XVII 



THE FLOWERS OF THE VIRGIN 



There were many flowers used by the early 

 writers as similes of the Virgin. 



' Thou art the myrtle and the blooming rose of Paradise, 

 Thou art the fairness of heaven, and 

 The feast-day of our hearts,' 



wrote Saint Petrus Damiani in the eleventh 

 century. 



In Saint Bernard we read: 



' Mary is the violet of humility, the lily of 

 chastity and the rose of charity.' 



Conrad von Wiirtzburg compares her to the 

 balsam of purest perfume, the fairest among 

 flowers, the cedar of Lebanon, the cypress of 

 Zion, fennel and mint, the white lily, the early 

 flowering almond, the healing mandrake, the 

 musk-flower, the evergreen myrtle, the low 



nard, the thornless rose in the dew of heaven, 



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