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Intro Mary Garden
Bible Gardens Revisited
John S. Stokes Jr.
A number of Bible
Gardens have
been planted with
plants of the Holy
Land mentioned in the
Bible.
Due to the limited
number of such plants
which can be positively
identified botanically
from their biblical
names and descriptions,
Adam and Eve
and of these the still less which are suited for garden
cultivation in other climates, these gardens often serve more as
collections of Holy Land plants than as gardens quickening visitors
to comprehensive reflection on biblical meanings.
For Mary-Gardeners accustomed to reflecting and meditating on the
symbolical Flowers of Our Lady of medieval tradition, the most
meaningful Bible Gardens are those composed of suitable plants of
the Holy Land and together with those given biblical names,
symbolism or meanings in other regions - with resulting greater
spiritual richness and horticultural variety.
Thus, Lungwort, Pulmonaria officinalis, from the two colors of
its early blooms, has been called "Adam and Eve". Botanists find
no internal evidence in the Bible with which to determine with
botanical certainty the identities of the Tree of Life and the
Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil of the Garden of Eden
(Genesis 2:9); but the shrub, arbor vitae, Thuja spp, named for
the former, and the apple tree, Malus spp, bearing "Adam's
Apple," are appropriate for use according to the broader Bible
Garden concept. Thus, a proportioned arbor vitae and a
miniature apple tree, with an altar-like stone table before them,
make an excellent Edenic terminal focal point in such a garden.
Before and around these ivy, Hedera helix, "where God has
walked," can be planted as a ground cover, calling to mind that
God "walked at paradise in the afternoon air" (Genesis 3:8).
In beholding these plants, we are quickened to reflection on Eden
and Creation, and on Creation Theology, which teaches that God
created the world for the purpose of showing forth and sharing
the divine goodness with human beings - created to that end in
the divine image and likeness (Genesis 1:26). Thus created, we
humans are called to share and participate with God as
co-creators, "dressing and keeping" the world (Genesis 2:15),
naming its creatures (Genesis 2:19) as their meanings and uses
are discovered, and multiplying, filling and subduing the earth
(Genesis 1:28) to culminate and complete Creation through the
building of the City and Kingdom of God - to be lifted up,
glorified, in grateful return to the Creator for all eternity.
Viper's Bugloss, or Adder's tongue, Echium vulgare, named from
its tongue-like white stamens, may also be planted in this Edenic
area of our Bible Garden, recalling the tempter serpent (Genesis
3:1) and disobedient Adam's and Eve's expulsion from Eden - the
original, primordial, Edenic harmony now ruptured through their
disobedience, and God's sanctifying and guiding graces withdrawn.
.
Here, however we plant also the
tulip, Tulipa spp., symbol of
Woman, and thus of God's
merciful promise of ultimate
human deliverance from the
influence of Satan, to whom
he said, "I will put enmities
between thee and the woman,
and thy seed and her seed:
she shall crush thy head, and
thou shalt lie in wait
for her heel (Genesis 3:15).
The Edenic area can be
separated from the rest of
the garden by a small, low
fence or planting, with
narrow entrance or gate,
outside of which is the
fallen world of thorns
The Woman
and thistles (Genesis 3:18,23).
Accompanying sinful Adam and Eve as they are expelled from Eden
into the fallen world, we find plants such as "Adams Flannel",
Mullein, Verbascum thapsus, with which Adam covered his
nakedness, and "Adam's needle", Yucca, Yucca filimentosa, with
which he sewed. Here midst Adam's and Eve's sense of loss and
hardship, there appears the plant of hope, the snowdrop,
Galanthus nivalis. According to an old legend, when the first
winter cold came, with the seeming death of plants, Adam and Eve
thought it would never end, until snowdrops blooms appeared,
midst the melting snow, with the promise of spring.
Moving through sacred history as we walk through the garden, we
are similarly reminded by a miniature olive tree, Olea europea,
of the hope given to Noah, who feared the flood would never
subside, until the dove brought the olive branch back to the Ark
(Genesis 8:11).
Comfrey, Symphytum officinalis, "Abraham, Isaac and Jacob", named
from its bloom heads, brings to mind God's covenant with Abraham
(Genesis 17:7); the divine test of Abraham's faith and obedience
in the call to sacrifice his son Isaac, for whom was divinely
substituted at the last minute a ram among the briars (Genesis
22:1 ff); God's bestowal on Jacob of the name, Israel (Genesis
32:28), and God's promising to Israel and his seed the Land of
Israel (Genesis 28:12-14), in the dream of "Jacob's Ladder",
Polemonium caeruleum).
"Joseph's Coat", Amaranthus tricolor, of many colors reminds us
of the selling of Joseph down into Egypt by his brothers, but
who, after his interpretation of Pharaoh's dream of the seven fat
and lean years was made ruler over Egypt, and as such became the
savior of Israel from famine (Genesis 37:3 ff).
"Burning Bush", Holly, Ilex spp, reminds us of God's call to
Moses to deliver the Children of Israel from oppressive Egypt
(Exodus 3:2 ff).
In their years of divine discipline and preparation, during the
years of wandering in the desert, for the future religious
governance of the Promised Land, including the giving of first
fruits to God, six species are mentioned which symbolize the
fertility of that land: wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates
and olives: a land of oil and honey (Deuteronomy 8:8).
Vegetables grown in the Promised Land included: chicory,
cucumbers, dandelion, melons, onions, leeks, garlic, lettuce,
endive. The fruits were apricots, apples, dates, grapes, figs,
olives and pomgranates.
In this period the priesthood of Aaron was confirmed by the
blossoming of his rod with the leaves, flowers and fruit of the
almond (Numbers 17:18).
Herbs mentioned in the Bible included: Wormwood, Artemesia spp.,
(Deuteronomy 29:18) and Hyssop, Hyssopus officinalis, (Exodus
12:22). Other herbs cultivated in the Holy Land during biblical
times include: Anise, Dill, Anethum graveolens; Coriender,
Coriendrum sativum; Cummin, Cuminum cyminum; Garlic, Allium
sativum; Leek, Allium porrum; Mandrake, Mandragorum officinarum;
Mint, Mentha spp.; Mustard, Brassica nigrum; Onion, Allium spp.
and Rue, Ruta graveolens.
.
Gideon's Fleece
In the Promised Land, Gideon, being called by an angel of the
Lord to deliver the Children of Israel from the hands of enemies
into which they had fallen, asked first for a corroborating sign
from the Lord - namely that a fleece placed out on the ground by
him overnight would in the morning be drenched with dew, while
the surrounding ground would be completely dry ( Judges 6:37 ff).
This occurred and came to be known as the miracle of "Gideon's
Fleece" - a name given to the flower, Sundew, Drossera
rotundifolia, from the droplets of dew found on it each morning.
The establishment of the Chosen People in the Promised Land, with
the Kingships of David and Solomon; and Solomon's building of the
Temple, according to divinely revealed plans, is signified by
the "Cedars of Lebanon", Cedrus libani, used in constructing the
Temple (3 Kings 5:6)
Solomon also built himself a house (3 Kings 7:1 ff.) with
extensive gardens (Ecclesiastes 2:4 ff.) from which were discerned
symbols of created wisdom in the rose, lily, aloes, balm and
grapes, and in numerous other plants and trees better suited for
a Mediterranean climate arboretum and spice garden than for
temperate climate cultivation:
"Then the creator of all things commanded, and said to me:
and he that made me, rested in my tabernacle, And he said to
me: Let thy dwelling be in Jacob, and thy inheritance in
Israel, and take root in my elect.
"From the beginning, and before the world, was I created,
and unto the world to come I shall not cease to be, and in
the holy dwelling place I have ministered before him.
And so was I established in Sion, and in the holy city
likewise I rested, and my power was in Jerusalem. And I
took root in an honourable people, and in the portion of
my God his inheritance, and my abode is in the full
assembly of saints.
"I was exalted like a cedar in Libanus, and as a cypress
tree on mount Sion. I was exalted like a palm tree in
Cades, and as a rose plant in Jericho: As a fair olive
tree in the plains, and as a plane tree by the water in
the streets, was I exalted.
"I gave a sweet smell like cinnamon, and aromatical balm: I
yielded a sweet odour like the best myrrh: And I perfumed
my dwelling as storax, and galbanum, and onyx, and aloes,
and as the frankincense not cut, and my odour is as the
purest balm.
"I have stretched out my branches as the turpentine tree,
and my branches are of honour and grace. As the vine I have
brought forth a pleasant odour: and my flowers are the fruit
of honour and riches.
"I am the mother of fair love, and of fear, and of
knowledge, and of holy hope. In me is all grace of the
way and of the truth, in me is all hope of life and of
virtue.
"Come over to me, all ye that desire me, and be filled with
my fruits. For my spirit is sweet above honey, and my
inheritance above honey and the honeycomb. My memory is
unto everlasting generations. They that eat me, shall yet
hunger: and they that drink me, shall yet thirst.
"He that hearkeneth to me, shall not be confounded: and they
that work by me, shall not sin. They that explain me shall
have life everlasting. All these things are the book of
life, and the covenant of the most High, and the knowledge
of truth.
Ecclesiasticus 24:13 ff
And of the mystical communion of God and the soul:
"Hear me, ye divine offspring, and bud forth as the rose
planted by the brooks of waters. Give ye a sweet odour as
frankincense. Send forth flowers, as the lily, and yield
a smell, and bring forth leaves in grace, and praise with
canticles, and bless the Lord in his works."
Ecclesiasticus 39:17 ff
"I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.
As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.
As the apple tree among the trees of the woods, so is my
beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow, whom
I desired: and his fruit was sweet to my palate.
"Behold my beloved speaketh to me: Arise, make haste, my
love, my dove, my beautiful one, and come. For winter is
now past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers have
appeared in our land, the time of pruning is come: the
voice of the turtle is heard in our land: The fig tree
hath put forth her green figs: the vines in flower yield
their sweet smell. Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and
come."
Song of Songs 2:1 ff
Also, ascetical/mystical mortification:
"My eye poureth out tears to God" ("Job's Tears", Coix
lachrhyma).
Job 16:21
Finally in the Jewish Bible there is the flower symbolism of the
prophesied birth of the Messiah of a Virgin, in fulfillment of
the promise of redemption through "the woman and her seed"
(Genesis 3:15).
"Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold
a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son and his name shall
be called Emmanuel."
Isaiah 7:14.
Flowering Rod of Jesse
"And there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse,
and a flower shall rise up out of his root. And the spirit
of the Lord shall rest upon him: the spirit of wisdom, and
of understanding, the spirit of counsel, and of fortitude,
the spirit of knowledge, and of godliness. And he shall be
filled with the spirit of the fear of the Lord.
" . . . In that day the root of Jesse, who standeth for an
ensign of the people, him the Gentiles shall beseech, and
his sepulchre shall be glorious. . . . And he
shall set up a standard unto the nations. . . .
Isaiah 11:1 ff
Jesse was the father of David, from whose royal lineage the
Messiah was thus prophesied to be born. The "rod out of the root
of Jesse" is judged to be a figure based on the the grape vine on
which new growth characteristically appears at the upper
branches, or at the points of pruning, rather that as rods rising
up out of the roots - so that a rod out of the root would signify
a miracle: here the virgin birth.
o O o
Thus, we find there are plants suited for inclusion in the Bible
Garden which symbolize or recall the major events in Jewish
sacred history, in sum: the Creation, Adam and Eve, the
temptation of the serpent, the Fall, the promise that Satan will
be overcome by The Woman and her seed, the promise of the
Promised Land, the choosing of the Chosen People of Israel, the
going down into Egypt through Joseph, the deliverance from Egypt
through Moses, the 40 years' moral preparation in the desert, the
entrance into the Promised Land, God's protection in the Promised
Land, the Kingships of David and Solomon, the building of the
Temple in Jerusalem, the Garden of Solomon with its plant and
tree symbolism of created Wisdom and the mystical communion of
God and the soul, and the prophecy of the coming of the Messiah
to be born of a virgin.
In Christian tradition, the figure of the blossoming Rod of Jesse
was applied to Jesus, believed to be the redeeming Messiah of
prophecy; and was represented in art, liturgy and literature as
the rose plant, whose new growth characteristically appears
higher up similarly to that of the grape vine, rather than as
rods from the roots. This was expressed by Dante as, "Behold the
Rose wherein the Divine Word was made incarnate;" and celebrated
in the central rose windows of the medieval cathedrals, and in
the Christmas carol, "See how a Rose 'ere Blooming."
Chartres Cathedral Rose Window
The Rod of Jesse symbolism in the renowned Rose Window of
Chartres Cathedral is a representation, surrounding the central
figure of the Virgin and Child, of the kings of Jesse's lineage
- together with the Prophets. Present also are fleurs-de-lis
symbolizing the Trinity, and doves symbolizing the Holy Spirit
- of Christian belief - signifying that Jesus was of divine
lineage also, as the God-Man, the incarnate Second Person of
the Holy Trinity, from his conception by the Holy Spirit and
birth of the Virgin Mary, who was accordingly venerated as the
Mother of God, as defined at the Council of Ephesus in A.D. 431.
In general, since Christians held as true the revelations of both
the Jewish Bible and the Christian New Testament - the Gospels,
Acts, Epistles and the Revelations of the Apocalypse - and since
the truth is one, the Church Fathers undertook to discover and to
celebrate all the figures, types, symbols and foreshadowings of
Christian truths necessarily contained in the Jewish Bible, as
well as its prophecies.
In view of God's prophecy to Satan, "I will put enmities between
thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush
thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel" (Genesis
3:15); and mindful of the intimate union and close cooperation
between Mary and her Divine Redeemer Son, the Church Fathers
found many figures, types, symbols and foreshadowings of Mary as
well as of Jesus in the Jewish Bible: "where our Lord is, Mary is
not far behind." Or, as St. Bernard observed, "Mary appears on
every page of the Old Testament."
Extending the prophecy of the flowering Rod of Jesse, the Church
Fathers discerned plants and flowers generally to be symbols of
Mary, and thus perceived that all mention of them in the Old
Testament could be seen to prefigure her or in some way reveal
her endowments, virtues, excellences or prerogatives. From this,
numerous plant and flower figures of Mary were employed in their
writings, and incorporated in the liturgy.
St. Bernard, as well as seaching the scriptures for figures of
Mary, also searched all flowers in nature for her likenesses, as
in "the lily of chastity, the violet of humility, the rose of
charity and the golden gilly-flower of heaven" - giving impetus
to the discovery of the many flowers seen to recall Our Lady in
the medieval period.
Three flowers found growing in the Holy Land today which are
known by names recalling Mary are: Madonna Lily, Lilium candidum;
Madonna Flower, Artedia squamata; and Mary's Hand, Anastatica
hierochuntica. The "Flowers of the Field" of Song of Songs and
the Gospels are considered to have been one or more of several
flowers still growing in the fields of the Holy Land today:
Anemone, Hyacinth, Narcissus, Cyclamen, Tulip, Fritillaria,
Ranunculus, Iris and Chamomile - all, thus, suitable for
cultivation in Bible Gardens.
With respect to flower and garden symbols of biblical reference,
the generic association of flowers, and especially the rose and
lily (as with the Rose of Sharon and the Lily of the Valley),
with Mary, is perceived as representing her immaculate physical
beauty and especially her spiritual beauty, the beauty of
holiness. Mary, the "Beautiful Lady", appeared to Bernadette at
Lourdes, with a rose on each foot, saying, "I am the Immaculate
Conception."
The tulip, and other upwards facing flower cups, are seen to
represent "The Woman" of Genesis prophecy through their opening
and upwards reaching for filling with divine grace, light, wisdom
and power. As such the tulip can thus be seen in the Bible
Garden, or in the gardens of our hearts, to represent, and to
bring to mind for our reflection the many biblical women who are
types of "The Woman" - the Blessed Virgin Mary - such as Eve,
Sara, Rebecca, Rachel, Deborah, Judith, Jael, Esther, and Miriam
- each prefiguring one or more of her attributes.
Thus Eve, before the fall - immaculately formed from an
immaculate rib of Adam, in turn fashioned by God from the
immaculate earth of the "very good" Creation - prefigured Mary's
Immaculate Conception. Sara and Rebecca both conceived, through
divine favor, when they were barren and elderly, prefiguring
Mary's conception of Jesus by the Holy Spirit. Rachel was the
mother of the savior, Joseph, of the Childen of Israel, for whom
she wept, from famine. Deborah and Judith, in battle, prefigured
Mary's divinely endowed power over evil.
A beautiful type of Mary is the miracle of Gideon's Fleece,
described above, which David saw, in Psalm 71:6, as a figure of
the coming Messiah:
"He shall come down like rain upon the fleece;
and as showers falling gently upon the earth."
St. Ambrose, St. Ephrem, St. Idlephonse, St. Jerome and others of
the Church Fathers all saw this also as a type of Our Lady in
that, as the water descended on the fleece, so Our Lord, who is
the water of life, descended upon Our Lady and inhabited her, and
she carried him in her womb.
Scriptural flower figures from Song of Songs and Ecclesiasticus, as
quoted above, and others, of created wisdom and the soul's
journey of mystical union with God, prefigured Mary as the Seat
of Wisdom and the Mystical Rose - as is evident in a rereading of
them from this viewpoint - and surely, they themselves
contributed to her own maidenly spiritual formation as she
herself read and reflected on them.
o O o
Thus, the plants of our Bible Garden quicken us to reflection on
the truths of both the Jewish Bible and those of the Christian
New Testament, which they are seen to prefigure.
References
Douay-Rheims Bible http://www.tldm.org/bible/bible.htm
Flowers From Palestine (with pressed flowers), Rev, Harvey H.
Greene, B.D., Dujmas & Co, Lowell. MA (no date - old)
Plants of the Bible, by Harold N. and Alma L. Moldenke, The
Chronica Botanica Co., 1952.
Wild Flowers of Israel, 1980 ? (from notes, refs to be added)
Rooted In the Spirit - Exploring Inspirational Gardens, Chapter 2,
The Bible Garden, by Maureen Gilmer, Taylor Publishing Company,
Dallas, Texas, 1997. Order: http://www.gardenforum.com
Catholic Traditions in the Garden, Ann Ball, Our Sunday Visitor
Press, Huntington, IN, 1998. Order: osvsales@aol.com
Shadows of the Queen - Types of Mary in the Old Testament,
(audiotape), Gerry Matatics, Bible Foundations International,
Dunmore, PA, 1998. Order: http://www.gerrymatgatics.org
Garden Design: Bible Gardens, Kirk Johnson, Suite 101 web site,
1999. http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/668/17063
Bible Gardens website http:www.biblicalgardens.com
Copyright: Mary's Gardens, 1999