Te Rogamus Audi Nos

"Grant we beseech Thee, O Almighty God, that we, who in our affliction put our trust in Thy mercy, may ever be defended by Thy protection against all adversity.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who lives and reigns with Thee
in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever. Amen."
- Collect of the Mass of Rogation

In the midst of a joyful Eastertide, it may seem unusual for Holy Mother Church to permit the priest to dawn a violet cope and offer a Mass with a penitential spirit. However, Eastertide is precisely a fitting season for the Masses of Rogation to fall (April 25 and three day before the Ascension), as the season rejoices in the love and mercy of God.This is precisely the aim of the Rogation Masses - to  implore the mercy of God, to turn away His anger, and to ask Him to bless the fruits of the earth while protecting us from natural disasters (and in our particular case - epidemics).

The Mass begins with the Greater Litanies, i.e. the Litany of the Saints, the invocations to Christ, supplication of various, Psalm 69, and the Rogation prayers (click here for the full text of the Litanies). The word “rogation” has its origins in the Latin word “rogare,” means to supplicate or ask, and Our Lord further encourages us to implore His mercy in the Gospel when He says, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened." (Full Gospel Text: Luke 11: 5-13)

Let us, then, listen to Our Lord's words and implore The God of Mercy, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, to bless our world, our country, and our leaders, to protect us from all infirmities, to forgive our sins, and to shield us from all spiritual, physical, and mental harm. 
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Be merciful, Spare us, O Lord. We beseech Thee, hear us. 
Propitius esto, parce nobis, Domine. Te rogamus audi nos.
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Rogation Slideshow