Traditionally, the general rule is that there should be no altar
flowers during Advent, although evergreens may be placed in the
sanctuary. This is because it is a solemn season of preparation for
Christmas. The season's penitential nature can be seen in its liturgical color, which is violet.
The booklet A Handbook for the Sacristan by Rev. William A. O'Brien, M.A. published in 1932 states, "The altar is not decorated with flowers or other ornaments during Advent, except on the third Sunday, or 'Gaudete' Sunday, and Christmas Eve." (page 58)
As the Sacristan Handbook states, an exception to the general rule is made for the Third Sunday, called "Gaudete". Its name comes from the first word of the introit of the day's Mass -- in English "rejoice" ("Rejoice in the Lord always . . .".) Gaudete Sunday anticipates the joy of Christmas.
On Gaudete,
rose-colored vestments are worn. Therefore, a pair of vases filled
with pink roses or pink carnations is appropriate. Because of the solemnity of the overall season, some sources suggest that this should be a restrained
presentation and no more than two vases should be used. (See e.g. Katharine Morrison McClinton, Flower Arrangements in the Church (1958), Morehouse-Gorham Co., New York, p. 92.)
As
for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, the liturgical color is
white. As far as I know, there is no prohibition against honoring Our Lady with altar flowers on this Holy Day. A prohibition seems unlikely since even during Lent when altar flowers are forbidden, an exception is made for the Feast of the Annunciation.
That being said, it might be best to just use very nice foliage. According
to an old English "table of flowers" for feast days, the appropriate foliage for the Immaculate Conception is arbor vitae (pictured above). In any event, one should attempt to
maintain the sense of restraint appropriate to the season.
Image: From Wikimedia Commons. (Click for license.)
9 comments:
Hi, Marie-Jacqueline,
I am reading this post on the use of flowers in Advent with interest, but I am a little frustrated that I would not know where to start to get arbor vitae in Chicago. I had the great privilege to help with getting the flowers (not arranging them) in Guadalajara, Mexico. Someday you must go there to their flower market. It is several BLOCKS large, of different stands of sellers, and there is every possible kind of flower. I do not know the name of them in English, I could only point in Spanish if you know what I mean. I got flowers, but did not know their name.
Now in Chicago I get flowers from Jewel Osco and Mariano's. I tried to find some central delivery place, if not a market, but I could not. How do you go about finding flowers short of growing them yourself? (My little condo is already jampacked.)
I am loving all I'm reading! I am going to share the blog with my fellow flower arrangers at Our Lady Immaculate in Oak Park. Thank you so much for your attention to this special topic, an activity both spiritual and creative.
Hi Jan, Thank you for your comment. I think arbor vitae is actually pretty easy to find -- sometimes even in supermarkets where it is sold with a selection of greenery to be added to flower arrangements. Try asking at the floral section of your local big chain supermarket or a florist who might sell you some stems without having to buy the other greenery.
I updated this post today because I realized that when I initially published it in 2013 I did not cite a source for the statement that the traditional rule is no altar flowers during Advent.
I also removed the content specific to 2013.
Best wishes to all church flower arrangers who visit this post.
Hi, Marie-Jacqueline,
Do you have a source for the table of flowers for feast days? I am putting together a liturgical year suggested decoration guide for my church, and this would be very helpful! Thank you!
Hello Paul, Thanks for your inquiry. I believe the reference to the table of flowers was in one of my vintage church flower books. I don't think the entire table was there but I'm not sure. I will need a few days to access the books and try to find the reference. I will do that and post a comment with the information. Best wishes for your project. It sounds excellent!
Hello again Paul, As it turned out, it was not as difficult as I'd expected to find the source. The entire old English table of flowers is in Katherine Morrison McClinton's Flower Arrangement in the Church (copyright 1944 or 1945). There are various printings of the book. The one I have was printed in 1958. There the table is at pages 44-47. It looks like a couple of the older editions are available at Internet Archive. There might be a recent edition in paperback format but I would imagine it has been edited quite a bit.
Recently I have added links to Gemma's flower arrangements to this post and done other minor edits. Today I clarified the statement about only using two vases on Gaudete by providing the source from one of my vintage church flowers books. I wanted to make sure readers understand that this is a matter of opinion. I do not know of any official church prohibition on using more than two vases.
What flowers do you suggest for Christmas? I was thinking of just white and maybe adding some Madonna lilies in as they are trumpet shaped and would suit declaring Our Lord has arrived. But then I also wondered about putting in some yellow/gold flowers to link it Biblically to for Our Lords Divinity, Glory, divine glory and judgement, the hope we find in Christ. I’ve recently taken over doing the chapels flowers (I pay for them myself as the church is badly in need of building work so I don’t want to ask for money) but my priest loves that I’m using flowers to evangelise the parishioners and to promote different devotions (we are a NO parish but after my Sacred Heart flowers numerous parishioners have since taking up a devotion to the Sacred Heart - same with May Crowning, the Precious Blood etc) as I try to keep the flowers in the liturgical colours to especially highlight the colours for the kids but I also like to do a display linked to each of the churches monthly devotions when appropriate
Hello Anonymous,
Thank you for your comment. There is a link list on the right side of the page which includes a post on flowers for Christmas. I really like your idea about white flowers including Madonna lilies.
You sound like a terrific church flower arranger! It would be good if you would put up a blog with photos and commentaries about your arrangements. Gemma did that at my suggestion and it worked out very well. I would be very happy to link to your posts.
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