Mary, Mystical Rose

The Cathedral Chapter had a meeting today and since we’re looking at Marian images in and around the Cathedral we can have a look at the Seal of the Chapter since it bears a symbol of Mary, under the title ‘Mystical Rose’.

It is an odd time for a Christmas Carol but this carol gives us a nice reflection of Mary, the Mystical 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 half spent 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 men a Saviour,
When half spent 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.