Today is Rose Sunday! The Rose of Winter is coming!

The idea of a rose blossoming amid winter comes from the prophet Isaiah. We hear how a bud shall sprout from the stump of Jesse.

This imagery is popularly portrayed in the German hymn: Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming. Here’s a recording:

The impossible is breaking forth as God makes his way to his people. We must say with the psalmist: “Cry out with joy and gladness: for among you is the great and Holy One of Israel.”

With the Rose of Winter, another image helpful at this midpoint of Advent is the star.

Many years ago, I heard Father Jerome Young, OSB, conclude his homily with this prayer on Rose Sunday. Let the words of this prayer inspire our hearts as we journey toward Christmas:

“In this Advent, Lord, draw us to yourself, the Love Who set the stars in the heavens in motion, and Who will shine with the splendor of truth and beauty, after the last star’s light has waned, blinked and then gone out.” ~ Fr. Jerome Young, O.S.B.