The rose bush was burned in an air raid of March 1945 and was buried under
rubble. But from the remnant new growth happened, and today the bush is in
full bloom. Today this is seen as a symbol of life continuing.
We now proceed to the Dominican Church in Colmar, Alsace The altar piece
there was painted in 1473 by Martin Schongauer and is titled ‘Maria im
Rosenhag’ (Mary in a rosery) The painting is full of flower symbolism, there
are lilies of the valley, daisies, violets and strawberries, but most important
are the roses that surround the Madonna and Child. Before the Fall, the
roses in paradise are said not to have had thorns, and Mary was called ‘a
Rose without Thorns’, since she was free from sin. Mary with roses became
a popular type of painting, based on this idea. The rose was the constant
companion of the Virgin, so around Carlisle cathedral, dedicated to her,
roses can be seen in many shapes. Eventually, the cult of prayer to her and
to God the father became formed into the Rosary. The word originally
means a collection of flowers, or the best selection of science or doctrine.
The chain of pearls in the rosary combines the Lord’s Prayer, the Ave Maria
and the ‘Glory be’.
Not only in medieval, also in modern times and not only in catholic tradition
roses play a part. There is the Martin Luther Rose which is mounted on top of
the steeple of the protestant church in Mössingen, a small town in Southern
Germany. The town has a rose garden dedicated to Bible figures and to
saints, like the apostles, or to Mary Magdalene, also one rose named after St
Elizabeth, countess of Thuringia, who gave bread to the poor, and the bread
turned into roses (I wonder if the poor were pleased about that!), and there is
a rose dedicated to Sophie Scholl, the girl of the German resistance
movement called ‘The White Rose’.
When you next go into a rose garden, you might like to think about the
names of the roses and of those after whom they were named.
Brigitte Williams
(using Andere Zeiten 2/ 2016)
Vestry Notes:
There was no meeting of the Vestry in June 2016 although they had an
“Away Day” on 25 June.
The next meeting will be held on 5 July.
Paula Fleetwood.
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