By Jacqueline Kelly –
The Feast of Mary Help of Christians is celebrated on May 24. Continuing from yesterday Mary’s Bouquet of Mystical Flowers, here are some more that are most commonly associated with the Blessed Virgin Mary.
IRIS
The purple flag Iris is known as Mary’s Sword of Sorrow. The blade-shaped foliage denotes the sorrows which pierced Mary’s heart.
The deep blue colour symbolizes Mary’s fidelity. The iris flower is the “fleur-de-lys “of France. The Spanish painters adopted the iris as an attribute of the Queen of Heaven and as an attribute of the Immaculate Conception.
PANSY
The Pansy is called the “Trinity Flower” or Our Lady’s Delight because its three-petaled shape, like the Irish shamrock, represents the Trinity, first revealed to Mary.
COLUMBINE
The Blue Columbine symbolizes fidelity and often seen in the paintings of Mary. Columbine is derived from the Latin word for “dove”, Columba. It is composed of petals in a band that appears to look like doves. Fallen spurs of the Columbine looked like Our Lady’s Slippers and received that name. They were said to have sprung up where Mary’s feet touched the earth when she was on her way to visit her cousin, Elizabeth. The spurred flowers resembled the tiny doves and came to represent the Holy Spirit. The flowers also symbolized the innocence of Mary.
CARNATIONS [PINKS]
The name signifies the “Incarnation of Christ”. Pink or red colour symbolizes love and life for Mary. The colour of carnations and spicy fragrance refers to the crucifixion of Christ. The flower is known as Mother of God’s Love.
MARIGOLD
This Flower [calendula or “pot marigold”] is named in honour of Mary [Mary’s Gold]. It symbolizes her simplicity, domesticity and her Heavenly Glory.
Marigold represents the sorrows of Mary [Our Lady of Sorrows] because its strong fragrance was associated with burial ointments. A legend says that during the flight into Egypt, the Holy Family was accosted by a band of thieves. They took Mary’s purse and when they opened it, marigolds fell out. Marigold or Mary’s gold was offered to early Christians instead of coins.
BABY’S BREATH
It is known as Mary’s Veil. The blue baby’s breath represents Mary’s blue baby’s breath of innocence and purity. It can also symbolize breathing , power and inspiration [“pneuma” in Greek] of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary at the Annunciation and he became her Divine Spouse.
ANEMONE
The red spots on the petals symbolize the Blood of
Christ, for it is said that Anemones sprang up on Calvary,
the evening of the crucifixion. The Anemone is depicted
with the Virgin Mary to show her sorrow for the Passion
of Christ.
CYCLAMEN
This flower is dedicated to Virgin Mary. The red spot at the heart of the flower represents the bleeding sorrow of the Immaculate Heart. It is also known as “Bleeding Nun”.
FOXGLOVE
The foxglove plant, with its glove-like blossoms, came to be known as Our Lady’s Gloves. In France, it is known as Gant de Notre Dame. It is said that Jesus hung the pendant blooms of the Fuchsia plant on His mother’s ears; the shrub was called Our Lady’s Ear-drop. Impatiens is known as Our Lady’s Earrings and Mother’s Love because of their constant blooms.
GLADIOLUS [PINK LADY]
It is derived from the Latin word for “sword”. The sword-shaped leaves symbolize “piercing sorrows”. Palm-branch of the red gladiolus represents martyrdom. It is also known as Ladder to Heaven.
SEA-PINK [THRIFT]
The soft blossoms of sea-pink or thrift are said to have formed cushions for Mary to sit on when she rested during the long journey into Egypt. They came to be known as Our Lady’s Cushion. The Sweet William was also known as Our Lady’s Cushion.
WHITE SNOWDROPS
The white snowdrop became a symbol of Mary’s purity. It was called the Flower of Purification or Lady of Purity because it bloomed on February 2, the Feast of the Purification of Mary. In Italy and Europe the statue of Mary was removed from the altar and snowdrops were strewn in its place. This day was also the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple. The flowers were called Candlemas Bells after the ceremony of blessing the candles began in the late 8th century and February 2 also came to be known as Candlemas Day.
THISTLE
This flower was called Our Lady’s Thistle. The leaves of this plant are said to have become spotted when drops of milk fell on them while Mary was nursing Jesus. Leaves of the spotted cowslip of Jerusalem also became spotted when drops of Mary’s milk fell on them.
SWEET ALYSSUM
They have a wonderful fragrance. They are Cross-shaped flowers and remind us of Our Lady’s Cross. It is known as Mary’s Flower or Flower of the Cross.
Flowers depict the beauty of her holiness, splendour of her heavenly glory and Immaculateness of her purity.
Tendrils of the sweet-scented, Honeysuckle flowers with their delicate long white stems was known as Our Lady’s Fingers.
The Harebell [Bluebell] or Blue wood hyacinth was called Our Lady’s Thimble and it was told that Mary earned a living for the family weaving and sewing.
The bell-like florets of several other species of Campanula were named after Mary. Canterbury bells were Our Lady’s Bells or Our Lady’s Nightcap. Venus’ Looking Glass was called Our Lady’s Glass. Others were called Bethlehem Star and Mary’s Star.
The Forget-me-not clear, blue flower with a golden centre, was the Eyes of Mary. The Tulip was called Mary’s Prayer and represents Mary’s fullness of grace. Rich blanket of Blue Morning Glory was the Lady’s Mantle.
Some of the other flowers are:
Aster – Mary’s Star
Bachelor buttons or Cornflowers – Mary’s Crown
Chrysanthemum – All Saint’s Flower
Virgin Bower Clematis – Flower of the Assumption
Geranium – Gentle Virgin- Mary’s Flower
Primrose – Mary’s Candlestick
Corn Poppy – Mary’s Button
Gaillardia – Virgin’s Face
Petunias – Lady’s Praises
Sunflower – Mary’s Gold
Sweet Pea – Lady’s Flower
Zinnia – The Virgin
Myrtle – Her Virginity
Amaryllis – Beautiful Lady
Daffodils – Mary’s Star
Peony – Pentecost Rose or Mary’s Rose
Hyacinth- Lily among Thorns [star shaped flower]
Bleeding Hearts – Mary’s heart which was pierced
Mary is crowned with flowers, as the “Queen of Heaven” and “Mother of God”.