RELIGION IN THE PLANT WORLD 
shire, England, the good St. Leonhard once 
battled with a dragon for three whole days. Be- 
fore he was able to slay the monster, the doughty 
warrior was wounded with consequent loss of 
blood. God could not bear to see the life fluid 
of this holy man spilled heedlessly, so trans- 
formed each drop, as it fell, into a Narcissus. 
“Consider the Lilies of the field, how they 
grow; they toil not, neither do they spin; and 
yet I say unto you that even Solomon in all his 
glory was not arrayed like one of these.” This 
is a great tribute to the Lily and it has been 
similarly praised throughout all literature. 
About this lovely flower hang myriads of sacred 
legends and such titles as the “symbol of pur- 
ity,” the “soul of beauty” and “the symbol! of 
peace.” In the lore of the Greeks and the 
Orientals, this matchless flower was hailed with 
the Rose as the “Queen of Heaven.” The Vener- 
able Bede called it the most worthy symbol of 
the Virgin. He said that its pure white petals 
represent her undefiled body and the golden 
stamens her radiant soul shining with god-like 
light. Many old paintings of the Virgin show 
her with a vase of Lilies by her side. 
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