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 ...