Him to carry; a plant still put by Catholics into the hands of statues of
Christ. But in Poland, where the plant is difficult to procure, "the flower-
stalk of the leek is substituted."
The mournful tree which formed the wood of the cross has always
been a disputed question, and given rise to a host of curious legends.
According to Sir John Maundeville, it was composed of cedar, cypress,
palm, and olive, while some have instituted in the place of the two latter
the pine and the box; the notion being that those four woods represented
the four quarters of the globe. Foremost amongst the other trees to which
this distinction has been assigned, are the aspen, poplar, oak, elder, and
mistletoe. Hence is explained the gloomy shivering of the aspen leaf, the
trembling of the poplar, and the popular antipathy to utilising elder
twigs for fagots. But it is probable that the respect paid to the elder "has
its roots in the old heathenism of the north," and to this day, in Denmark,
it is said to be protected by "a being called the elder-mother," so that it is
not safe to damage it in any way. [18] The mistletoe, which exists now as
a mere parasite, was before the crucifixion a fine forest tree; its present
condition being a lasting monument of the disgrace it incurred through
its ignominious use. [19] A further legend informs us that when the Jews
were in search of wood for the cross, every tree, with the exception of the
oak, split itself to avoid being desecrated. On this account, Grecian
woodcutters avoid the oak, regarding it as an accursed tree.
The bright blue blossoms of the speedwell, which enliven our
wayside hedges in spring-time, are said to display in their markings a
representation of the kerchief of St Veronica, imprinted with the features
of Christ. [20] According to an old tradition, when our Lord was on His
way to Calvary, bearing His Cross, He happened to pass by the door of
Veronica, who, beholding the drops of agony on His brow, wiped His
face with a kerchief or napkin. The sacred features, however, remained
impressed upon the linen, and from the fancied resemblance of the
blossom of the speedwell to this hallowed relic, the plant was named
Veronica.
A plant closely connected by tradition with the crucifixion is the
passion-flower. As soon as the early Spanish settlers in South America
first glanced on it, they fancied they had discovered not only a
marvellous symbol of Christ's passion, but received an assurance of the
ultimate triumph of Christianity. Jacomo Bosio, who obtained his
knowledge of it from certain Mexican Jesuits, speaks of it as "the flower
of the five wounds," and has given a very minute description of it,
showing how exactly every part is a picture of the mysteries of the
Passion. "It would seem," he adds, "as if the Creator of the world had
chosen it to represent the principal emblems of His Son's Passion; so that
in due season it might assist, when its marvels should be explained to
them, in the condition of the heathen people, in whose country it grew."
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