CHRISTMAS DAY 4 - THE LEGEND OF THE CHRISTMAS ROSE

Many years ago, while attending the Festival of Trees, I saw a beautiful tree decorated with White Roses. The tree had been decorated and donated by the family of a young cancer patient who had passed away at Primary Children’s earlier that year – and the girl’s name was Rose. Along with other decorations, was a sign that included The Legend of the Christmas Rose.

                The Festival of Trees started last night, and goes through this weekend, and I hope you get the chance to attend. More that spectacularly beautiful trees, the Festival of Trees has incredible stories. And does incredible good for the thousands of patients that enter their doors every year. I had the incredible opportunity to work on the PCMC project when the hospital was being built in 1989, and even now the amazing work being done there touches my heart.

                So tonight I share with you The Legend of the Christmas Rose – and invite you to the Festival of Trees too:

The Legend of The Christmas Rose

Christmas is the season of giving gifts, thereby, showing love towards one another. This does not mean that the gifts are the sole expression of your love. No gift is costlier or more valuable than something that that comes straight from the heart even if the gift in question is inconsequential. The tradition of gifts during Christmas originated from the kind gestures of the three Wise Men who brought expensive presents for the Infant Jesus to welcome him into this world. Since then, people have made gifts a mandate for Christmas. But, this must be remembered, as the legend of Christmas Rose will show you, that the gesture counts more than the gift. Perhaps, this legend originated just to teach people that, no matter what you gift, it must be from the heart and soul - even if the gift in question is just a flower. It is owing to this legend that the Christmas rose, the flower which only blooms during the chill of winter, has become an important part of Yuletide celebrations.

The Legend:

On a cold December night, everybody was coming to see their new Savior and brought Him all kinds of gifts and presents. The three Wise Men came in with their valuable gifts of myrrh, frankincense and gold and offered them to Baby Jesus. At that point, a shepherdess, Madelon, who had seen the wise men passing through, reached the door of the stable, to see the Child. However, being very poor and having brought nothing to offer to the child, she felt helpless and started weeping quietly at the sight of all the wonderful gifts that the Three Wise Men had got for the child. Earlier, she had searched, in vain, for flowers all over the countryside but there was not even a single bloom to be found in the bitter winter.

An angel outside the door was watching over her and knew about her fruitless search. He took pity on her and, when he saw her head drooped down in sorrow, decided to help her with a little miracle. He gently brushed aside the snow at her feet and where her tears had fallen, sprang a beautiful cluster of waxen white winter roses with pink tipped petals. Then he softly whispered into the shepherdess's ear that these Christmas roses are far more valuable than any myrrh, frankincense or gold, for they are pure and made of love. The maiden was pleasantly surprised when she heard those words and joyfully gathered the flowers and offered them to the Holy Infant, who, seeing that the gift was reared with tears of love, smiled at her with gratitude and satisfaction. Thus, the Christmas rose came to symbolize hope, love and all that is wonderful in this season.

The song is “Lo! How A Rose E'er Blooming” sung by Charlotte Church