Ambarvalia was a Roman agricultural fertility rite held at the end of May. In order to disperse evil, each farmer led his household and one of his animals in a procession around the boundaries of his fields. At the end of the rite the beast was sacrificed. During the procession, prayers would be made to the goddess Ceres.
... Mary (cf. the De tabernaculis, and
Hortus rosarum, Pohl's ed., ut inf., i. also iii. 357,
vi. 219, 235 sqq.).
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the e-text of Thomas a Kempis' The Imitation ...