ChristStory Easter Basket

LILY

Purity & Royalty

The lily's scepter or trumpet shape makes it a symbol of royalty. Its white color indicates purity, innocence, hope, and virtue. The lilies Persephone is gathering when Hades kidnaps her and carries her to the Underworld symbolize her childlike unawareness of the dangers of life.

Although the red lily is equated with illicit passions, the white lily, with its implications of purity, is linked to chastity. As such, the white lily is an attribute of all virgin saints and those who promoted the virtue of chastity, including: St. Clare, St. Francis, and St. Anthony of Padua. Sometimes the Child Jesus is portrayed handing a lily to one of these saints as if granting him or her the gift of chastity. To be "lily-like" is to be of a gentle demeanor and to love others with a pure, virginal love. To "gild a lily" is to waste time and energy trying to improve something which is already perfect.

The Lily of the Valley is one of the first flowers to bloom in the spring. Its fresh appearance after a long winter and its purity make it a symbol of both Christ and the Virgin Mary. Mary is thought to be Solomon's "lily among thorns," meaning that she is the only female who was born without the taint of original sin and she alone kept herself pure (Song 2:2). Because of this, the lily is a symbol of her Immaculate Conception and of her parents who are said to have conceived her without bodily excitement. To both Jesus (who was the only male without sin) and Mary are attributed the words, "I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys" (Song 2:1). In the second century A.D., Origen declared that the lily represents the pure life of Christ and the valley symbolizes the sinful world He overcame.

The lily is also a symbol of the virginal conception of Christ. It appears in many pictures of the Annunciation. Quite often, the Archangel Gabriel holds a lily as he delivers his heavenly message to Mary. Because of such artistic scenes, the lily has become an attribute of Gabriel and an emblem of the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary.

Because of the following story recorded in The Gospel of the Birth of Mary, and The Golden Legend, St. Joseph has been pictured with a rod or staff blooming with lilies. According to this ancient story, when Mary was three years old her parents, Joachim and Anna, took her to the temple in Jerusalem and left her there to serve the Lord with the other temple virgins. At that time, it was the custom for the temple virgins to be sent home to marry and raise children when they reached the age of fourteen. However, Mary had secretly devoted her life and her virginity to the Lord's service.

The high priest, daring neither to dissolve a vow made to the Lord, nor to introduce the custom of adult temple virgins called together the Elders of Jerusalem. As they were praying over this matter, a voice spoke from the Ark of the Covenant saying, "Mary's husband shall be revealed when all the unmarried men of the house of David bring a staff to the altar of the Lord. Then the chosen husband's staff shall flower and the dove of the Holy Spirit shall rest upon it. Thus shall be fulfilled the words of the prophet Isaiah, 'There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots'" (Is 11:1).

Therefore all the unmarried male descendants of David were brought together before the altar of the Lord and each presented his staff. However, Joseph, being well along in years, considered himself ill suited to marry the young virgin and hid his. When no man's staff flowered, the elders again consulted the Lord and the angel's voice betrayed Joseph. Joseph then brought forth his staff which immediately blossomed with lilies and the Holy Spirit perched upon it in the form of a dove. In this way, Joseph was chosen by God to be the husband of Mary.

As an emblem of purity, rebirth, and eternal life, lilies were used to decorate the pillars of Solomon's temple (1 Ki 7:19, 22). This flower is associated with the Resurrection because its bulb is buried in the ground like a human corpse, and yet from this apparent death a beautiful flower arises. One report says that on the third day after Mary's death, her body was taken up to heaven and her tomb was filled with lilies as a testament to the spotlessness of her earthly life.

There are many other legends about the lily. The earliest is that the first lilies were born from Eve's beautiful tears of repentance as she left the Garden of Eden weeping over her transgressions. Others say they sprang from Christ's sweat of blood as He agonized in the Garden of Gethsemane (Lk 22:44). They are sometimes called the "white-robed apostles of hope."

The lily hangs her head and wears a red blush because she embarrassed herself in the Garden of Gethsemane. According to this legend, as Christ walked through the garden the night of his arrest, all the other flowers bowed their heads respectfully. But, the lily, being filled with pride over her appearance, held her head erect and looked Christ full in the face, thinking to comfort Him with the beauty of her face and scent. When His eyes fell upon her, the lily realized that true beauty lies in humility.

Greco-Roman myths also mention the lily. According to their mythology, Hercules' mother accidentally sprayed some of her breast milk as she was nursing him. Lilies sprang from the drops of milk which reached the earth and the rest became the Milky Way. It is also said that Venus, jealous of the lily's chastity, tried to destroy its virginal appearance by giving it a pistil that looks like a donkey's penis.

Christ made the lily a symbol of what would be done for those who trust in divine providence when He said, "Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith?" (Luke 12:27-28; see also Mt 6:28-29).

When Jesus is pictured holding a lily in His mouth, He is taking His place as Judge of the World. The lily in His mouth symbolizes His divine mercy and his perfect judgments. The lily was used as a symbol of perfection and beauty when God said of Israel, "I will heal their backsliding...I will be like the dew to Israel; he shall grow like the lily..." (Hosea 14:4-5). Because He is merciful, the aim of the Lord's judgments is the perfection of His people and not their destruction.

He is said to feed his flocks "among the lilies," meaning that the children of God find nourishment in the Church and in pure company, thoughts, or activities (Song 2:16). Snakes, a symbol of the devil are rumored to flee from the pure aroma of the lily. The Beloved's lips are described as "lilies, dripping liquid myrrh" because of the sweet aroma of the words of Christ (Song 5:13).

Lilies are a symbol of death, especially in the Far East where white is the color of death. In some legends, lilies mysteriously appear at the death of a holy person. Matthew Henry considers the gathering of lilies to be comparable to the divine gardener's taking of a believer to heaven through death (Song 6:2).

The Fleur-de-lis is a stylized triple lily signifying royalty, perfection, the Trinity, and the virtues of faith, hope, and charity. It was believed to have been given to King Clovis by an angel when he was baptized around 496 A.D. as a token of the gifts received in Christ. It is an attribute of kingly saints and the Queen of Heaven.

All scripture quotes are from the NKJV Bible.