THE WAY OF BEAUTY

 

"And there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up out of his root." Isaiah 11:1

Christ was born into a family – God Himself chose to embrace our physical nature in the most definitive way possible – by being conceived in the womb of a mortal woman and by developing into an adult in the same manner as all of us, in the context of a family.

The family is a school of beauty as well as love and virtue:

“The way of beauty … is also the precursor for the way of goodness and the way of truth. Beauty is sweet order and harmony, even when it is depicting ugliness. All the senses can delight in the perception of something good and beautiful – smell, a flower, incense, touch, sight sound music. The child’s environment can be an education in beauty for him.”

(David Clayton and Leila Marie Lawler, "The Little Oratory, a Beginner's Guide to Praying in the Home," at p.17)

The blessing of flowers on this feast day derives from the legend that the Apostles found Our Lady’s tomb filled with flowers and redolent with a beautiful perfume. The Feast Day table and home altar, (if you have one, or if you want to start one), can be set in colours of blue and white, with Our Lady’s flowers, which include lilies, marigolds and a vast number of beautiful flowers, but, most especially, the Rose. The Fleur-de-lis is symbolic of Our Lady and particularly, this Feast Day. The meal emphasises herbs, fruit and flowers.

FIRST FRUITS – RECIPES AND CUSTOMS

Death is a consequence of original sin and Our Lady’s Immaculate Conception dictates that she was born without original sin so, it follows that she was assumed into heaven. The Feast Day of the Assumption is a Holy Day of Obligation and belief in Our Lady’s Assumption, body and soul, is mandatory for Catholics, having been proclaimed ex cathedra by Pope Pius XII in 1950. Like all the dogma upon which pronouncements have been made infallibly, belief in the Assumption dates from the earliest centuries of Christianity and has never been under dispute within the Church. What was disputed was whether Our Lady died and was assumed bodily into heaven or whether, as the Orthodox believe, she merely fell asleep and, in her Dormition, was carried up into Heaven.

The early Church venerated Mary as a virgin and many of the liturgies referred to her as “Immaculate”, spoke of her assumption into heaven and implored her intercession. The Sub Tuum, familiar to us today as the final Antiphon after Mass and the Antiphon at the close of Compline, was recorded on papyrus dating from 3rd century. It is older than the Hail Mary and was sung by Catholics seeking protection from persecution. Its lyrics, in Latin and English, are as follows:

SUB TUUM

Sub tuum presidium confugimus;

Sancta Dei Genetrix; nostras deprecationes,

Ne despicias, in necessitatibus

Sed a periculis cunctis,

Libera nos semper

Virgo gloriosa et benedicta

We fly to your protection, O holy Mother of God,

Despise not our petitions, but deliver us from all dangers,

in our necessities,

O glorious and blessed Virgin Mary.