“Oh no, my dear Miss Mary. Perhaps,” continued the old woman, “your papa can tell us why the willow, rather than any other tree, was chosen to represent the palm; if he really will spare us a little more of his time?”
“Willingly,” said Mr. Lumley. “From the prayer of consecration used in early times on presenting the palms at Rome, we learn that fruit and flowers were also presented. This clearly shews that the whole ceremony was copied from some of those of the Temple of Jerusalem. There, at the Feast of the Tabernacles, along with the palm branches, boughs of the willow and myrtle, and the fruit of the citron, each perfect in its kind, were presented by every man to the priest at the altar.”
“Why was that, papa?”
“The palm, as I told you before, was a sign of victory; and the Jews loved to worship God as the leader of their hosts, as the Lord of Battles. The willow grows by the fresh water brooks, and is a sign of fertility; it was properly laid on the altar of Him ‘who openeth his hand and filleth all things living with plenteousness.’ The myrtle is a shade and shelter from the heat, and its bark and leaves preserve all materials tanned with them from decay; it is in reference, I think, to this quality, that Queen Esther is often called Hadassah, or the Myrtle, because she sheltered the Israelites and preserved them from the malice of Haman. As to the ripe citron, its fragrance, its beauty, and perhaps its quality of keeping long unspoiled when gathered from the tree, fitted it for an offering representing the beauty and fruitfulness of the land of promise.
“Now you see, Mary, that of the trees or fruits offered in the Temple of Jerusalem, or the church of Rome, the willow is the only one which is found in the northern countries of Europe, and therefore the only one likely to be used by us on Palm Sunday.”
“I am sure,” said old Molly, when Mr. Lumley had done speaking, “we shall not easily forget why we gather willows and carry them instead of palms, eight days or so before Easter. Can your reverence tell us if the poor Jews preserve any of these customs now?”
“A great many; although the glory is departed from their temple, many with true hearts continue to perform their ceremonies, and to the best of their power, to make their offerings in their synagogues. At present, I have not time to tell you more than that they spare no expense to procure fair citrons and flowering myrtles: the willow, you know, they find everywhere; but they generally supply the place of palm by the branch of an almond tree.”
Mary’s half hour was now spent. The minute-hand of Molly’s great clock pointed to half-past three. Mamma expected her and papa home by four; so, tying on her bonnet, she bade Molly and Jane good-bye, and followed by Sam, with a bundle of palms for her brothers, she set out gaily on her walk home, gathering fresh flowers for her own flower-pot, and arranging the new things she had learned that day in her little head, by the help of a question to papa every now and then about citrons, myrtles, willows, and palms.
BOTANICAL NAMES OF LITTLE MARY’S FLOWERS.
| March Violet | Viola Odorata |
| Primrose | Primula Vulgaris |
| Cowslip | Primula Veris |
| Pilewort | Ranunculus Ficuria |
| Lady’s-smocks | Cardamine Pratensis |
| Wood Sorrel | Oxalis Acetosella |
| Pasque Flower | Anemone Pulsatilla |
| White Wood Anemone | Anemone Nemerosa |
| Adder’s Tongue | Ophioglossum Vulgaris |
| Sallow | Salix Aquatica. |