Introibo- with Flowers

Part III of Amateur Pursuits.  ( Part I ,  Part II .) Proper vases were crucial.  Once I found vases that were the right scale and had the same lustre as the crucifix and the candlesticks, I felt much more confident in my flower arrangements.  The vases looked at home with their surroundings. The rest was trial and error, and continues to be. Here is a visual chronicle of arrangments: August 10, 2019 August 15, 2019 August 24, 2019 September 7, 2019 September 14, 2019 September 28, 2019 October 26, 2019 As my designs became more structured (and less messy), the Altar Guild began to take notice and asked if I would consider bringing the arrangements on Saturday afternoon so they could be used for all of the Masses at the parish, not just the TLM. Now, I am known colloquially as the "Flower Lady" by the lovely Portuguese ladies and gents who are the pillars of the parish. 

Seeing the need for more structure in my floral arrangements, I began experimenting with floral oasis. This is Part II of Amateur Pursuits in Floral Design (here is  Part I ). I discovered the difference between wet and dry oasis after a very aggravating attempt to make the dry absorb water.  (Well, it doesn't.)  I was gradually being schooled in the fundamentals of floral design. After reading Marie-Jacqueline's great post on  Altar Flowers I was inspired to upgrade my vases.  The glass vases often looked tacky and unworthy on the altar- much like a glass goblet being used for a chalice (yes, I have seen this horror).  Father directed me to a few brass-dipped vases in the sacristy that I attempted, in vain, to restore to their former lustre. Flop #1: Brass Behavior After Brasso-ing the old sacristy vases, I made these arrangements using blue hydrangeas and crocosmia. Problems :  the flowers were too dark, cau...

This is Part I of what I have learned in my amateur pursuit of flower design for the traditional altar. When I first began attending the Latin Mass two years ago, the altar guild from the parish provided all of the flowers for the church.  Pricey professional arrangements  were purchased for the greater feasts and when fresh flowers were absent, fake arrangements were pulled off the sacristy shelf and placed on the pedestals next to the tabernacle.  When possible, Father would make use of the fresh flower arrangements for the Latin Mass.  However, they were often too large in scale or designed to be resting on the floor, not for the traditional altar.  As no one else was interested in making flowers for the Latin Mass, Father was appreciative of my enthusiasm.  My first designs consisted of summer flowers collected from my garden, placed in small milk glass vases that I purchased at a thrift store.  They were simple and seasonal.  ...

On the feast of St. Agnes of Rome, here is the history of a little family treasure that was unknown until today. On weekdays we often attend Mass with our diocesan Latin Mass priest.  We have been reading aloud the wonderful novel Fabiola  by Cardinal Wiseman and St. Agnes has become a family favorite.  In his eloquent sermon on the virgin martyr, Father quoted the Introit: "Behold, now she follows the Lamb, who was crucified for us, powerful in virginity, modesty her offering, a sacrifice on the altar of chastity." Back at home, I looked up St. Agnes in our 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia  while the children worked diligently on their math.  I read through the biographical entry.  My nine-year-old son who serves at the Latin Mass and is a budding Latin scholar, asked me if the Agnus Dei from the Mass could also be found in the encyclopedia.  As I flipped to the page, my eye rested on the first "Agnus Dei" I found and I began reading aloud:...

The winter garden provides unexpected inspirations. Strolling through the acre of overgrown English gardens (see  Back Pew Economy ), I chatted with its gracious owner about local inter-parish politics.  Our grim conversation brightened when confronted with a spray of orange-colored rose hips.  She assured me they would not be missed and agreed they would look lovely in an arrangement with the store-bought peach carnations and alstroemeria. Living in a small rural town, there are no flower markets or wholesale distributors.  Usually I don't plan a design- I look at the liturgical calendar, consider the color of the vestments and leave the rest to divine providence and what is available at the local grocery store. When cutting greenery I choose a variety  and abundance of textures and and sizes.  Having the flowers at hand helps choose the greenery most suitable.  In these arrangements I used privet, ivy, lilac and redwood. One of the ad...

In a recent conversation, a friend lamented that during the notorious "Summer of Love" the vestments that the Church threw into the dumpster, the hippies recovered and wore on parade around the streets of San Francisco- with nothing underneath. This horrific story reaffirms my hoarding instinct to buy up and "rescue" anything that was once used in the sacred liturgy, like this Requiem  stole and maniple . This is Part III of  Recovering What was Lost .  (Part II  here ) -August 22, the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary- "Come on kids, let's take the rest of the homeschool day off and go on an excursion!" Was it a coincidence that we wandered down that particular street and I found myself glancing through  that particular store window?  Was it a fluke that on  that  particular morning the shopkeeper put out the "exotic French textiles" that had been sitting in the storeroom gathering dust after an unsuccessful first ...

                                               Arranging flowers for the traditional Latin Mass altar need not be costly.  These two arrangements were made for under fifteen dollars and lasted several weeks.   Fleurs de Marie-Jacqueline recommends the book  Flower Arrangement in the Church, which I have found to be an excellent resource. "The decoration must carry to the back of the pews (…) For this reason the flowers used in church decoration should be large and somewhat bold in contour."   Flowers such as these white carnations and alstroemeria "carry to the back pew" and have the added virtues of being inexpensive and long-lasting. It is also wise to scout out some property where you can cut a variety of greens.  Fortunately I have access to an acre of overgrown gardens and the owners are only too happy  to let me take ...

In the chill of winter, I hope these embroidered morning glories warm your spirits! In my post  Recovering What Was Lost , I wrote about the French tabernacle veil I found in a local antique store.  This is one of several other beautiful pieces from the same French flea market. In her essay on religious symbolism and floral motifs, Cynthia de Giorgio writes "The morning glory, ipomoea tricolour is a popular flower and often depicted in still life paintings but rarely in religious pictures.  Since it opens at dawn it could represent light through which truth emerges." Our Latin Mass priest identified it for me as a preaching  stole .  The backing had been removed, evidently to replace the wool and silk embroidery floss that was lost or damaged.  A restoration project carefully begun came to an unexpected end.  Rheumatics?  An untimely death?  Vatican II? Heaven knows how many years later, I have picked up the abandoned project and lov...

When green vestments are used, bright yellow flowers like these poms are a good compliment.  Regarding color,  Fleurs de Marie-Jacqueline writes in her excellent blog post  Altar Flowers : "Perhaps the most important consideration is that the altar flowers should be harmonious with the color of the vestments and altar frontals for the day according to the liturgical norms." White alstroemeria,  Queen Anne's lace, eucalyptus and grey-green pittosporum fill out the arrangement.   Ginger plant, peeking out from behind, adds form and variety and is very hardy.  This work-in-progress picture illustrates how I positioned the ginger in the center back of a block of wet oasis (vase in the back left) to determine the height of the arrangement.   Another excellent article that outlines important considerations when designing for the traditional altar is found here on  New Liturgical Movement's website.   In this a...

Thanks to a very kind parishoner, I have this lovely photo of the flower arrangements made for the Latin Mass on Christmas Day.  Four arrangements of red roses, white hydrangeas, large white poms with cedar, magnolia, holly and huckleberry greens.  For the whole story read my entry  Christmas Hydrangeas, Roses & Holly .

If you were to spot this hanging in the window of a small-town antique store, what would you think? It was labeled "vestment".  I recognized the golden metallic fringe, the very same fringe (only this was in excellent condition) as that blackened, frayed fringe I had removed from an antique, German baldacchino.   The baldacchino had been purchased by our Latin Mass priest- online at a bargain price- to be used on the Feast of Corpus Christi last June.  He asked me if I could attempt to restore it and I was delighted (more on that story later). Back to the mystery "vestment".  It had the exact same lining as the German baldacchino and the same fringe.  I held it up and studied it carefully.  The pelican symbol at the center top was that of the tabernacle door in the small chapel where Father occasionally offers Latin Masses on weekdays, when he is able. The friendly shopkeeper informed me that a fashion design student from the local...

                      Unfortunately, this is the best picture I could get of the arrangements for the Latin Mass on Christmas Day.   However, it may serve as inspiration for what can be done in the most unlikely of spaces.   The architecture of the church is typical postmodern, with no vestiges of the past.  The crucifix was added and the tabernacle put in its rightful place only within the last d ecade.  Who would have thought that the Latin Mass would be making its debut here in our isolated, rural community when there are a handful of beautiful, century-old churches perfectly designed for the purpose not far away! The proliferation of fake poinsettias already present in the church set me in motion to find other examples of possibilities for the traditional altar.  My search led me to the liturgy guy's post Does this 1944 Christmas Eve Mass Look Anything Like Yours?   I was inspired by the...

Our good curé asked me to incorporate Roman red into these arrangements to compliment his vestments.  As a young Latin Mass community, we are gradually acquiring all the necessary traditional vestments.  Please God, by Laetare Sunday we will have the rose! These floral arrangements for the Traditional Latin Mass include roses, camellias,  alstroemeria,  carnations, cedar and camellia greenery.

Altar flowers for the Traditional Latin Mass Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.   Roses, Queen Anne's lace, green poms and crocosmia greens.