52 FLORAL SYMBOLISM 



body; the golden anthers her soul within, shin- 

 ing with celestial light. 



According to Petrus Cantius, cantor of the 

 Cathedral School of Paris in the early part of 

 the thirteenth century, the lily represented the 

 daughter of Joachim herself, by reason of its 

 whiteness, its aroma, delectable above all others, 

 its curative virtues, and finally because it springs 

 from uncultivated soil as the Virgin was the issue 

 of Jewish parents. 



As to its curative virtues, it may be added 

 that an anonymous English monk, writing in 

 the thirteenth century, prescribes the lily as a 

 sovereign remedy for burns; and for the reason 

 that ' it is a figure of the Madonna, who also 

 cures burns, that is, the vices or burns of the 

 soul.' ' 



But though theologians occasionally used 

 the lily as a symbol of virginity, before the 

 eleventh century we do not find it associated 

 with the Mother of Christ pictorially, either as 

 her emblem or her attribute. There are no lilies 

 in the Catacombs, and those in the early mosaics 

 are decorative, or symbols of the joy of Heaven. 



' J. K Huysraans, La Cathedvale. 



