On Friday April 24 from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Saint Mary's sustainable farm, “Mass on the Farm” was held by Saint Mary's Center for Faith, Action and Ministry (CFAM) and Fiat club, a religious group devoted to Mary. The event, which was eventually relocated to the farm's hoop house due to rain, aimed to celebrate the annual Rogation Day and the opening of the new Mary Garden for students and staff.
Junior Sara Caniglia, vice president of Fiat, shared that the purpose of the service was to combine both the new Mary Garden and Rogation Day into one event, allowing for further context behind the garden and its own proper ceremony.
“The idea started with wanting to bless the Mary Garden and seeking to tie it into Rogation Day, using Mary as our role model of what being one with creation in a perfect lens looks like. Trying to seek after her role model within that and to be able to honor the farm in a way that mass does,” Caniglia said.
The process for organizing the event included the new addition of having a Mass on the farm while incorporating that into Rogation Day. A variety of CFAM committees and farm staff helped with the coordination of the event.
“We usually put together a liturgy committee for Rogation Day. It's usually a couple of people from the farm staff, a couple of the farm leaders and some of the students who are really interested in liturgy planning … This year we wanted to do a Mass because we had the blessing of the Mary Garden and it seemed like a good year to do our first Mass on the farm,” Sarah Neitz, associate director for justice and solidarity, said.
The event began outside of the farm's gates, with Neitz introducing the event and stating that Mass will be hosted in the hoop house instead due to the weather.
Christopher Cobb, associate professor of English, gave historical context of what Rogation day is and why it has been celebrated since the Middle Ages.
“This became a tradition following that time [where] people of the Church found it good to do. To come out and to remind ourselves that we depend upon the goodness of creation,” Cobb said.
Fr. Gabe Griggs and another volunteer then led opening prayers and remarks from Romans 8:19-23. A procession through the fields was led by Griggs to bless the surrounding farm fields, with the Litany of the Saints recited by those behind.
Despite Mass being moved indoors, Caniglia described it as “beautiful to be next to the food that is being grown … to be there for the offering of the mass.” She stated it was a great way of bringing the community together during the event.
Last spring, Mass was hosted at the Hoop House of the Sustainable Farm at Saint Mary's College. Due to inclement weather, mass was held inside with students and faculty in line for communion.
The blessing of the new Mary Garden was held following Mass. Flowers picked by Fiat members and Matthew Insley, farm manager, will be planted at the garden. It is open to the Saint Mary’s community, particularly for farm workers as a personal space for reflection.
“The Mary Garden is for anyone [and] it's a new space of prayer and contemplation at Saint Mary’s. It's especially for our farmers, both students and professional staff out on the farm. Having a space to rest, pray and remember your purpose is so important when you're farming,” Neitz stated.
Caniglia hopes that students and faculty know that the Sustainable Farm is available as a resource for them in connecting with the environment. She discussed the Mary Garden as a way to help students grow in their spirituality as well.
“I hope that through this event, the Saint Mary’s community can draw closer to Our Lady … knowing that Our Lady is working at this campus … Also to know that the Sustainable Farm is a place that we can go and be with nature and that we can play a part in creating,” Caniglia mentioned.
Sophomore Nora McNabb, a member of Fiat, mentioned the weather changes and the proceedings of events. She stated how “The weather didn’t cooperate with us but we had to cooperate with the weather that we had.”
Neitz explained the importance of attending the event as a way to consider different issues.. She mentioned that the event is a space to look at social dilemmas and how we respond to them as a community.
“If we really believe that prayer is important and it's effective, then we need to be praying for social issues. I think praying for an end to climate change, praying for more care for creation, praying for all of us to become part of that work … is any opportunity to do that,” Neitz said.
Following the service, students were able to have a ploughman’s lunch at the second floor of the Student Center.
