How could we have missed it this week? Hurricane Supplication Day!
 |
| This is the type of map we like to see! |
According to the
Free Dictionary the fourth Monday of July (July 23) is
Hurricane Supplication Day, that is if you happen to live in the Virgin Islands:
Observed in the U.S. Virgin Islands—St. Croix, St. Thomas, and St. John—Hurricane Supplication Day marks the beginning of the hurricane season [in the Virgin Islands territory]. Special church services are held to pray for safety from the storms that ravage these and other Caribbean islands. The custom probably dates back to the "rogation" ceremonies which began in fifth-century England—from the word rogare, meaning "to beg or supplicate." Rogations usually followed a frightening series of storms, earthquakes, or other natural disasters, although sometimes they took place annually on the Rogation Days that preceded Ascension Day. At the end of the hurricane season [in the Virgin Islands] in October there is a Hurricane Thanksgiving Day . Church services are held on the third Monday in October so that the islanders can give thanks for being spared the destruction of a major storm.
Observed in the U.S. Virgin Islands—St. Croix, St. Thomas, and St. John—Hurricane Supplication Day marks the beginning of the hurricane season [in the Virgin Islands territory]. Special church services are held to pray for safety from the storms that ravage these and other Caribbean islands. The custom probably dates back to the "rogation" ceremonies which began in fifth-century England—from the word rogare, meaning "to beg or supplicate." Rogations usually followed a frightening series of storms, earthquakes, or other natural disasters, although sometimes they took place annually on the Rogation Days that preceded Ascension Day. At the end of the hurricane season [in the Virgin Islands] in October there is a Hurricane Thanksgiving Day . Church services are held on the third Monday in October so that the islanders can give thanks for being spared the destruction of a major storm.
Until recent years
Hurricane Supplication Day was actually an official holiday in the Virgin Islands. While Hurricane season officially starts June 1 and lasts through the month of November, it is the late summer months of August and September that we tend to see most storms here in the Virgins. Hence the reason for prayer (however one does it!)!
Well, we are now 1/3 of the way through the 2012 Hurricane Season with 4 named storms so far: Alberto, Beryl, Chris and Debby. The next fellow up will be Ernesto. The rest of the names for this hurricane season...
Some of the hurricane watch websites I particularly like are:
Keep doing what you have been doing whether it is praying or just wishing the storms away because so far, so good this season!