In Umberto Eco´ s Foucault´s Pendulum

there is a statement saying that the rose was "adopted by the Church of Rome as a symbol of the mother of the Savior."

The rose is presented as the symbolic flower of the "Rosicrucians", presented by their member Dante in his Divine Comedy.

 

(Let´s disregard the occultists´ usual method of usurpation

for a moment. They claim that a long line of the geniuses of history were "Rosicrucians" and so they write a "secret" world history. They move people and things away from their Christian context and so de-christianize the message.)

 

But what´s really behind the Catholic Rose ?

 

The meaning of the symbol dates back to the Bible.

(Here cited from the Douay-Rheims Translation, which preserves the Vulgate and so the most ancient tradition)

 

1. Isaias 11,1

 

"And there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse:

and a flower shall rise up out of his root"

(rod=Mary,flower=Jesus)

 

2. Song of Songs 2,1 f

 

"I am the flower of the field, and the lily of the valleys.

As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters."

(traditions says: rose among thorns, Jewish Study Bible says: I am the rose of Sharon (lit. crocus)

 

3. Ecclesiasticus 24,18 (14)

 

"I was exalted like a palm tree in Cades, and as a rose plant in Jericho."

 

Tradition sees Mary as the rose plant and Jesus as the rose flower.

Here are earliest proofs:

After the Catacombs of Callixtus (rose=paradise), and Cyprian, Ep. 10 (rose=martyrdom) - the MARIAN interpreation dates to the 5th century: Sedulus Caelius (Carmen paschale II, 28-31). He calls Mary the "rose among thorns". Thephanes Graptos (845) uses the symbol for Mary´s purity and the fragrance of her grace (Oktoechos, Friday, 6th week).

Tertullian (Adv. Judaeos, 9) and Ambrosius (Exp. Gr. Luc. II, 24) interpret the root as a reference the Davidic descent, the sprout (virga, bush) is Mary, and Christ is the flower (rose).

The Middle Ages refer to another text, when they use the mystical rose: Ecclesiasticus (3.) means for them God-graced fertility and growth. They see the mysterious generation of Christ from the womb of Mary.

They also mention the rose and rosebush from Isaiah (1.)

- led by Tertullian and Ambrosius.

 

Later the Litany of Loreto speaks of the Rosa Mystica.

It is used in hymns ("Es ist ein Ros..") and Art (centre of the Chartres labyrinth). - Let´s not forget the rosary !

 

- Even in Protestantism, when Luther creates his Rose Cross coat of arms and later Andreae follows him with his "Rosicrucian" symbol, its meaning stays within the limits of Christian meaning. But the connection to Mary and Jesus is left out.