All of us dream of pursuing
an inner passion in our lives. Passion revolves around strong
emotions, intense enthusiasm, joy, anger or even lust. Passion
also means the suffering of Christ prior to His crucifixion.
The Passion Week in the Lenten season is often the time
to retrospect the humiliation of Christ and the hostility
He experienced in spite of His compassion to the poor and
needy. It was during this week that a stroll in the garden
offered us a visual surprise 212; a passion flower in
full bloom with its lavish display of shades of purple and
violet. The passion flower, Passiflora represented by about
400 species symbolises the passion of Christ for humankind
which consummated in His crucifixion and death on the cross.
What it means
The passion flower conveys a loftier and purer expression
— Agape love.
In Spain, the passion flower is known as Espina de Crista
(Christ’s Thorn) and Muttergottes-Schuzchen (Mother
of God’s Star) in Germany.
The five sepals and five petals of the flower represent
the ten loyal disciples of Christ, excluding Peter for his
denial and Judas for his betrayal. The double row of purple
and white coloured filaments known as the corona signifies
the crown of thorns placed on Christ’s head. The five
stamens symbolise the five wounds of Jesus and the three
spreading styles with their flattened heads denote the three
nails pierced into His arms and limbs on the cross. The
stemmed ovary is connected to the Lord’s goblet at
the last supper with His disciples. The tendrils in the
plant resemble the whips used to scourge Christ, the lobed
leaves look similar to the soldier’s spear that pierced
His side and the red spots signify the blood from His wounds.
The purple colour of the flower denotes the purple robe
put on him as an expression of mockery and the strong, pervading
fragrance of the flower points to the spices used during
the burial of Christ.
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