unknown authorship
art by Veronica Calandra Martins
When Mary fled to Egypt, carrying the Child Jesus in her arms, the flowers on the path opened as the holy family passed by.
The lilac lifted its proud and feathered branches, the lily opened its chalice. The rosemary, without petals or beauty, was saddened, regretting not being able to please the Child.
Tired, Maria stopped by a river and, while the child slept, washed her clothes. Then he looked around, looking for a place to spread them out.
“The lily will break under the weight, and the lilac is too tall,” thought Maria.
Then she placed them on the rosemary, and he sighed with joy, thanked him from the heart for the new opportunity, and kept the clothes in the sun all morning.
Maria, pleased to see that they were already dry, said:
– Thank you, kind rosemary! From now on you will wear blue flowers, so that they will remember the blue cloak I am wearing. And I won't just give you flowers in gratitude, but all the branches that supported the Baby Jesus' clothes will be fragrant. I bless stem, leaf and flower. From that moment on, they will smell of holiness and emanate joy.
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