Although I've always loved the beautiful Easter Lily, I've often wondered why and how it came to be associated with Easter. Yesterday, my wonderful friend, Melanie Wilkes, posted a picture of her dining table with a beautiful arrangement of Easter Lilies around a statue of an angel with a trumpet.
With regard to her personal love of the Easter Lily, she said, "The shut tight pod of the Easter lily could represent the grave. We wait and wait for it to open. Sometimes we get one that we think is never going to open!...and then it bursts open, almost when you aren't looking, like a trumpet heralding the opening of the grave. It's the loudest, happiest flower in nature."
What a beautiful image: the bud of the lily is a trumpet, that swells, and swells, then bursts open (ideally on Easter Morning) as a glorious trumpet heralding the opening of the tomb. As stated in Moses 6:63," ...ALL things have their likeness...All things bear record of me."
Doing some research online, I found the following description of the Easter Lily:
For many, the
beautiful trumpet-shaped white flowers symbolize purity, virtue, innocence,
hope and life—the spiritual essence of Easter.
History, mythology, literature, poetry and the
world of art are rife with stories and images that speak of the beauty and
majesty of the elegant white flowers. Often called the “white-robed apostles of
hope,” lilies were found growing in the Garden of Gethsemane after Christ’s
agony. Tradition has it that the beautiful white lilies sprung up where drops of
Christ’s sweat fell to the ground in his final hours of sorrow and deep
distress. Churches continue this tradition at Easter time by banking their
altars and surrounding their crosses with masses of Easter Lilies, to
commemorate the resurrection of Jesus Christ and hope of life everlasting.
A mark of purity and grace throughout the ages,
the regal white lily is a fitting symbol of the greater meaning of Easter.
Gracing millions of homes and churches, the flowers embody joy, hope and life.
Whether given as a gift or enjoyed in your own home, the Easter Lily, along
with other Easter blooms,
serves as a beautiful reminder that Easter is a time for rejoicing and
celebrating.
The following poem by Louise Lewin Matthews
captures the spiritual essence of the Easter lily:
Easter morn with lilies fair
Fills the church with perfumes rare,
As their clouds of incense rise,
Sweetest offerings to the skies.
Stately lilies pure and white
Flooding darkness with their light,
Bloom and sorrow drifts away,
On this holy hallow’d day.
Easter Lilies bending low
in the golden afterglow,
Bear a message from the sod
To the heavenly towers of God.
I was impressed by the symbolism of the Angel sounding his trumpet, as stated in D&C 45: 45 But before the arm of the Lord shall fall, an angel shall sound his trump, and the saints that have slept shall come forth to meet me in the cloud. I thought this would be a great tradition for our family to start, as well, so I went out looking for an Angel Statue today. I couldn't find an Angel statue with a trumpet, but I did find two beautiful pieces of art:
I am grateful for the knowledge that I have that my Redeemer lives, and that he is MY advocate with the Father, as described in D&C 45:3-5:
Listen to him who is the advocate with the Father, who is pleading your cause before him—Saying: Father, behold the sufferings and death of him who did no sin, in whom thou wast well pleased; behold the blood of thy Son which was shed, the blood of him whom thou gavest that thyself might be glorified;Wherefore, Father, spare these my brethren that believe on my name, that they may come unto me and have everlasting life.
These are the words of hope and love from our beloved Brother, the cause of our rejoicing.
Happy Easter!
No comments:
Post a Comment