Creation is a reflection of the Creator, and all through Christian history flowers have been used to represent the Blessed Virgin Mary, her purity, beauty, holiness, and countless other virtues, mysteries and attributes.  Legends connecting the Blessed Mother and flowers reach back to the earliest days of Christianity.  In the 7th Century, the Benedictine Monk, Venerable Bede, described the white lily as the emblem of the Blessed Virgin, the white petals symbolizing her purity and the golden anthers the beauty of her soul rising up to heaven.  Also in the 7th century St. Fiacre, the patron saint of Gardeners, planted and tended a garden dedicated to Mary surrounding an oratory and hospice he built.  St. Bernard described Our Lady as “the violet of humility, the lily of chastity, the rose of charity, the Balm of Gilead, and the golden gillyflower of heaven.”

This week we focused on pages of Medieval Manuscripts both in Bibles and the Book of Hours. These hand painted books were treasured possessions. The Book of Hours, along with the ringing of Church bells, helped keep time and organize the hours, days, months, and years of a Christian’s life.  They often included calendars depicting both saint days and activities associated with the seasons of the year.  The pages of these beautiful books are overflowing with patterns, designs and flowers alongside and intertwined with the words being illustrated.  What is fascinating is the small size of the pages, and the minute details the artists were able to paint.

In an effort to have the children experience working in colored pencil, a very slow medium, we did small drawings of violets, a symbol of the Virgin Mary’s humility.  As the liturgical year comes to a close and we are drawn into the Season Advent, it seemed an appropriate flower and color to do.  With images of both real violets and those found in Medieval Manuscripts to look at, the children drew their violets and then began building layers of color on their flowers and leaves.  They added decorative borders and then bits of gold to brighten their drawings, often used in Illuminated Manuscripts.

The Children’s Holy Card this week was Our Lady’s Magnificat from the Gospel of Luke (1:46-49):

My soul magnifies the Lord,

and my spirit rejoices 

in God my Savior,

for he has looked on 

the humble estate of his servant.

For behold, from now on 

all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty 

has done great things for me, 

and holy is his name.