VII 



GARLANDS OF ROSES 



* Let us crown ourselves with rose-buds,' ' 

 cried the revellers in the Book of Wisdom/and 

 at Roman feasts host and guests alike wore 

 roses on their hair or in garlands round their 

 necks. 



So in the heavenly mansions, where life Jj is 

 a perpetual feast, unfading roses crown |the 

 elect. Wreaths of roses are the symbol of 

 heavenly joy and are worn alike by angels and 

 by the human souls who have entered bliss. 



An early Christian prisoner dreamt that|he 

 was already in Heaven: 



* Towards us ran one of the twin children 

 who, three days before, had been decapitated 

 with their mother. A wreath of vermihon 

 roses encircled his neck and in his right hand he 

 held a green and fresh palm.' "" 



' The Wisdom of Solomon ii. 8. 



2 Passio S.S. Jacohi, Mariani et aliorum martyrum in 

 Numidia. 



88 



