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Intro Mary Garden
Blooms That Pray
Annunciation Lily. In paintings of the Annunciation, Mary, the
"Spotless Lily", is typically seated reading the prophecy of
Isaiah with a pot or vase of white lilies beside her, symbolizing
her purity, in fidelity to the grace of her Immaculate Conception.
Hence the old name, Annunciation Lily, for the white lily, still
found growing wild in some remote locations in the Holy Land -
the name Madonna Lily, by which it is commonly known today, being
of more recent origin. Beholding the lily we pray for our own
purity of body, heart and spirit in emulation of Mary.
Our Lady's Earrings. We see these flower earrings, with their
curved ring-like stems as fitting adornments for the ears of the
most pure Virgin, placed there by doves of the Holy Spirit,
according to one representation, in tribute to her humble and
attentive listening to the words of the angel of the Annunciation
- hearing the word of God and keeping it. Fallen to the ground
these blooms were also, like many other flowers, seen and named as
Slippers of Our Lady, whose steps were most beauteous in loving
service of God.
Our Lady in-the-Shade. The feathery bracts surrounding each
flower of this plant recall for us the overshadowing of Mary by
the Holy Spirit, as announced by the Angel Gabriel. We pray to
Mary that she mediate the Holy Spirit's overshadowing of us, so
that we too may follow its promptings and consolations - for our
guidance in praying and working for the coming of God's Kingdom on
earth as it is in Heaven.
Our Lady's Delight. Like Mary, we take delight in flowers as
God's riches and artistry, showing forth the beauty of heaven on
Earth. We take heart that, with Our Lady's merciful intercession
we will see God's beauty face to face in heaven. As we behold the
pansy, also known as Trinity flower, from its three colors -
white, yellow and purple - we see in it the reflection of the
Trinity in Mary, as Daughter of the Father, Mother of the Son and
Spouse of the Holy Spirit
Our Lady's Pincushion. As we look at the tiny white pins in their
colored cushions, we think of Our Lady's wonder and joy as she
sewed garments for the Divine Redeemer she was to bear. Like
Mary, we offer all our work and thoughts to God.
Mary-Loves. This name for the English Daisy is attributed to an
old legend about the child Jesus' first cut, on his hand, in
Nazareth. Mary, mindful of the prophesies of Isaiah and Simeon
that her beloved divine Son was to grow up to suffer a terrible
Passion and death, experienced a welling of motherly grief when
she saw the the first drops of His precious blood - whereupon some
of the previously all-white daisies on which the blood drops fell
turned to red, mirroring both the prophesied immolation of Jesus
which was to come, and the continuous immolation of Mary's
motherly heart in the knowledge that it was to come. We learn
from this to intensify our compassion for Jesus' suffering through
the sorrows of his mother's love for Him.
Mary's Tears. When the tear-like buds appear, we unite our
thoughts with those of Mary as she wept at the foot of the Cross,
sharing interiorly the bitter Passion of her crucified Son and
Lord. May we come to be more closely united with the immolation
of Christ through loving meditation on Mary's immolative motherly
sorrows.
Mary's Gold. We see how beautifully the golden masses of marigolds
suggest Our Lady's splendor after her glorious assumption into
heaven as the "Woman clothed with the sun," the "Queen in gilded
clothing," and in her subsequent merciful apparitions on earth.
We ask her to pray that we may be made worthy of the promise of
heaven.
Our Lady's Mantle. We raise our thoughts from the blue of Our
Lady's Mantle to the spiritual mantle with which Mary, Mother of
the all-powerful God, and our heavenly mother also, mercifully
protects those who turn to her for help. We beseech her
protection from all dangers.
Eyes of Mary. As we come upon the eye-like flowers of
forget-me-nots, with their golden centers, we are quickened to
reassurance that the eyes of Mary, our Spiritual Mother in heaven,
are always turned upon us. We are similarly reassured by the
downwards declining blooms of the daffodil, seen as "Mary looking
down from heaven".
Mother Love. "Patient Lucy" is said also to have been named
Mother Love from its constancy - the constancy of its blooms
during the entire frost-free period in the temperate zones. We
turn in prayer to Mary, our Spiritual Mother, in heaven, knowing
that she is constantly there for us, as she was there for Jesus at
the foot of the Cross when all the Apostles but John had fled.
Mary's Crown. As we observe the first florets blooming in a
crown-like ring around the edges of each flower head, we raise our
thoughts to Mary's coronation as Queen of Heaven and Earth. We
pray to Mary for the mediation of the graces needed to guide our
actions towards the building of God's Kingdom of love, peace,
justice and material sufficiency for all.
Our Lady's Praises. This name for the blooms of petunias suggests
that they resemble the subtle flowers seen by those gifted with
spiritual vision to rise from the lips of devotees proclaiming Our
Lady's praises - as roses have been perceived to rise from those
praying the Aves and Paters of the Rosary (the origin of the name,
"Rosary"). May our prayers, too, rise to Our Lady as pure
spiritual bouquets of love.
The Virgin. The zinnia is one of a number of flowers which
because of their forms and settings in nature, evidently suggested
to many persons coming upon them that they had seen a radiant
human form - that of the Virgin, for whom these flowers were thus
named. Other such flowers are "Mary", "Our Lady of the Meadow",
"Our Lady in the Corn" and "Our Lady by the Gate". As we reflect on
the zinnia with this knowledge, we rejoice that Mary, Mediatrix of
all Graces, is always present by her action wherever graces are
distributed.
John S. Stokes Jr.
These flower meditations are according to the spirit and example
of Flowers of Mary by Rev. Louis Gemminger (1894).
Copyright Mary's Gardens 1996