My Introduction, and Miracle of the Purple Flower

That's a beautiful testimony.
Welcome to the forum, PurpleFlower!

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Such a beautiful story and you have the eyes of faith to always see God's hand.
Welcome

 

Welcome!! What a beautiful and inspiring story. May GOD continue to bless you.

 

A bit late in the game here, but I have been looking more around the forum and just read your wonderful introduction into the group...

You were given several signal graces from Heaven via Our Lady—Ave Maria! Sometimes God speaks that kind of language to us and, in the sharing, His Glory is magnified. Even the color itself holds much significance in our Faith.

Thank you for sharing this simple yet profound story here!~AN

Peace!

 

Wow, PF, how did I ever miss this marvelous testimony! Yes, August 22 and September 8 are special, even more special in light of your testimony.

Thank you, Dear Lady!

 

Wow! This is an amazing story! Nice to “meet” you!

 

Hi Purple Flower, welcome to the home of Mary.

I see you posted this quite some time ago and I am so sorry I did not reply sooner. There are so many posts on the forum these days and I was working right through Christmas and this maybe explains it a little. Purple flowers; how unusual and beautiful.

Ours is a new Church, it was taken over from the Presbyterians about a year or so ago and I have watched with some interest the ladies in the Church, one in particular putting up the flower displays and taking care of them. They are so beautiful and it strikes me as a wonderful way of praising God.

Does Our Lady notice their work and care? I am sure she does, if even I notice it I am sure she does do.

I love little Signs from God but I think we have to be open to them and pay attention otherwise they just past us by. I love for instance to look at sky and pay it attention and often see shapes that seem to mean different things. But who ever does such a thing? What a pity. Also in the woods and mountains and wild places I try to pay attention and come to places which I think are marked by the Holy or evil. I think that some Holy Irish hermit may have lived there centuries ago.

Signs are not everything of course, they are not central to our Faith but nevertheless I love them they are a gift from God.

About four years ago , for instance I used to attend St Patrick's, a wonderful old Church in the centre of the city. There is a little shrine to St Anthony of Padua there with a first class relic of the saint in a little niche in the wall which they take out to bless people once a week. One day I was standing at the shrine when suddenly out of nowhere there was the most beautiful rich smell. I looked around but there were no flowers anywhere. Anyway that smell chased me round the Church for two weeks, coming and going and greatly accelerated my love for St Anthony.

To my delight in my new Church they have there own little shrine to St Anthony. Yes signs are special.

The purple lilies are wonderful.

I wonder why the colour purple? Must look it up.

 

https://www.biblestudy.org/bible-st...ors-in-the-bible/meaning-of-color-purple.html

'What is the meaning of purple in the Bible? Why was this color highly coveted in the ancient world?

The rarity of purple in nature and the expense of creating its dye gave it a great deal of prestige. It was the most expensive dye known to the ancient Israelites in the Bible. It was the pigment of choice for those of noble or royal birth or those who were high-level officials. Roman Emperors wore clothing colored purple and Catholic Bishops have, for many years, worn it as well.


Phrases containing the name of the color sometimes referred to those of a royal lineage. Constantine VII, Emperor of the Byzantine Empire (b. 905, d. 959 A.D.), was given the title of Porphyrogenitus, which means 'born of the purple room.'

In ancient times, the cities of Tyre and Sidon were well-known producers of this pigment and possessed a thriving dyeing industry. Surprisingly, the prophet Ezekiel mentions the Tyrians obtaining it from the islands of Elishah (Ezekiel 27:7) and through the Syrians (verse 16).

Anciently, the production of this type of dye was a long and laborious task. The liquid used to create it came from a tiny Mediterranean Sea snail gland. Each snail produced only a single drop of the needed fluid. To produce one pound of dye, during ancient Roman Empire times, took the acquiring of four million mollusks.

Even though it has a long history of association with kings and rulers, purple is rarely in modern national flags. Only one country, Dominica, uses it in their flag.

Appearances of the color purple

In the King James Bible, the word 'purple' occurs forty-eight times, of which nine are in the New Testament. The Hebrew Old Testament word translated as this color is argaman (Strong's Concordance #H713). The three Greek New Testament words used are porphura (#G4209), which refers to the animal from which the pigment is extracted, porphurous (#G4210), which is the color's literal name and porphuropolis (#G4211), which is a reference to a female trader of the dye.


Purple can represent royalty, majesty and high officials (Judges 8:26, Esther 8:15) as well as conveying the meaning of wealth, prosperity and luxury (Exodus 28:5, Ezekiel 27:7, Proverbs 31:22, Song of Solomon 3:10, 7:5, Luke 16:19, Acts 16:14, Revelation 17:4, 18:12, 16).


It was an integral part of the temple and its services (Exodus 25:4, 26:1, 36, 27:16, Numbers 4:13, etc.). It was used in curtains (veils) and carpets found in the tabernacle (along with blue, scarlet and white), as well as the garments worn by the High Priest. Working with it was such an important skill that King Solomon requested from Tyre's King Hiram a man specializing in dyeing with it (2Chronicles 2:7) to supervise building the temple.

The Gospels of Mark and John (Mark 15:17, 20, John 19:2, 5) state that the robe Pontius Pilate's soldiers placed on Jesus, in order to mock him, was purple. The book of Matthew says, however, that the robe was scarlet colored (Matthew 27:28).



Additional info on Biblical Meaning of purple
During his second missionary journey the Apostle Paul finds himself in Philippi, being guided to preach the gospel in Europe by the Holy Spirit (Acts 16:9 - 10). On the Sabbath he meets a businesswoman named Lydia, a seller of dyes whose hometown was Thyatira (Acts 16:14).


The city of Thyatira was well known for its ability to dye cloth. Such skills made it a prosperous trading town. Lydia almost certainly was financially well off due to her trade, as she owned a home both in Thyatira and Philippi (Acts 16:14 - 15).

According to the Bible, Lydia and her entire household, after listening to the Apostle Paul preach the gospel, became Christians. Her Philippian home, made prosperous through purple, quickly becomes a gather place for fellow believers (verse 40) and the focal point for spreading the gospel in the city.'

 

good research, Padraig

 

I do, Padraig...all the time!

 

Thanks for the welcome, Padraig! I do think little signs of God's love and care are there for all who look with faith.

In addition to what you found about the color purple, I learned about Marie-Julie Jahenny's purple scapular recently and found the reason it is purple, or violet. Mary is speaking here:

"This scapular, my children, it is supposed to be made on my heart, (i.e with humility and devotion to Her Immaculate Heart) because my heart is the emblem of simplicity and humility, and hence, the colour violet."

 

Beautiful and so true!

 

Beautiful!

 

Me too.

 

Me too, haha

 

I think keeping our eyes open for little Signs there are certain times and places were little Signs most occur. You could probably make a list yourselves.

In Church during Mass.

In Church always.

At Marian Apparition Sites.

When in contact with saints.

When in contact with Major Relics.

When receiving Sacraments such as Confession and Communion..

When in Deep Prayer.

When woken at 3am in the Morning for prayer.

When doing Novenas.


The list goes on, you can probably think of more yourself.

At key life points for instance.. at a wedding or falling in love, . at the birth of a child or when someone in dying. In illness or suffering...

 

I really believe it’s God’s way of bringing out that trusting, docile child inside each of our hearts, if we allow Him to be the Great Giver of these small but powerful blessings.