Rosemary

During the Christmas season, we do Advent. Advent is basically a bible study about the first coming of Christ. From the prophecies foretelling His coming to His birth. We have two books that are the backbone of our Advent reading. Besides the Bible of course. One of them is a book that we have had for I-don't-know-how-long. The front cover is pretty dinged up and more than one page is stained with hot coco from years gone by. The title is "Family Activities for the Christmas Season".  For each day during the four weeks leading up to Christmas there is a Hymn,scripture reading and then a story. Usually the story is a legend about a favorite Christmas tradition or some thing that has in some way to do with Christmas. This is one of my favorite readings from this book.


  "This legend is about the flight of the Holy Family to Egypt to escape the evil King Herod. The legend says that they stopped to rest on a hill side, near a quiet stream. Here Mary washed baby Jesus' clothes. She spread his tiny garments on a sweet-smelling bush to dry. God rewarded the sturdy bush for helping Mary and the Christ child. He called it rosemary. Then He blessed the rosemary with fragile blossoms of the same heavenly blue as Mary's cloak.

Long ago in the Middle Ages, people spread rosemary on the floor so that their houses would smell good. They also used it to decorate the alter at Christmastime. They believed it would bring special blessings and protect them against evil. Later it was used in England to give flavor to the boar's head that was served at the Christmas feast. Today, rosemary is still used as a food flavoring. It also stands for friendship. Rosemary reminds us of our best friend, Jesus Christ. He is the one who brings us special blessings. He is the one who protects us from evil if we keep Him in our hearts."

Merry Christmas!!