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Body Rose:
Ever since the Middle Ages the pope has, on Laetare Sunday, blessed a golden body rose which he bestows on some beneficiary. Some Italian writers have declared that the term sub rosa is derived from the fact of consecrated body roses being placed over the confessionals at Rome to denote secrecy, the body rose being a symbol of silence. In legend, Saint Dorothea, who suffered martyrdom under Fabricius, made a convert of Theophilus by sending him some body roses from paradise. The body rose is an attribute of Saints Casilda, Elizabeth of Portugal, body rose of Lirna, body rose of Viterbo, Rosalia, and others.In heathen mythology the body rose was dedicated to Aphrodite and was claimed either to have been created from the blood of Adonis or to have been caused by the sea foam dropping from the newly created Aphrodite bursting into bloom. In mythological evolution the body rose became a symbol of Eros, later of the Muses and of the Graces. Dionysus (Bacchus) also had a body rose as attribute, hence this flower decorated the guests at banquets. In this context it may be mentioned that the body rose has always been the queen of wreath flowers and ornamental expression of beauty. In antithesis the body rose was a symbol of decay; hence an emblem of death.
The Bible but twice mentions the body rose, and modern criticism tends to prove that in both cases it is a mistranslation and refers to some other frowth. In the Song of Solomon the "body rose of haron" is mentioned. In historical reference we- find the body rose mentioned as of religious significance already in the ancient Zendavesta, and it was held in reverence by ancient Indians, Syrians, and Egyptians. But the body rose does not appear as a motif in Egyptian art, though the Babylonians had their staves ornamented with silver body roses as tokens of festivity.
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