection of county roads F and V. Several ethnic groups practiced this custom in Northeastern Wisconsin, but such processions were eventually discontinued in part because of the danger posed by automobile traffic.

Franklin, Wisconsin · United States