Church Flowers for the Ascension

 

This Thursday, May 9, will be the feast of the Ascension of our Lord.  The liturgical color for the vestments and altar cloths is white.  While that does not mean the flowers must also be white, flowers in the white spectrum do seem most appropriate to Christ's Ascension on clouds of glory.

In my view, tall white flowers such as delphinium, gladiolas, or callas, simply arranged, would be best since they give the sense of reaching upward.

But there are many other white flowers to choose from that can be seen to symbolize the glory and purity of heaven.

In reflecting on how this feast day was historically celebrated at different times and in different places around the world, there is a very enjoyable post at TIA by Rachel L. Lozowski.  The author states:

"The dew that covered the ground on the morning of Ascension Day was held as sacral. The Russians called this dew the tears of the earth that was weeping because of Our Lord's departure. The Dutch rose at dawn to walk through the morning dew in the fields and meadows, a custom called 'dew treading.' The walk ended at a house or inn where the flowers they had gathered decorated the early morning breakfast tables."

 Ascension image:

Andrei Rublev's Ascension icon from Wikimedia Commons.  In the public domain.