SYMBOLIC SATURDAY - A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME

Catholics have always been on intimate terms with nature and have seen God’s handprint there and have used nature to teach about and glorify God. That is why our symbolic language is so strong in nature, though much of it has fallen into neglet over the years. It is time to reclaim it.

Perhaps the most endearing tradition is that of planting a Mary Garden. Typically these gardens would have a statue of Mary in them though I don’t know that this is strictly necessary. The plants in the garden would be those that have a direct symbolic connection with the Blessed Virgin.

Perhaps the flower most readily called to mind for this type of garden would be the rose. The term rosary originally referred to a garland made with roses and later came to signify the round of prayers said on beads, each a flower of prayer.

Any color rose would do, but as you might imagine red is often associated with the sorrowful mysteries, white with the joyful mysteries, and yellow with the glorious. Of course now we have the pesky problem of the luminous mysteries. I do not know that there is an “official symbolic color” yet universally associated with them. So knock your socks off and pick something and start a trend.

We will continue with symbolic plants of Mary next time.

N.B. There will not be a Sunday Video on Tap tomorrow. Of everything that was the only day that did not get so much as a mention on the list of things to keep according to your Emails. That’s great considering finding good videos is becoming more and more difficult. The links will move to Tuesday and if a video happens to come up, it will be posted then too. Thanks for your input.