June 



107 



FLAX. 



threads 

 by means 

 ofacomb, 

 to separ- 

 ate the 

 coa r se r 

 fibres 

 and leave 

 the fi n e 

 strands 

 which are 

 fit for weaving 

 purposes. 



The severe 

 processes re- 

 quired to make 

 the stems into 



material for the loom have led to the 

 flax-plant being used as an emblem of 

 the Divine puposes of earthly trials. 

 The Venerable Bede thus speaks of it : 

 ' The flax springs from the earth green 

 and flourishing ; but through much 

 rough usage, and with the loss of all 

 its native sap and verdure, is at last trans- 

 figured into raiment white as snow ; thus 

 the more that true holiness is tried and 

 afflicted the more brightly does its beauty 

 come forth.' 



I must add one other thought in con- 

 nection with this plant. The simple little 

 lamp of sun-dried clay used by the village 

 people in Palestine, is filled with olive oil, 

 and burns by means of a few fibres of flax 



