The Legend of the Christmas Rose.

Christmas, a time for giving and showing your love to each other. Now this doesn’t mean spending a load of money on the type of gifts that some people seem to think are the way to express your love. The greatest gift of love you can give to someone comes not from a shop or a wallet but from the heart. Nothing is more valuable or means more than the gift of your true love to another.

At this time of year it has been suggested that the tradition of gift giving started when the three wise men brought expensive presents to welcome Jesus into the world and ever since then people have given gifts to one another to celebrate the event. However, we should all remember that it’s the thought that counts, that single gesture should be considered more valuable than the cost of the gift itself.

There is a legend that shows you the importance of this message, it tells us that no matter what the gift, even something as simple as a single flower if given from the heart and soul is a truly wonderful way of saying “I love you”.  It is because of this that the legend of the Christmas Rose which blooms during the cold winter has become an important part of the Yuletide tradition.  Here follows the legend of:

 

The Christmas Rose.

 

Once upon a cold December night a large group of people were going to see a new born child. It was said that he had been born to be the saviour and they were bringing him all kinds of gifts and presents to welcome him into the world. There were three wise men who brought with them expensive gifts of Myrrh, Frankincense and Gold and these they laid at the feet of the new born child whose name was Jesus.

Watching all of this was a shepherdess, she had seen the three wise men passing by and she followed them to where the child had been born. To her surprise she saw it to be a stable. Reaching the door of the stable she looked in to see the child that everyone was talking about however, being very poor she had nothing to offer the child. She had tried to find something to give, she had searched all over for a flower but nothing bloomed in the cold of winter. She felt worthless and started to cry for she saw all the wonderful gifts that the wise men had given to the child.

An angel was watching over her and knew about her fruitless search and took pity on her. The angel saw her head bowed down in sorrow and decided to help her with a little miracle. Brushing aside the snow that lay at the young girl’s feet where her tears had fallen the angel showed her a bunch of waxen white winter roses with pink tipped petals. The angel gently whispered into the shepherdesses ear that these Christmas roses were far more valuable than all the myrrh, frankincense and gold in the world for they were pure and made of love. The young girl was filled with joy and happiness when she heard these words and gathered the flowers and offered them to the Holy infant. When the child saw that her gift had been reared with tears of love he smiled at her with gratitude and satisfaction. For this reason it is said that the Christmas rose symbolises hope, love and all that is wonderful at this time of year.