n
lY '1
dream of eatmg salads made of Lettuce, &c., is supposed to portend
trouble and difiiculty m the management of affairs.
L I L Y . The white L ily (Lilium candidum) was held in the
highest regard by the heathen nations; it was one of the flowers
employed to form the couch of Jupiter and Juno, and under the
name of Rosa Junoms was consecrated to the imperious queen of
toe heavens from whose milk, indeed, the flower is stated to
have originally sprung. The legend is as follows :—Jupiter being
desirous of rendering the infant Hercules immortal, that he
migit rank among the divinities, caused Somnus to prepare a
neaareous sleeping-draught, which he persuaded Juno to take.
The Queen of the Gods fell immediately into a profound slumber,
and Jupiter then placed the httle_Hercules to the celestial breast,
m order that the babe might imbibe the ambrosial milk that
immortality. The infant, over-eager to enjoy the
delightful riutriment, drew the milk faster than he could swallow,
earth, there immediately sprang from
it the white L ily, the emblem of purity: some of the milk is also
said to have dropped over that portion of the heavens which, from
Its whiteness, still retains the name of the Milky Way iladea via).
Another versiori of the myth states that originally all the Lilies
were Orarige-coloured, but that those on which Juno’s milk fell
were rendered white, and_ produced the Lilium candidum.____
K ui V ^ cultivated by the ancient Egyptians, and
probably held m great esteem, for we find it appearing in their
hieroglyphical representations, and may therefore conclude that the
flower possessed some special significance. With the Greeks and
Romans, the L ily was a favourite flower, and Columella tells us
that the Ifeter were wont to preserve Lilies by planting them in
baskets. The frequent allusions made to the plant in the Scriptures
are sufiicient proof that the Hebrew race thought highly of the
beauty and grace of the L ily. In their language, the name
Susannah sigmfip a Lily. There are great diversities of opinion
y to what was the particular L ily alluded to by our Saviour when
He said “ Consider the Lilies of the field.” Some think the
u the Amaryllis luUa, others again the white L ily to be
the flowers to which Solomon in all his glory was not to be compared.
- -— In nearly every Catholic country, the White L ily is dedicated
to the Vnrgin Mary, and is held to be emblematic of her
purity: hence the flower is frequently used to decorate her shrine,,
and especially so on the feast of the Visitation of Our L ad y and the
Annunciation. The Continental order of the Blessed Lady of the
L ily was instituted by Garcia, fourth King of Navarre, on account
° T Holy Virgin being miraculously found, as it was
reported, in a L ily , which is believed to have cured this prince of
a dangerous d iso rd e r .-_R a p in , the French Jesuit poet, has the
following lines on the Lily, which he evidently confounds with the
Iris, or Fleur de Luce (see I r is ), as being the representative flower
of the French nation. He says :—
“ With Lilies our French monarchs grace their crown,
Brought hither by the valiant Hector’s son,
From Trojan coasts, when Francus forc’d by fate
Old Priam’s kingdom did to France translate:
Or, if we may believe what legends tell,
Like Rome’s Ancilia, once from heav’n they fell.
Clovis, first Christian of our regal line.
Of heav’n approved, received the gift divine
With his unblemished hands, and by decree
Ordained this shield giv’n by the gods should be
Preserved, the nation’s guard to late posterity.”
The Roman Catholics assigned to the Madonna, as Queen of
Heaven, the White L ily [Lilium candidum), the symbol of purity, and
it is the flower appropriated to the Annunciation and to the Visitation
of Our Lady. According to the Romish legend, St. Thomas,
who was absent at the death of the Virgin, would not believe in
her resurreaion, and desired that her tomb should be opened before
him ; and when this was done, it was found to be full of Lilies and
Roses. Then the astonished Thomas, looking up to heaven, beheld
the Virgin ascending, and she, for the assurance of his faith, flung
down to him her girdle. In a picture by Gozzoli, in the National
Gallery, representing St. Jerome and St. Francis kneeling at the
foot of the Virgin, a red Rose-bud has sprung up at the knees of
St. Jerome, and a tall White L ily at those of St. Francis—these
flowers typifying the love and purity of the Virgin Mother. In the
works of Italian masters, a vase of Lilies stands by the Virgin’s
side, with three flowers crowning three stems. St. Joseph, husband
of the Virgin Mary, is depidted with the L ily in his hand; his
staff, according to the legend, having put forth Lilies. Later
painters of this school depidt the angel Gabriel with a branch of
White Lilies. As the emblem of purity and chastity, the L ily
is associated with numbers of saints, male and female ; but, being
consecrated to the Virgin, it is always placed, in the paintings of
the early Italian masters, near those saints who were distinguished
by their devotion to the Mother of Jesus, as in the pidtures of
St. Bernard. As protedlor of youth, St. Louis de Gonzague
bears a L ily in his hand, and the flower is also dedicated to St.
Anthony, as a guardian of marriages. The flower is likewise the
charadteristic of St. Clara, St. Dominick, and St. Katherine of
Siena. The crucifix twined with the L ily signifies devotion and
purity of h e a rt: it is given particularly to St. Nicholas of Solen-
tine. Lilies being emblematic of the Virgin, an order of knighthood
was instituted by Ferdinand of Aragon, in 1403, called the
“ Order of the L ily ,” the collar of which was composed of Lilies and
gryphons. From the Virgin being the patron Saint of Dundee,
that town bears Lilies on its arms. To dream of Lilies during
their blooming season is reputed to foretell marriage, happiness,
Hi