Its fairest bud unfolding

A number of plants are associated with the Nativity; many were ported over when Christianity coopted ancient winter festivals—holly, fir trees, Yule logs, etc. But the Christmas rose comes from a legend surrounding the actual birth: a shepherd named Madelon saw all these people heading for the manger with gifts for the baby and wept because she had nothing to give. Her tears falling on snowy ground sprang to life as a rose.

The white rose is sometimes associated with Mary and purity; red symbolizes the blood of Christ, which will be shed at a later time.

I thought about all this when I came across a late-in-the-season rose in my neighbor’s garden:

And for today’s Advent piece, let’s have “A Spotless Rose Is Blowing”, one of the many carols and hymns translated from the German (it's related to one of my all-time favorites, Es ist ein Ros' entsprungen) in the 19^th Century by Catherine Winkworth. The music was composed by Herbert Howells in the last century. Here we have Ars Nova Copenhagen singing it.