The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1909-04-16
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SACRED FLOWERS

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orient from the dust. latent con
seriousness OF wings stirs in the buried
seed. and as II from very gladness of
heart the sap In the naked trees
mounts upward. ever upward, into the
golden light The tiny leaves, close
clasped together in the bud, nutter
timidly apart TO grow bravely green.
and faunt their color on the passing
| breeze. The maple tree In the yard
now hears voice out OF the unseen,
calling from the blue skies. bidding II
come up higher. and gladly does II
make answer In the green tassels and
shining leaves. telling OF new growth
and broader horizon.
out on the old arbor. the rough and
scraggy grapevine Is sending forth
little gray tendrils. reaching farther
toward heaven and away from the
earth that hides it's foothold. How
blithely does nature echo forth her
yearly message to every waiting heart
her message of resurrection. joyous
activity. high-mounting aspiration
Her myriad voices cry through every
sense, TO touch and penetrate the spir-
il with gladness ard good cheer. New
readings from the Gospel OF eternal
hope are seen on every side, in the
growth OF plant. the unfolding OF leaf,
the blossoming of flower. The woods
are full OF these shy spring darlings-
violets. dandelions adder's tongues.
spring beauties. bluebells and many
nameless wildling, all hurrying gay
ly to deck the earth and celebrate the
Eastertide.
Certain flowers and plants have al
WAYS been set apart as sacred things.
and from the very dawn Of history We
hear OF fower-decked affairs and
wreaths of sacrifice. The heather
temples were adorned with earth :
fairest blossoms. scattered on the al
tars. and twined around the brow OF
priest and acolyte. The amaranth
bloomed in deathless beauty upon the
Olympian heights, the myrtle was be-
I loved OF Apollo. the rose, the lily. the
mistletoe were favorites OF legend and
myth. The flowers once sacred TO
Freya. the spring goddess of northern
| mythology, were chosen for their spot
less purity, In form and color. And
/ when heather myth gave place 20
Christian truth. these sacred treasures
were transferred TO the Virgin. and be
came symbols OF the queen Of heaven
, So II is that in every story Of saint
!, or madonna we find either the lily OF
) the rose-the lily with its fragrance
its bending, bowling. waving bells
5 seems TO whisper OF purity and wor
] ship: the rose. with its faint and far
e away odor. which seems TO hint o.
I eternal hope One might almost fill {
\ garden with flowers all named for th'
q Virgin Mary. generally because thel
4 chance 10 blossom on Our Lady's days
(such as the visitation, the assump
{ ton, her BIRTH baptism, purification)
d There are lady's slipper, lady's mantle
J. lady's fingers. lady's smock. lady
d tresses. Virgins bower, or clematis
l. begins TO bloom in July. the feast o
C visitation. and is at full bloom at as
IS sumption in August
The lily was first found in conneC
l. ton with the Virgin in the story o
n her ascension TO heaven. and II orig
+ mated probably in the second century
IS According to this legend. II was thre
n DAYS after the burial OF our Lord
3 mother than the apostles visited an
" opened her grave and found 1t file
* with fragrant. spotless lilies. Sine
h then these matchess flowers hav
been called Madonna lilies" or flow
s ers OF the Virgin The commo
r white lily OF our gardens. that bloom
te in July. and IS the sweetest and mos
he graceful of all flowers. might well b
m called holy" No one seems 10 kno'
70 its origin. II is never found wild !
Sc Palestine. nor can we find just wher
n IL grows without culture. But We Sc
Do il in the faded pictures OF old Italia
masters and Netherland painter
n. made long before the discovery of thi
&C. New World
rs Nearly all OF our great poets hay
$. praised this flower. Chaucer an
ar Spenser speak of Il a. mystical bio
gy som in their PARKWAY gardens an
ITS lady's bowers. Shakespeare II We
ci- who first said ITO gid refined gol
he and paint the lily" and these line
RS from one OF his sonnets tell trui
ey- that can never be forgotten:
80 For sweetest things turn sourest |
~ their deeds
-, Lilies that tester smell far worse tina
90 weeds.
- Milton loved the lily and alwa.
IN spoke OF 1t in connection with the TO
49, las did also Swinburne when he tall
its of
n The lilies and languors OF virtue;
rs The roses and raptures Of vice.
ba And Tennyson says OF Maud's gard'
he that II was
Fairer than aught in the world besid
All made up OF the lily and the rose.
Dear Old Herrick, that sweet singer
spring, has one lily thought that
G like a sigh:
an But vanished man.
WI Like TO a lily lost, never can bloc
anew
lon or bring his days 10 a second sprir
Isl Shelley has the lily in his wond'
ad. ful garden along with his sensiti
int plant. Wordsworth often praises
Burns mentions IT frequently. Teni
son has lovely lily thoughts; but O
In. own Iongfellow draws the prettis
BUS picture OF maidenhood-
'ou Bears a lily in thy hand
I'M Gates OF brass cannot Withstand
ave one touch of that magic wand.
Z
lanes Russell Lowell always con
fel near 10 the heart OF things and left
i've more than one sweet lily poem a
opt pur minor meets all I