Two of the main symbols of Christmas are the Manger or Crib and the Glastonbury Rose.
The Crib is of course the bed for the newborn Savior King and as such it is the primary symbol. The secular Santa's sleigh pales in comparison, yet how many Catholics place an empty Crib under the Christmas Tree or on a suitably arranged table, rather than the ubiquitous sleigh filled with candy?
The Glastonbury Rose is both the symbol for the Mother of God and for the Infant King, Who didst come to earth to be crowned with thorns as part of His Passion and Death whereby He renders atonement to God the Father for the sins of men, in order to win their redemption. The Glastonbury rose is an exquisite flower, without comparison, but it also bears the sharpest of thorns, like those that were plaited into Our Lord's Passion crown. Moreover, just as the Epiphany, which means manifestation, can be said to point to the Savior, so does this special Rose, which blooms just before dawn on January 6, the Feast of Epiphany. Nothing is coincidental with God.
Before the Glastonbury rose came to be, Christians drew Mystical roses like a pointed star and crafted beautiful stain glass windows, depicting the Rose. They still do. Some quilters work entire quilts with the theme and there is a Mystical Rose quilt template.
As you now know, if you did not before visiting this directory, the false belief system and practices of paganism tend to use Catholic symbols but in a crude and sometimes blasphemous manner. We saw this with "Halloween". The Glastonbury Rose has also been "borrowed" by the pagans who use it as a symbol in some of their tarot card readings, etc. In fact, there are now more pagan sites featuring this rose than there are Catholic ones. We hope this page will help in some small way to make up for this lack, and, insult to Heaven. |
