White Rose

I thought I might explain my "handle" on yahoo/blogspot - white rose. On my wedding day, a good friend of mine, Cindy, delivered to my home a vase with two red roses and one white rose. The two red roses represented Chris (my husband) and me. The white one, she said, is traditionally a symbol of God. His presence. Love.

Roses generally are very meaningful to me. St. Therese of Lisieux, has been my best friend since I was about 4. Never mind that she died in 1897 at the age of 24. As a Catholic I perceive the inhabitants of heaven as an extension of my spiritual community. I have my own personal cheering section up there consisting of St. Therese, her parents, and my parents. Back to the roses. Therese promised on her deathbed to send a shower of roses from heaven to earth. Our little family has prayed Rose Novenas for years. The roses we've received have been nothing short of miraculous.

Just a partial list:

• a rose growing on a bush in front of our parish - in December in Ohio
• a rose hand delivered to me by a friend
• a rose left in our mailbox
  
• a dozen purple roses delivered by mistake to our home instead of the neighbor's
• a rose handed to my daughter (for whom the novena was offered) at a School Board meeting
• handed to me by another daughter at her 8th grade graduation
  
• another one handed to another daughter by a neighbor boy who said, "Give this to your mom" which was then put in a vase and placed in our bedroom by the babysitter (this, in response to a request for a "personal" rose - one I would know was especially for me)

All of these roses came to us on the 5th day of 5 day novenas to St. Therese.

My favorite story is when my friend, Lisa, who had been praying rose novenas for years, many of them for a husband (as a matter of fact my rose in the mailbox was in response to a novena for a husband for her), went canoing with a man she had been dating. They saw a rose float by in the water, then another and another until she had collected 12 roses from the water. Neither she nor her friend knew where they had come from. Shortly after, they pulled over to a spot and her boyfriend presented her with a diamond and proposed to her.

Roses - what a gift.

The Novena