- When it is kept
- Midwinter
- Where it fits in the year
- All through the season
The Christmas rose is a plant called Helleborus niger. It is not a rose. It belongs to the buttercup family, and what look like petals are really sepals.1,3 Its white flowers open from midwinter to early spring, usually later than Christmas Day itself.2,3 It grows wild in the mountains of central and southern Europe.1 Every part of it is poisonous if eaten, and it can irritate skin. Look, do not touch or taste, and wash your hands if you handle it.2,1
The carol "Es ist ein Ros entsprungen" is German. Nobody knows who wrote the words. It first appeared in print in 1599, in a hymn book from the Speyer area printed in Cologne.4,5 Michael Praetorius published a famous four-part setting of the tune in 1609.4,6 In the hymn the rose stands for Jesus, and in older readings for Mary. The picture comes from the prophet Isaiah, who spoke of a shoot growing from the stump of Jesse, King David’s father.4,5,6
The best-known English words, "Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming", were translated by Theodore Baker in 1894.4,6
A legend of unknown beginnings
A legend tells of a shepherd girl named Madelon who had no gift for the Christ child. She wept, and white flowers grew in the snow. She gave them to the baby. No one has found where or when this story began.3
In the Bible
A shoot will come out of the stock of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots will bear fruit. The LORD’s Spirit will rest on him: the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD.
Isaiah 11:1-2
The wilderness and the dry land will be glad. The desert will rejoice and blossom like a rose. It will blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing. Lebanon’s glory will be given to it, the excellence of Carmel and Sharon. They will see the LORD’s glory, the excellence of our God.
Isaiah 35:1-2
The hymn draws on these words of Isaiah, the shoot from the stock of Jesse and the desert that blossoms. The plant itself has no Bible link.5,6