The Virgin Mary is referred to by many poetic titles in Christian tradition. Rosa Mystica or Mystical Rose is one such title of Mary. One form of Marian devotion is invoking Mary's prayers by calling upon her using a litany of diverse titles, and the title 'Mystical Rose' is found in the Litany of Loreto. Since 1947, the title has also been associated with a form of devotion promoted in Italy by alleged visionary Pierina Gilli.
Origins
The Biblical source of the title is Song of Songs 2:1, often translated, "I am the Rose of Sharon". Bishop Robert C. Morlino draws a connection to Isaiah 11:1, "But a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom. This is also reflected in the German Advent hymnEs ist ein Ros entsprungen, known in English as ""Lo, how a rose e'er blooming", which makes reference to the Old Testament prophecies of Isaiah which in Christian interpretation foretell the Incarnation of Christ, and to the Tree of Jesse, a traditional symbol of the lineage of Jesus.
Examples in Art and Literature
A devotional image enshrined at the Maria Rosenberg Church in Waldfischbach-Burgalben, Germany, holds an 1138 painting of Mary, featuring roses. John Henry Newman said,
Mary is the most beautiful flower ever seen in the spiritual world. It is by the power of God’s grace that from this barren and desolate earth there ever sprung up at all flowers of holiness and glory; and Mary is the Queen of them all. She is the Queen of spiritual flowers; and therefore, is called the Rose, for the rose is called of all flowers the most beautiful. But, moreover, she is the Mystical or Hidden Rose, for mystical means hidden.
Roses have long been connected with Mary, the red rose symbolic of love, the white rose, of purity. In the fifth century, Coelius Sedulius referred to Mary as a "rose among thorns". Known as the “queen of flowers”, the rose represents Mary as Queen of Heaven. Medieval writers also referenced a passage from Sirach 24:14 "like a palm tree in Engedi, like a rosebush in Jericho". Bernard of Clairvaux said, "Eve was a thorn, wounding, bringing death to all; in Mary we see a rose, soothing everybody's hurts, giving the destiny of salvation back to all." Mary is celebrated under the title "Our Lady of the Rose in Lucca, Italy on January 30. Roses feature prominently in the apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote a poem called, "Rosa Mystica"; Chrysogonus Waddell composed an a capella choral piece of the same name.
Modern Italian Devotion
On 7 December 2019, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brescia inaugurated a shrine to the Blessed Virgin under the title Rosa Mystica - Mother of the Church. The sanctuary is a response to the claims of Pierina Gilli who allegedly experienced Marian apparitions in Montichiari and neighbouring Fontanelle, Italy, in 1947 and 1966. Whether or not the source was a genuine apparition of the Virgin Mary, Pierina intuited and promoted a devotion to Mary with three roses upon her breast and a way of practicing devotion to Mary under the title "Rosa Mystica".
