X 



THORNS 



Thorns and thorn branches signify in general 

 grief and tribulation, the word tribulation itself 

 being derived from a Latin root signifying 

 thistles or briars. But, according to Saint 

 Thomas Aquinas, thorn bushes signify the 

 minor sins, and growing briars or brambles 

 those greater ones, ' quae pungunt conscientiam 

 propriam,' etc. 



He is supported in his opinion by Saint 

 Anselm, and both saints explain in this sense 

 the words of Saint Paul, who wrote to the 

 Hebrews : 



* That which beareth thorns and briars is 

 rejected and is nigh unto cursing, whose end is 

 to be burned.' 



The crown of thorns with which jesting 

 soldiers crowned the Christ was in itself an 

 emblem, or at least a parody, of an emperor's 

 festal rose-crown. According to The History 



J26 



