Introibo- with Flowers

The Lenten season is here.  The last three Sundays Father requested no flowers for the traditional altar.  Lent is, of course, a flower-free season and the three Sundays preceding are optional according to the  traditional Sacristan's Manual . In lieu of altar arrangements I post a snapshot of our family's Mary garden.  As Fleur de Marie-Jacqueline points out daffodils are Mary's Star !  On the feast of the Annunciation (March 25) I will include this flower in the arrangements for the altar. Stay tuned:  my prolonged blogging absence is due to preparations for the priestly ordinations for our diocese on Ember Saturday.  Our TLM community will host a parish-wide reception for one of the ordinees on the occasion of his first Solemn High Latin Mass.  This is the second to be celebrated in our county since the 1960s!  (The first was on the Feast of Corpus Christi 2019.  A post on this and the baldacchino restoration project...

For the Feast of the Purification I was inspired to include winter snowdrops after reading Fleur de Marie Jacqueline's post  Snowdrops for Candlemas .  Providentially, the property where I cut greenery had a nice little patch. The grocery store had a very scanty selection of white flowers.  There were roses and lilies in every imaginable color except white.  At a second store I picked up some poms and waxflower which I figured would "do" if nothing else could be had. In a last ditch effort, I made a third stop at the corner market where tulips and lilies are often sold from the local bulb farm.  There in the stand amidst the tulips was one bunch of perfectly-white, gorgeous roselilies! After debating whether or not to return the poms to the second store and select something with more contrast to the roselilies, I decided my time was running short and I needed to get the flowers to the church. The snowdrops were so delicate that I added them to the ...

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...