Solomon was renowned for his wisdom. The lily, however, surpasses this monarch in symbolic value because it evokes Her who, having emptied herself, was clothed with divinity.
It is another day of preaching by the Divine Master. On a mountaintop, near Lake Tiberias, with words full of unction, Jesus reveals how His true followers should be. When the sermon ends, everyone descends, wonderstruck.
In the midst of the moving crowd, one of the disciples meditates on what he has just heard. A certain sentence especially captures his attention: “Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these” (Mt 6:28-29).
The more he reflects on it, the more forcefully a question arises within him: “Among the flowers created, the only one to receive praise from the Rabbi was the lily. Why this preference?”
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Examples taken from nature are used innumerable times in Sacred Scripture to symbolize higher realities, for the visible world is a reflection of God himself. And when He created this flower, He did so in view of very lofty objectives, one of which was to represent the beauty and purity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
“As a lily among brambles, so is my love among maidens” (Ct 2:2). The number of petals on this flower represents the threefold relationship of Our Lady to the Most Holy Trinity: She is the beloved Daughter of the Father, the loving Mother of the Son and the fair Spouse of the Holy Spirit.
The variety of colours with which the Divine Artist has adorned this flower leaves us uncertain as to which of them is more beautiful. This is how Mary appears to us: as we get to know her exquisite virtues, we do not know which of them we love more.
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The scent of the lily is incomparable! Its fragrance seems to restore innocence! Now, the sanctity of the Queen of the Universe is the Lord’s favourite perfume. It enraptures the Angels in ardent charity, invigorates the strength of the elect and pierces the most hardened hearts.
From the beginning, God chose Mary to be His Beloved, His Spouse and His Queen. He established her Immaculate Heart as the ark in which are deposited excellent gifts and graces. In Her, the Creator descended to earth; and in Her, in the same way, creatures ascend to Heaven. In Mary takes place the victory over the serpent proclaimed in the Protoevangelium – “She shall crush thy head” (Gn 3:15) – and reaffirmed at Fatima: “In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph!”
Solomon was renowned for his wisdom; the magnates of his time feared and honoured him. The lily, however, surpasses this monarch in symbolic value because it evokes Her who, having emptied herself, was clothed with divinity. The Book of Revelation attempts to describe the greatness of this Lady when it tells of “a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars” (12:1).
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The ardent disciple was now only a few streets away from his home. Just then, his eyes caught sight of a certain Lady of discreet and modest appearance, but brimming with distinction. It was the Master’s Mother! Then, unexpectedly, the gaze of the Noble Lady rested penetratingly on that follower, clarifying the ideas that had been passing through his soul along the way. From that moment on, his heart was set continually on Mary.
Let us do as he did. If we follow our loving Mother with fidelity, we shall see her Reign spring forth like a lily from the mud of the contemporary world; that is to say, in the midst of an age of horrors beyond measure, we shall witness the emergence of the most beautiful era of history. God will incline over the earth as if embracing it, and men will be lifted up until they touch Heaven, as it were.
This is what Our Lady wishes to grant us, if we remain faithful to her love. ◊
