132 FLORAL SYMBOLISM 



has no thorns, for then it illustrates her title, 

 * rosa sine spina' 



The Roman Breviary likens the Virgin to 

 the burning thorn bush in which Jehovah re- 

 vealed Himself to Moses and the simile was 

 cited by Bishop Proclus in a Mary-sermon 

 preached in the fifth century. Though en- 

 wrapped in the all-consuming flame of divine 

 love, she yet remains unharmed. It is only in 

 German art that this simile has been pictorially 

 translated. German artists were familiar with 

 the idea through Conrad von Wiirtzburg's 

 apostrophe to the Virgin: 



' In the thorn bush on the bare field 

 Moses, the hero of God 

 Saw in a glow of bright fire 

 The birth of our Saviour foreshadowed. 

 In the blast of the flame 

 It remained unaltered 

 As if neither leaf nor twig 

 Perceived the death-giving blaze. 

 In this we may recognize 

 The fuU magnificence of thy maidenhood.' ^ 



And we find this burning Thorn Bush with the 

 Ivory Tower, the Sealed Fountain, the Fleece 



' Der Goldene Schmiede. 



I 



