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Folklore of the Virgin

© Virginia Marin

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This riddle, Cuddy, if thou can'st, explain -

What flower is that which bears the Virgin's name,

The richest metal joined with the same?

(John Gay from The Shepherd's Week)

In 1951, Mary's Garden was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to undertake research on flowers associated with the Blessed Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus. It also involved the planting of Mary Gardens, which showcases flowers of the Virgin. Folklorist, botanists and other disciplines were involved in the project.

BUT...

Why should the Virgin Mary be associated with folklore? To reconcile this, one might ask:

WHAT is folklore? At this site, there are many definitions from which to choose, but in general folklore is a collection of stories, beliefs, traditions, art, mores, adornment, religious beliefs and celebrations of a culture. These and any other areas form a group identity that can be defined by age, region, occupation, gender, ethnicity or religion.

In 1938, folklore was defined by the folklorist Ben Botkin as a group bound together by common interests and purposes which possess a body of traditions which may be called folklore.

Into these groups fall Folklore of the Virgin. One famous story catalogues the lore of pilgrimages to Lourdes:

In 1858, Bernadette Soubirous, a simple peasant girl, claimed that the Virgin Mary had appeared to her on eighteen occasions. Though her tales were not taken seriously at first, investigations failed to shake her narratives. After miraculous healings were attributed to the the water from a spring at the Virgin's apparition site, ecclesiastical recognition was obtained and Bernadette was canonized a saint in 1933. At the Virgin's grotto is always a profusion of flowers.

Other major apparitions of the Virgin have been recorded by seers who professed to have had this supernatural encounter. In all instances, flowers were associated with the phenomenon, particularly roses.

In medieval times, these visions and lore were gathered by monks who were known as monastic chroniclers.

A Dominican monk, St. Dominic, who himself was visited by the Virgin, instituted devotion of the Rosary to Mary. He recognized roses as being emblematic of the Virgin, and indicated separate prayers and thoughts on tiny roses. And May, the month dedicated to Mary, was originally sacred to Flora, the Roman goddess of flowers.

Flowers associated with Mary are deeply intertwined with ancient folklore, which has its roots long before Christianity began. In pagan lore, all gods and goddesses had at least one flower or plant which served as an

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