FIORI. - ARCHAEOLOGY. - In Minucius Felix’s Ottavio it is stated that Christians did not place crowns of f. on their heads, as the pagans did; but St. Jerome reports the Christian practice of his time of strewing roses, lilies, and other f. over the tombs of their loved ones, as if to alleviate their own sorrow, « et dolorem pectoris his officiis consolantur » (ep. 66, 5: PL 22, 842); but the f. quickly wither, he observes (ep. 107, 9: ibid. 875). On the other hand, he praises a perfect sacristan, a certain Nepotianus, who adorned the basilicas and the tombs of the martyrs with f. and vine leaves (ep. 60, 12: ibid., 21, 596-97). This pious custom is attested for Milan by St. Ambrose (De obitu Valentiniani, 56: ibid., 16, 1376); for Africa by St. Augustine (De civitate Dei, 28, 8: ibid., 41, 767), for Spain by Prudentius (Peristephanon, III, 201-207: ibid., 60, 356); for Nola by St. Paulinus (De s. Felice natal., III, 108-13: ibid., 51, 467); for Gaul by Gregory of Tours (De gloria martyrum, 71: ibid., 71, 768; id., De gloria confessorum, ibid., 866, 897).
As for representations of martyrs or the deceased in a flower-filled garden, V. PARADISO.
II. LITURGY
In the Middle Ages, wherever it was impossible to obtain palms for the blessing and procession on the sixth Sunday of Lent, flowers were used. They were made to rain down from above during the Mass of Pentecost (= Easter of the Roses), to signify the outpouring of the charisms of the Holy Spirit (cf. E. Martène, De antiquis Ecclesiae rithus, IV, 28, Antwerp edition 1764, III, p. 195). In Rome, at S. Maria Maggiore, on the 5th inst., white rose petals are thrown down in memory of the snow which, according to legend, is said to have fallen on that day.The current liturgical legislation stipulates: “When one of the most solemn feasts of a given church is celebrated, the doors should first of all be decorated externally with flowers, branches, and green foliage” (Ceremoniale dei Vescovi, I, XII, 3); and on the altar, between the candlesticks and the relics, “vases suitably decorated with flowers or fragrant foliage, or with silk, may also be used” (ibid., n. 12); and “at the place called the martyrdom or confession, where the bodies of the martyrs rest beneath the high altar, it is fitting to place flowers or foliage together with other ornaments” (n. 16). Likewise (ibid., II, XXIII, 2), on the occasion of the procession of Corpus Christi, it is prescribed “that the streets through which the procession is to pass be cleaned and adorned, as the nature of the place permits, with carpets, draperies, hangings, flowers, and green plants.” The Roman Ritual for the funerals of children suggests that “a wreath of flowers or fragrant herbs” be placed on the coffin as a sign of the integrity and virginity of that body. Flowers are forbidden in penitential services and during Lent; artificial flowers have been condemned by many diocesan synods.