Miracle of the roses

This contrast inspired the Christian Latin poet Coelius Sedulius, who wrote (between 430 and 450) a very elaborate comparison between Eve and Mary.

He illustrated the parallelism already made by Justin Martyr (around 150) and developed it in a deep poetic and doctrinal liturgical teaching in his Easter song, Carmen paschal.

It became a symbol in religious writing and iconography in different images and settings, to invoke a variety of intellectual and emotional responses.

The third-century Saint Ambrose believed that there were roses in the Garden of Eden, initially without thorns, but which became thorny after the fall, and came to symbolize Original Sin itself.

With the rise of Marian devotion and the Gothic cathedral in the twelfth century, the image of the rose became even more prominent in religious life.

The thirteenth century Saint Dominic is credited with the institution of the Rosary, a series of prayers to the Virgin, symbolized by garlands of roses worn in Heaven.

[4] In Western Europe, the best-known version of a miracle of the roses concerns Saint Elizabeth of Hungary (also called Elisabeth of Thuringia), the daughter of King Andrew II of Hungary, who spent most of her life living with her in-laws in Germany (a ruling family of Thuringia), who kept court at Wartburg Castle.

[6] It has been suggested that the legend originated in a sermon given by Caesarius of Heisterbach in which he reflects on the occasion of the translation of the remains of Saint Elizabeth, in 1236.

Ludwig opens her mantle, and to his surprise (in some versions this takes place in the dead of winter) finds her carrying a bouquet of roses.

Married to the profligate King Denis of Portugal, she, like her great-aunt, showed great devotion at an early age, and likewise was charitable toward the poor, against the wishes of her husband.

Reportedly occurring in 1531,[20] the booklet tells the story of a native inhabitant of Mexico named Juan Diego, who receives a message from the Virgin Mary in a vision he is to convey to the local bishop to build her a shrine: "Here I will hear their weeping, their sorrow and will remedy and alleviate all their multiple sufferings, necessities and misfortunes."

When Juan opens his mantle, the flowers spill out, revealing an image of the Virgin miraculously that appeared on Diego's cloak.

However, when her relative went to the house, a single blooming rose was found in the garden, as well as a fully ripened and edible fig.

He added that Saint Rita spiritually offers her rose to each of those he addressed as an exhortation to "live as witnesses to a hope that never disappoints and as missionaries of a life that conquers death".

During her novitiate, she was assigned kitchen duties and found it difficult to drain the water from the pot filled with potatoes due to her increasing weakness.

She then heard the voice of the Lord saying to her, "I change such hard work of yours into bouquets of most beautiful flowers, and their perfume rises up to My throne.