IS FLORES DE MAYO BIBLICAL?

The flowers of the Holy Land here beautifully blooming in one of the valleys in Nazareth, around the Sea of Galilee. Inset far below shows another pictures of the flowers of the Northern Israel which is the same area. Then, the second inset shows Mary as the Virgin of Nazareth carrying a Rose because she is the Rose of Sharon, the Lily of the Valley of the Holy Land. NO WOMAN IN ISRAEL CAN CLAIM TO BE THE ROSE OF SHARON AND THE LILY OF THE VALLEY. Only Mary fits the bill. She is MARY OF NAZARETH.

Anonymous said...

Dear Father,

Good evening Father, thank you so mutch to your very nice answer. Father iba nanang tanong,Ano ba tong FLORES DE MAYO is thise an offecial doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church?And is this found on the bible?

Thank you and God bless us all...

February 9, 2010 8:46 PM

Fr. Abe, CRS said...

Welcome Brother.

About the Flores de Mayo. It is not an official doctrine but a pious practice which is of course Biblical.

Flores de Mayo is Spanish. The English is Flowers of May. But it is basically the Catholic devotion of offering the beautiful flowers of the Spring time [April-May] to remind us of the love story between Christ and His Church and of the Holy Women whose lives were like a fragrant flowers offered to God. The Biblical imagery of flowers in Spring time is very beautiful and is the source of many deep Christian Spirituality and Mysticism as these passages from SONG OF SONGS:

Song 1:14 "My beloved is unto me as a cluster of henna–flowers in the vineyards of En–gedi."

Song 2:12 "The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;"

The Book of Songs or Canticle of Canticles of Solomon speaks of a love story between God and the human soul. Here God is presented as a Male Lover, a handsome King and a Bridegroom while the human soul is presented as a Virgin, Pure and Beautiful Maiden.

Even though for Catholic theology that maiden refers to the Church and to every soul thirsting for God we cannot deny that the first lover of Christ among the Christian believers is the Blessed Virgin Mary. She is the Virgin model of Christian purity of heart whose body and soul have been offered to God. That is why as the Song of Songs speaks of a Beloved Girl the Gospel of Luke speaks of Mary as "lubos na pinakamamahal ng Dios" [Lucas 1:28 Ang Biblia]. The literal English translation of which is "The Most Beloved of God". In other Bible translations it is rendered "full of grace" [Douay-Rheims Version] or "highly favored" [King James Version].

Mary loved Jesus more than her life because allowing herself to become pregrant not caused by her husband is punishable by death. She loved Jesus more than Joseph because she was ready to be rejected by Joseph for the sake of the Messiah. She loved the Lord more than family because she was ready to be forsaken or abandon by her family if ever she will be found pregnant prior to the wedding. Thus, Mary has the right to the claim of being the First Virgin beloved of God and loved Him in return. Thus, she has the right to exclaim:

Songs 2:1 "I am a Rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys."

Indeed, Mary lived in Nazareth a place famous for flowers such as lilies and roses being near the lake and also near the valleys. Thus the prophecy:

Isaiah 35:1 "The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the ROSE."

has been fulfilled in Israel at the coming of the Messiah, in the Church because of the graces given by the Messiah and of course in Mary because she is the Rose [the Virgin] in whom the Messiah burst forth like a shoot. Thus she is also filled with the 'Fullness of Grace'.

Thus, the spring flowers remind us of Mary and she in turn reminds us of our love of God. Thus, every May we gather flowers, then go to the Church or Chapel, and offer these flowers before the Altar of God and the venerated image of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Many parishes are even organizing beautiful cantatas, fluvial processions and Santa Cruzan [in the Philippines] to highlight this pious and beautiful devotion. But the most popular practice celebrating this is the recitation of the Holy Rosaries either at homes or at churches.

The practice gain widespread popularity due to St. Philip Neri who propagated this devotion and many Popes did the same.

March 16, 2010 3:47 PM