The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1875-01-31
s 9 Z z oaInAss. SUNDAY. JANUARY d. is7s.

STRONGER connecting link between the souls |
aspirations and orr material enjoyment,
zul that belong to the floral kingdom.
COeval with the creation, the soface, COM
panions, and delight Of our Arst parents,
they shared tho punishment, likewise, of
man's trangressiOn, In the flood but when
the waters snbsided, they were the chosen
OF Omnipotent vengeance, and the first to
greet the weary wanderers, as their feet
again touched the earth raising their
lowly heads from around tree-roots, and
through the rocky fissures, as emblems of
the life immortal that springs from, decay.
Among those which seem to be the
chosen ones as most expressive Of religious
sentiment, both in the old and New Test
ament as we'll as in early legendary lore,
are the rose, the lily, the olive, and the
palm.
To each of these has been given signif-
canoe, from the earliest times, that has
made them cherished with our households
and associated with our faith. Although
the rose was perverted by the heather into
q type of sensual love and luxury, yet,
through the marvellous beauty and variety
of its creation, it was reclaimed by the
Christian poets, to be the attendant of the
pure and holy, wherever an ornament was
needed to paint moral victory, or glorify
decay.
That this flower was largely cultivated
by the Jews, and used in their religious
festivals as an ornament, is made clear by
the frequent use we find of it, as simile in
sAe Bible. Solomon, in his song, compares
Ehe church to the "rose of Sharon and lily of
the Valley Again, in the book of Weldon,
We see their appreciation in the admoni-
tion, "Let us crown ourselves with rose
buds ere they be whithered." Also, ia
Eccleeiasticus, occurs this metaphor, 81
was exalted like palm tree in Engaddi,
and as rose-plaut ia Jericho" Again,
sHesrken to me, ye holy children, and
~ forth as roses growing by the brook"
We was belief among the Jews, accord
ing to Zoroaster, says Howett, " that every
and that the hundred leaf rose is conse-
Grated to an archangel of the highest
order" The same author relates, that the
Persian fire-worshippers believe that Abra-
ham was thrown into furnace by Nimrod,
and the flames forthwith turned into a bed
of roses.
In contradistinction to this in sentiment
is the belief of the Turk, who holds that
this lovely flower springs from the perspir-
alton of Mobammed, and. in accordance
with this creed, they never tread upon it
think it was Scion who held the theory
that the rose and the woman were created
at the same time, and in consequence there
OF, there sprang up contest among the
gods, as to which should be awarded the
palm of superior beauty. Certainly there
may yet be traced close resemblance
between these native queens, not only
in the matter of beauty but also in the
variety and fragility for which the rose,
above all others, is distinguished. Every
where has God planted this exquisite work
Of his hand. In the black polar regions,
where the days of sunshine are so short,
and so few, there is seen among the first
breathiDgs of the summer zephyrs the
Rosa rdpG," its slender stem covered with
pale double flowers, lifting its head to greet
those ice bound prisoners as they iesue
from the sitting air of their winter huts.
Degraded as are that people in their tastes,
the magic of these silent messengers from
God is so forcible, that they greet them
with q poets joy, and deck their heads and
rough sealskin clothing with their tender
blossoms. Even to the broken-hearted
in his life when these frail comforteTs rise
from the frozen earth to greet him, like
messengers from his lost homo and friends.
It is not to be wondered, then, with al! the
associations of Eden ever clinging about
these eloquent voices, that the early Chris
tians transferred their ornamental and
suggestive beauties from the saturnalian
rites of heathendon to the honor Of God
and his saints. Hence it is, that, in so many |
of the beautiful legends that have come
down to US, we find these frail memorials
SO often associated as types of some noble |
some heavy human sacrifice. To those who |
look upon these legends as myths, or
simply religious fairy tales, we can only
say, with Mrs. Jameson, that we most sim
cerely pity all such sceptics from our heart
for, where they outstrip the bounds of even
miraculous probability, there may yet be
found in their pages both entertainment
and instruction. And after all, why should
not religion have Der fairyland, as well as
material life : Why should not the soul
enjoy the privilege Of an occasional trans
port into world of poetical Visions, as
fairy dreams Of childhood only a dim vista
Of annual blooms, upon which the breath
Of heaven can never blOw9 Weary with
the turmoil of life, with the noise and
whirl of the shifting scenes that open con-
tinuously upon vista Of pain, and sOr-
row, and unrealized hopes, such legends
recall to the soul auroral CLEANS of child
hnnaIs 1,,.rit.- and transnnEt her inkn Galda