Sacred roses: the spiritual symbolism of roses
Since ancient times, roses have symbolized God at work in whatever situation they appear. The intricate and elegant rose offers a taste of the active presence of a masterful creator in creation. As this fragrant flower blooms, its buds gradually open to reveal the flowers with adorable layers, an illustration of how spiritual wisdom develops in people's lives. The strong and sweet scent of a rose recalls the powerful sweetness of love, which is the essence of God. So it is not surprising that many miracles and encounters with angels throughout history have involved roses.
Roses and angels
People regularly report that they smell the scent of roses as they communicate with angels in prayer or meditation. Angels use the scents of roses as physical signs of their spiritual presence with people because roses have powerful energy fields that vibrate at high electric frequency, the highest of any flower on Earth. Since angelic energy vibrates even at a high rate, angels can connect more easily with roses than with other flowers that have lower vibration rates. Rose essential oil vibrates at a speed of 320 megahertz of electricity. In comparison, lavender essential oil (one of the next high frequency flowers) vibrates at a speed of 118 megahertz. A healthy human brain usually vibrates between 71 and 90 megahertz.
Barachiel, the archangel of blessings, is usually shown in art with a rose or rose petals, symbolizing the blessings of God that Barachiel helps deliver to people.
Roses and miracles
Roses appear in the reports of all major world religions as a symbol of miraculous love at work in the world. In ancient mythology, roses symbolized eternal love in stories of how the gods interacted with each other and humans. Pagans use roses as decorations to represent their hearts. Muslims see roses as symbols of the human soul, so smelling the scent of roses reminds them of their spirituality. Hindus and Buddhists see roses and other flowers as expressions of spiritual joy. Christians see roses as a reminder of the Garden of Eden, a paradise in a world that reflected God's plan before sin corrupted him.
A sacred perfume
In Islam, the fragrance of a rose represents the sacredness of people's souls. If the scent of a rose permeates the air but there are no real roses nearby, it is a sign that God or one of his angels is sending a spiritual message supernaturally, through clairvoyance. Such messages are meant to encourage people.
In Catholicism, the scent of roses is often called the "smell of holiness" because it indicates the presence of spiritual holiness. People reported that they smelled the scent of roses after praying to the saints in heaven to intercede for them with God for something.
The "mystical rose"
Roses, which have long been symbols of the Virgin Mary, have appeared in some of the miraculous Marian apparitions that people around the world have reported. Mary is known as the "mystical rose" or the "thornless rose" among some Christians because of her role as mother of Jesus Christ, which Christians believe is the savior of the world. Before sin entered the world and corrupted it, tradition says that the Garden of Eden had thornless roses and that thorns appeared after humanity had sinned. Since Mary played a vital role in God's plan to redeem the fallen world, Mary became associated with the original purity of the uncorrupted beauty of the roses that God had originally designed for the Garden of Eden.
The most famous miracle of the Virgin Mary involving roses was the event of Our Lady of Guadalupe in 1531, when believers claim that Mary arranged the roses in an intricate pattern inside the poncho of a man named Juan Diego to form a supernaturally imprinted on his poncho. The image, which depicted Mary and an angel, symbolically illustrated the Gospel message to illiterate the Aztec people, leading millions of people to believe in Jesus Christ.
The prayer of the rosary
Mary is closely associated with roses and a traditional prayer that people pray to them while reflecting on the earthly life of her son, Jesus Christ, is made on the rosary. Mary encouraged people to pray the rosary during some of her worldwide appearances (like Fatima), people reported.
The rosary, which means "crown of roses", provides for the offering of a group of prayers to Mary as a spiritual bouquet. People hold or wear a series of beads (which in turn is called a "rosary") and use the beads as physical tools to focus their mind on prayers and on a series of five of 20 different spiritual mysteries from the time Jesus spent Christ on Earth (which five mysteries are covered depends on the day the person is praying). During some of Mary's apparitions, she promised rewards for those who faithfully pray the rosary, from protection from evil during the lives of people on Earth to rewards in heaven after their death.
The prayer tradition of the rosary dates back to 1214 AD when Saint Dominic said that Mary described it during an apparition in Toulouse, France. Before then, some other ancient people had used tangible objects to pray groups of prayers. Orthodox Christians carried ropes with them when they prayed; after saying each prayer, they made a knot on the ropes. (Simple rosaries can also be made from knotted twine.) Hindu monks carried strings of beads to keep track of their prayers.
Pink color meanings
All roses symbolize the love of God at work in the world, but different colors of roses also symbolize different spiritual concepts. White roses mean purity and holiness. Red roses mean passion and sacrifice. Yellow roses mean wisdom and joy. Pink roses mean gratitude and peace. Purple or lavender roses mean wonder, awe and change for the better.