Water and Fire: Altar Flowers for Easter

Royal lilies, alstroemeria, and boxwood.

I have spent the Easter Octave rejoicing and recovering from the most intense Triduum experienced to date.  It was glorious.  We are eternally grateful to the visiting priest who drove twenty hours of windy coastal roads, wrote four extensive liturgy plans (for Palm Sunday through Easter Vigil), coached us, bought us a fancy Vigil firepit at Costco and brought with him everything from a crotalus and vestments,  to a portable altar with custom-made antependium.  All so this small TLM community could celebrate the Sacred Triduum! We are blessed to have such a dedicated priest.  

It was twenty-six Easter Vigils ago, at a Catholic College in the rusty steel belt, that I was immersed in a baby pool of water, anointed, given the name Gemma Jacinta, and received Our Lord for the first time.  Yes, it's been an adventure since I stepped out of the plastic kiddie pool.  This Triduum, my first in the Traditional Latin Rite, was a high point.

Regarding the flowers: according to various reliable sources, potted plants- and dirt specifically- are not to be placed on the altar of sacrifice.  Everything on the altar should have a sacrificial character and be of the highest quality possible.  Last year I avoided the potted Easter lily by buying cut lilies from our local bulb farm and making simple arrangements with the lily as the focus. I chose the royal lily over the much-loved oriental, because their blooms are smaller, their color a rich, creamy white, and their fragrance more subdued. I was pleased with the outcome.  See last year's arrangements here.

This Easter, I had planned to do the same, when the unexpected happened.  Once again, I bought white royal lilies from the bulb farm on Holy Wednesday.  This seemed plenty of time for them to pop open before the Vigil.  Not so.  On Good Friday morning, out of 27 stems, only six blooms were open!  Gasp.  A bit of panic and a lot of serenity prayers commenced.

10pm Good Friday 

A lovely Irish florist on YouTube advised me that lilies should be bought on Monday for a Saturday wedding.  Oops.  

10pm -4am  Holy Saturday

I tried all the tricks: cut the stems every four hours, put them in warm water, put lily stamens IN the warm water, changed the warm water regularly, surrounded them with overripe fruit, turned up the thermostat to my poor husband's annoyance... 

4am Holy Saturday 

Another ten were beginning to open.  At that point, I knew a white filler flower was needed.  Fortunately, I had bought three bunches of white alstroemeria.

6am Holy Saturday

Finished sewing the last side altar frontlet (more on this later).  Cut boxwood greenery in the garden.  

10am Holy Saturday

Began arranging the lilies and alstroemeria.  Just enough open blooms for six high altar arrangements.  Deo gratias!

11am Holy Saturday

FedEx delivered my four new side altar vases from Jamali Garden! These were supposed to arrive by Holy Thursday and to my great disappointment didn't. A burst of enthusiasm  and a double shot of espresso revived my spirits.

12pm Holy Saturday

Back to Safeway to get more flowers for the side altar arrangements.  They were completely out of white with the exception of some very sad looking daisies.  I went with the yellow alstroemeria.  

2pm Holy Saturday

The minivan is carefully packed with six high altar arrangements, four side altar arrangements and ready for the half hour drive to the church.

5pm Holy Saturday

More coffee.  Driving home.  I had to be back at the church at 8pm for liturgical preparations and a server rehearsal for the 10:30pm Vigil.  

Update: On Low Sunday, after watering throughout the Octave, lilies are still looking fresh.