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A Brief History of Christmas Roses

Ezine - 02/16/2012

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The Christmas Rose has long been celebrated as an integral part of the Holiday celebrations. While the connection between the Christmas Rose and the birth of Christ might not be boldly apparent, these beautiful holiday flowers maintain a colorful history. One of the earliest known references to this flower is contained in a Christmas carol of German origin, known as Ed ist ein Ros entsprungen. In English, it is commonly translated to Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming and is first thought to have appeared in the late 16th century. While the author remains anonymous, the translation by Theodore Baker in 1894 continues to be the most commonly cited literary reference of the Christmas Rose:

Lo, how a rose e'er blooming,
From tender stem hath sprung.
Of Jesse's lineage coming,
As men of old have sung;
It came, a flow'ret bright,
Amid the cold of winter,
When halfspent was the night.

Isaiah 'twas foretold it,
The Rose I have in mind,
With Mary we behold it,
The virgin mother kind;

To show God's love aright,
She bore to us a Savior,
When halfspent was the night.

O Flower, whose fragrance tender
With sweetness fills the air,
Dispel with glorious splendour
The darkness everywhere;
True man, yet very God,
From Sin and death now save us,
And share our every load.

There also exists another popular legend surrounding the origins of the Christmas Rose, which speaks of a young girl named Madelon. According to this tale, young Madelon felt saddened that she had not a gift to present to the newborn Christ child. She searched the countryside for some flowers but the cold, inhospitable winter left no Christmas flowers to be found. As Madelon wept in despair, an angel came down from the heavens and smote the ground that was wet with her tears, and from the ground a beautiful blooming bush of white roses sprung. "Nor myrrh, nor frankincense, nor gold," said the angel Gabriel, "is offering more meet for the Christ Child than these pure Christmas Roses." With the utmost joy in her heart, Madelon gathered the fresh Christmas flowers, and made an offering to the Holy Child, Jesus.

To this day, Christmas Roses bloom heartily in the depths of winter throughout the mountains of Central Europe. It is often referred to as the Winter Rose or the Snow Rose, but we quite prefer to call it the Christmas Rose due to the colorful history behind the name. In many parts of the world, the tale of the Christmas Rose is deeply associated with the notion of faith, love and devotion to Jesus Christ. While there are a number of legends regarding the origins of this lovely flower, we can all agree that the holidays are made even better with a beautiful arrangement of Christmas Roses.