In the Garden

Seventh Day

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The flower of the orange 🍊 tree

In countries of the North, orange tree is a rare thing for the gardens, it is conserved but in order to save it from ice and cold great precaution is needed for it is considered one of the best ornaments. In war countries, the orange tree bear so much flowers during May that it fills the gardens with fragrant perfumes, that seems to bring us back to the paradise from where by our sin we were expelled. In this season a plantation of orange trees exude beyond distance its fragrance, because they bear the flowers in great abundance. It is always green, and of a vivid and bright green.

Hope

Faith, hope and charity are the most noble, the most excellent and sublime plants in the garden of the Church. All our relationships with God are founded on them. Faith gives us a pure and adequate idea or piece of intelligence about Him and presents Him to us as He is. God's presence in our soul through pure faith produces hope because through faith we see Him as Redeemer, Savior, Protector and Highest Good.
Hope is a virtue infused in the soul that disposes and inspires to hope that God will grant in this life the assistance of grace and the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and in the life to come, eternal life through our good deeds. The gift of knowledge corresponds to it.
Since it is one of the three principal virtues, it must be represented by a flower that has something great and sublime. Such is the flower of the orange 🍊 trees🌲; it is small, but it comes in clustered branches and in abundance that surpasses all the the other fragrant plants. This ever beautiful tree reminds us of the glories and delights of paradise that we lost by our sin.

Hope in Mary 🙏

It was more than 4,000 years that hell was opened enveloping amidst its voracious flames thousands of souls condemned by sin: heaven was closed; the children of Adam were subject to the prince 🤴 of darkness who had conquered them; the demons 👹 adored under the monstrous figures of the ugliest passions, God's throne inaccessible. Mary, consumed by the fire of charity, resolved to change the face of the world; she asks and hope for it, she hopes for it and she obtains it. To Mary's faith, hope and charity we owe our salvation. Glory to her!

A blossomy branch of the orange 🍊 tree to Mary

Let us review our garden: we are in the month of May: let us search for the orange 🍊 tree, let us see if it is in bloom ... Do you hope? Will you be saved? Are you going to heaven? Will you enter paradise with your soul separated from the body? What is your response? Do you have Hope? Is this Virtue necessary within you? If it is in you, it will answer and say "YES", I will be saved because God will save me: because there in the bottom of my soul I hope for it.

What do you fear? What makes you tremble? What makes you doubt? What makes you hesitate? If you are discussing it with yourself do you think you will be saved or you will be lost? What makes you lost your hope? If it happened run and take hold of Mary, present 🎁 to her that flower saying:

Presentation of the flower to Mary

Prayer:

Lady, I hope to be saved; I hope you will reach out to me the grace to help me live in a Christian way, I entrust to God's goodness my salvation. I promise fidelity, loyalty and exact observance to the holy law of the Lord. AMEN.

Our Lady of Virtues, Pray for us.

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Copied from the Writings MONTH OF MARY of Blessed Francisco Palau, OCD