If perfume remains bottled up and does not impart its fragrance, it has no value: it becomes old and is discarded without fulfilling its end…
“Hush, hush!” chided the priest as he gently tapped the wildflowers dotting the grass along his path with his cane.
This is how St. Paul of the Cross sought to contain his transports of love for God when he set out for a springtime stroll. With neither words nor voice, simply by their charm and their aroma, the delicate meadow flowers spoke to the Saint so eloquently of the infinite perfection of the Creator that he felt obliged to scold them to keep silent in order to contain his enthusiasm…
This small episode testifies how it is “from the greatness and beauty of created things comes a corresponding perception of their Creator” (Wis 13:5), yet there is another aspect that we often tend to overlook: the care with which God created the human body, endowing it with the five senses. Through the senses we have contact with material things, and are able to raise ourselves to those that are supernatural. A splendorous landscape, harmonious sounds, or a well-prepared dish can serve as instruments that point to higher truths.
Take, for example, the fine fragrances produced by human hands. These agreeable substances, produced by the talent and expertise of perfumers, please the sense of smell as well as the soul, especially when they serve as a pretext for our Guardian Angel to inspire good thoughts that prompt reflection on the freshness of purity, on the candour of innocence or the clarity of an upright heart. It is not uncommon, then, for excellent aromas to draw us closer to God, like the chaste spouse of the Song of Songs says: “Your anointing oils are fragrant, your name is oil poured out” (Sg 1:3).
This was surely one of the reasons why, in the Old Testament, God Himself instructed Moses on how to prepare the aromatic mixture for the anointing of the priests and the sacred objects (cf. Ex 30:22-25), as well as the aromatic incense which was to be burned every day, in the morning and afternoon, on the altar of incense (cf. Ex 30:34-36), enabling the faithful to offer Him worthy praise, while being instructed regarding eternal delights.
But if we consider perfume from another perspective we also draw a lesson. Let us envision a refined fragrance in a precious crystal flask. Were it to take on life and begin to think, would it, by chance, opt to remain forever inside its “glass palace”, living out a peaceful life, instead of wafting through the air and filling it with its precious scent? No, clearly it would not, for its very nature is to imbue the surroundings with its aroma.
Now, as baptized souls, we are all “the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing” (2 Cor 2:15). The great vocation of the Christian is to diffuse the sublime odour of Our Lord Jesus Christ throughout the world, reminding others that their destiny is eternity and that their lives should revolve around this truth.
A child of the Church is not like bottled balsam that seeks its own wellbeing and fears to flow out on others. On the contrary! His generous heart is always ready to embark on heroic feats and to flow over with hope and charity. And this outpouring spreads throughout universe, conquering souls for the Kingdom of Heaven and ascending to the throne of God as a sweet-smelling sacrifice. ◊
