Mary's Star (the daffodil)

 

Another flower associated with the upcoming feast of the Annunciation in the old English table of flowers is the daffodil (genus narcissus).  The genus narcissus includes many species including what is commonly referred to as narcissus as well as paper whites and yellow jonquils (depicted below).

 

 

Several internet sites proclaim that the daffodil is "Mary's Star" but do not offer a story to explain the association.   It seems quite possible, however -- given the shape and white or yellow color of the blossoms -- that the connection is to the 12 stars that make up Mary's crown.

The source for Mary being crowned with 12 stars is the New Testament Book of the Apocalypse or Revelation. Written by the Apostle John, it refers in verse 12:1 to the “great sign of the woman in the sky, … clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.”

 

St. Bonaventure preached a sermon on another Marian feast day -- the Assumption -- where he connected the twelve stars to twelve attributes of Mary that might be summarized as follows:

1.       Freedom from sin

2.       Purity

3.       Fullness of grace

4.       Perfect knowledge of God

5.       Perfect virtue of charity

6.       Excellence in acts of charity

7.       Exaltation above all other pure creatures

8.       Embodiment of dignity

9.       Childbirth without suffering

10.     Virgin and mother

11.      Highest dignity as the Mother of God

12.     Mother of God in the flesh and mother of men and women in the spirit

Thus, twelve daffodils divided into two small vases with some slender foliage might make a simple but very meaningful altar flower arrangement for March 25.

Source for text about 12 stars:  Johann G. Roten, S.M., "What is the Twelve-Star Devotion?"

Images:

Dolci's Madonna.  From Wikimedia Commons.  In the public domain.

Yellow daffodils.  From Wikimedia Commons.  Click for license.