The Easter Lily

With Easter just around the corner, we had to highlight the holiday’s favorite flower – the Easter lily!

Easter Lily History

The lily has long symbolized purity, virtue and faith for Christians. Medieval depictions of the Blessed Virgin Mary often show her holding these flowers and even in King Solomon’s Temple there were designs of lilies on the columns.Lilies were also found growing in the Garden of Gethsemane after Christ’s agony. Tradition has it that the beautiful white lilies sprung up where drops of Christ’s sweat fell to the ground in his final hours of sorrow and deep distress. For this reason, you will see Easter lilies on decorating pulpits, alters and more in churches all across the world.

Easter Lily Today

The regal, white lily is a fitting symbol of the greater meaning of Easter. Gracing millions of homes and churches, the flowers embody joy, hope and life. Whether given as a gift or enjoyed in your own home, the Easter Lily serves as a beautiful reminder that Easter is a time for rejoicing and celebrating.

By Louise Lewin Matthews, this poem captures the spiritual essence of the Easter Lily:

Easter morn with lilies fair
Fills the church with perfumes rare,
As their clouds of incense rise,
Sweetest offerings to the skies.
Stately lilies pure and white
Flooding darkness with their light,
Bloom and sorrow drifts away,
On this holy hallow’d day.
Easter Lilies bending low in the golden afterglow,
Bear a message from the sod
To the heavenly towers of God.

-Louise Lewin Matthews

Whether you’re tending an Easter lily from years past, buying a new one for yourself, or sending a lily as an Easter gift, always always always use a real local florist when you buy plants and flowers. You can use Flower Shop Network’s handy florist finder to find a florist near you!