Full of grace

Mary is a model of openness to God's action in life. She listens to His Word; she is able to discern it and apply it on a daily basis. Discerning the will of God sets her on a beautiful path. Toward the sky.

In the Polish tradition, the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is called the feast of Our Lady of herbs. On that day, the faithful bring bouquets of flowers and herbs to the church, asking for their blessing. Where does this tradition come from?

As Christians, we believe that the Mother of God is not dead but has been carried away body and soul to Heaven, where she shines like a Queen and as the one who intercedes all graces. In one of the apocryphal accounts (an ancient scripture not included in the canon of the Holies Scriptures), we read that on the day of Mary's "falling asleep", the apostles came from different parts of the world to bury her body at the foot of the Mount of Olives. Thomas was not present, the same Thomas who had missed the meeting with the resurrected Jesus at the Cenacle. When he finally arrived, he asked that the tomb be opened. He went inside but did not find Mary's body. In the place where it had been deposited, there were only wreaths of flowers and perfumed lilies. Hence probably the custom of blessing wildflowers and herbs at the Assumption of the Mother of God.

The flowers are beautiful by nature. They also symbolize beauty. Miriam's first name is often translated as " beautiful, wonderful, lady, glorious ". Mary was certainly beautiful in her femininity and motherhood, but Marian celebrations cannot be limited only to purely aesthetic experiences. We need to go one step further... Mary, as the Mother of our Savior, indicates another beauty. It is a beauty of spiritual life. It can only be experienced through openness to God who comes to meet us and invites each of us to enter into a divine-human dialogue. Man's positive response to God's call becomes a source of experience of both the beauty of mankind and Christianity. The truth of the gospel cannot stand loneliness. It wants to share and communicate with others because it took shape in Jesus-Christ. It is dialogical in nature. It is based on mutual communication, dialogue and encounter. There is no doubt that Mary is precisely the model of such openness to the truth of God.

It can be noticed that the blessing of bouquets of flowers and herbs takes place at the end of summer, when the harvests end, and the fruits ripen in the orchards. This image ideally relates to the old age and the feelings that the elderly may have. When, on the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary - perhaps for the first time - we prepare at home a bouquet of flowers and herbs for blessing in the church, let us be sure to think about the mission we must accomplish. This consists in recognizing that the beauty of humanity and spiritual life is hidden in a deep relationship with God and with our loved ones. The relationship with God will always require a double closeness: sacramental, resulting from reflection on God's Word and prayer, but also practical, when we look at another person with kindness and consider him as a sister or a brother.

Father Roman Chromy

Spiritual Advisor for the European Countries of LAI