"There shall come forth a Rod out of the Root of Jesse, and a Flower
shall rise up out of his Root; and the Spirit of the Lord shall rest
upon Him: the Spirit of Wisdom and of Understanding, the Spirit of
Counsel and of Fortitude, the Spirit of Knowledge and of Godliness; and
He shall be filled with the Spirit of the Fear of the Lord" (Is. XI.
1-3). St. Jerome says that the Branch is Our Lady and the Flower her
Son, Who says of Himself: "I am the Flower of the field and the Lily of
the valleys" (Cant. II. 1); and a responsory dating from the middle ages
says: "_R._ The Root of Jesse gave out a Branch: and the Branch a
Flower; and on the Flower resteth the Holy Spirit. _V._ The Virgin
Mother of God is the Branch, her Son is the Flower, and on the Flower
resteth the Holy Spirit."
So once again, if we would find the Flower we must first find the Branch
which bears it. The Flower is still in bud but presently it will open,
and its beauty and fragrance will fill the whole earth and attract all
men to it: "What manner of one is thy Beloved of the beloved, O thou
most beautiful among women?" "My Beloved is white and ruddy, chosen out
of thousands" (Cant. V. 9, 10). I can understand that thy beautiful Lily
is white, for I know that such is His purity that even the heavens are
not pure in His sight, but why is His apparel _red_? (Is. LXIII. 2).
Because He is "clothed with a garment sprinkled with blood: and His name
is called: _The Word of God_" (Apoc. XIX. 13). Even now, before His
delicate petals are unfolded, they are marked with the Cross.
O Root of Jesse, can ever tree compare with thine--one of whose branches
was found worthy to bear a Flower so fair! There are further beauties as
we gaze--a heavenly Dew is resting on the Flower, it is the Holy Spirit
Himself, Who at that blest moment when He overshadowed the Branch poured
out all His choicest gifts upon the Flower. As God, the seven-fold gifts
were His from all eternity, and directly the Humanity was united to the
Eternal Word, the divine perfections belonged to it, so that as man "He
was made unto us the _Wisdom_ of _God_" and could understand all
mysteries. By the gift of _Understanding_ He knew and entered into all
God's plans for the Redemption of the world. The gift of _Counsel_
showed Him exactly what was the Will of His Father which He had come to
do. The gift of _Fortitude_ gave Him the strength to carry out His
Father's Will and to say ever: Not My Will but Thine be done. His
_Knowledge_ was so profound that He preferred poverty to riches, and to
be despised rather than to be honoured; He knew as Man the true worth of
the thing which as God He had created. The gift of _Piety_ established
that tender relationship between Him and His Father which He wished us
to have when He taught us to say: _Our Father_; it included also His
perfect relationship with His Mother and St. Joseph. The gift of _Fear_
gave Him as Man a reverence and respect for the majesty of God. (_Vide_
Heb. V. 7).
It was thus that the heavenly Dew rested on the heavenly Flower.
O my JESUS, come and tarry no longer! I know that Thou hadst no need of
any of these gifts; they rested on Thee because Thou art my Model and
Thou wouldst show me how to use them.