Flowers of the Annunciation

(Excerpt from FOLAMGFS.html - Background Reference/Index for Teachers)

The Annunciation

          

Among the flowers of the Annunciation are those which symbolize the
maidenly, immaculate, purity of Holy Mary, through her openness and
fidelity to the graces bequeathed her for the preservation of her
Immaculate Conception:

     White Lily          "Annunciation Lily", symbol of Mary's
                          Immaculate Purity.

     Impatiens            "Our Lady's Earrings", symbolical pure
                          adornments of the ears of Mary who heard
                          the word of God and kept it.

     Violet               symbol of Mary's humility "regarded by
                          the Lord".

     Lady-Slipper         "Our Lady's Slipper", symbol of Mary's
                          graceful Visitation trip to visit
                          Elizabeth in the hill country: "All her
                          steps were most beauteous."

     Thistle-Down         "another Visitation symbol", from its
                          graceful movement in air currents.


     Others symbolize some of Mary's divinely bestowed
prerogatives, as Mother of God, possible through her immaculate
holiness:


     Rose                  symbol of the Blessed Virgin of
                           prophecy, the Rose plant bearing the
                           flower, Christ.

     Daisy                 "Mary's Flower of God"

     Periwinkle            Blue "Virgin Flower", emblem of the Blessed
                           Virgin's fullness of grace.

     Columbine             symbol of the dove of the Holy Spirit,
                           Mary's overshadowing, indwelling,
                           divine Spouse.

     Pansy                 "Trinity Flower", symbol of the
                           Trinity, first revealed to Mary.

     Strawberry            "Fruitful Virgin", in flower and fruit
                           at the same time.

     Everlasting           symbol of the eternity of Mary's loving
                           mediation in heaven.

Students, for their actions to be in conformity with God's
sanctifying and actual graces, are called to emulate first of all
Mary's virtues of purity and humility, which enabled her fullness of
grace and total assent and fidelity to God's Annunciation call to
the Motherhood of the Divine Redeemer of the fallen world.

In her love of God and her consequent desire to see the
accomplishment of his purpose for Creation, of our grace-inspired
co-creative human sharing in the building and coming of the earthly
Peaceable Kingdom - as the culminative showing forth and human
sharing of his divine goodness, beauty, truth and action - maidenly
Mary sought the spiritual perfection through which she might be
divinely chosen as the prophesied virgin to bear the Messiah God had
promised to send to redeem the fallen world, and to restore the
actual graces for its guidance on its path to Kingdom.

In the Mary Garden we are quickened to emulation of the basic
virtues of Mary - her purity and her humility - by the flower
symbols from the Annunciation: the white lily ("Annunciation or
Madonna Lily") symbolizing her immaculate purity, and the lowly
violet ("Mary's Humility"), symbolizing her utter humility.  St.
Bernard spoke of Mary as "the Rose of Charity, the Lily of
Chastity, the Violet of Humility and the Golden Gillyflower of
Heaven".  In this, through the symbol of the red rose, he thus
praised also her love for the coming of God's promised Redeemer, to
be born of a Virgin, which love, as St. Augustin affirms, gave
birth to him in her heart before he was conceived by the Holy
Spirit in her womb; and, through the golden gillyflower, her
radiance, assumed body and soul into heaven, where she "comes
forth...bright as the sun" from the Heaven of the Trinity.

Students' reflection, in their Annunciation meditations, on Mary's
love, immaculate purity and utter humility can be quickened through
the school day by a small arrangement of flowers, drawing on the
general red, white and violet color symbolism of Mary's love, purity
and humility, on which they glance from time to time - such as a
small indoor arrangement of miniature red and white roses and
violet African violets before a statuette of Our Lady.

Emulation of Mary's virtues of love, purity and humility, is basic
to students' openness and attunement to the sanctifying graces of
the Sacraments of Holy Communion and Reconciliation, for their own
spiritual growth in fidelity to the graces of their baptism - as
Mary was faithful to the graces of her Immaculate Conception.
Accompanying their growth in sanctifying graces through these
virtues is a corresponding increase in their attunement to the actual
graces prompting their actions for the coming of God's Kingdom - as
Mary was faithful to the divine promptings, beginning with that for
her Visitation trip that unborn John the Baptist, in Elizabeth's
womb, might be spiritual quickened by Jesus, in hers.

In their call to spiritual growth, students have the example of the
growth of flowers, all of which bloom in glorious visual
perfection, as Mary, the "Flower of flowers", bloomed in her
spiritual perfection.