The patriot. [volume] (Indiana, Pa.) 1914-1955, 1916-04-22
MGttheG oi.;26

cause it is the glorious bloom
of Christ's country. 1t is abun-
dant on the hills of Nazareth,
and in the later winter the regions
over which he walked glowed and
radiated with enhancing color, while
the air was fragrant with perfume.
The Hebrew word for the flower is
shushan, shoshan or shoshannah, end
though there is little doubt the word
denotes some plant of the lily species,
it is by no means certain what class
it specially designates. In the Holy
Land there are lilies that hold the
purpling blue of eastern skies; that
glow with the blood-red fire Of the
deserts dusty sunset; that have the
pure white of spiritual appeal and the
grace in curve and line that touch
the senses like a strain of exquisite
music.
AS we of the West know the lily,
the more cultivated species are the
white or Madonna lily, the tiger or
tiger-spotted lily, and the golden lily.
A white lily in art and heraldry SYM
bolizes purity, and in the pictures OF
the Annunciation is often placed in
the hands of the Angel Gabriel Lilies
choir the golden way to Paradise"
says medieval writer; which, in the
values of the present, is given in the
appreciation Of Canadian woman on
first beholding the soul-stirring bloom
Of BSrmuda field-"This is simply
heavenly"
1t is very probable that the term lily
as used in the Holy Land was general,
not referring to any particular spe-
cies, but to large class of flowers
growing in Palestine, and resembling
the lily, as the tulip, iris, gladiolus
and the like. Thompson, for instance,
in his Land Of the Book, describes
a magnificent iris, which, he calls the
Hulch lily, view Of which gives sa-
lient point to the passage: Solomon
in all his glory was not arrayed like
one of these"
This Huleh lily" says the writer,
lis very large, and three of the inner
petals meet above and form a gor-
geous canopy such as art never ap-
preached and the king never sat under
even in his utmost glory. When l met
this incompatible flower in all its
loveliness, among the oak woods
around the north base of Tabor and
on the hills of Nazareth where our
Lord spent his youth, 1 felt assured
that it was to this he referred
That the lily must have been con,
spicuous plant along the shores OF
the Lake of Gennesaret is indicated
in Matthew, 6:28: consider the lilies
of the field, how they grow" and Luke
1927, which bears the same admoni
tion. 1t flourished in the broad, deer
valleys of Palestine. The Song ot
Songs tells: 81 am the rose Of Sharon
and the lily of the valley" and also
among the thorny shrubs, for the
same book has it, CAS- the lily among
the thorns, so is my love among the
daughters" and among the pastures
Of the desert, as is shown by this pas
sage from the inspiration Of Solomon:
MY beloved is mine, and l am his;
he feedeth among the lilies" In many
other passages of the Bible the flower
is mentioned.
And that the lily must have been
remarkable for its rapid and luxuriant
growth is evidenced in Hosea IA: 5
L will be as the dew unto Israel; he
shall grow as the lily and cast forth
his roots as Lebanon" And that the
flower was brilliant in color is indi
Gated in Matthew, where it has ia,
miliar comparison with the gorgeous
robes of Solomon. And that the col
Ors of the royal inyestituTe were pur
pie and scarlet is also implied in the
Songs of Songs.
There were many species Of lila
ceous blossoms in Palestine, some ex
ceedingly gorgeous in color and some
exceedingly fragrant. It is DR.. Isaac
! Hall who noted the late winter carpet.
/ ing Of Christ's way by this widespread
color and enhancing fragrance.
Most conspicuous, perhaps, are the
great red and blue flowers of the order
Ranunculaceae where the anemone
and the ranunculus grow together, >
says he. They are not small things,
like our buttercups, but great wide
flowers of two inches or more in di-
ameter, carpeting the ground with
patches as gorgeous as masses of our
brilliant verbenas. They grow every
where: and, like the other herbs, are
glorious one day and the next day
literally cast into the oven to bake