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While many decorate with poinsettias, their lifespan is short and the history less poignant. The below legends are fun, especially if one of these <100-year-old cacti owns you! True or false? -- you decide.
1. In Bolivia, a Jesuit missionary named Fr. Jose was unsuccessful in teaching natives about the reality of Christmas. He prayed for guidance as he struggled to gain the village trust. Then, on Christmas Eve, the jungle exploded with colored blossoms from a rain-forest succulent. Fr. Jose had an idea. He and the children gathered hundreds of blossoms to process into the church to celebrate the coming of the Christ child.
2. In Brazil, a jungle-dwelling boy prayed for a sign of Christmas cheer in his hot and humid world. As Christmas approached, nothing happened but kept praying. On Christmas, he emerged from his hut to a jungle, fragrant with overnight blooms. Native cacti were flowering to honor the birth of Christ. It seemed miraculous since they bloom in May when southern hemisphere days are shorter. It may have been a different variety. In the northern hemisphere, these succulents bloom for 1 of 3 Christian holidays--depending on their variety. If we think that our Christmas cactus blooming schedule is off, it may be pre-programmed for a completely separate holiday. Projection or not,
3. In the French 1800s, botanist Charles Lemaire is credited with breeding the low-maintenance Thanksgiving variety with the temperamental Easter genus in an attempt to make Easter blooms less moody. Instead, through the hand of God, we were gifted the Christmas variety, for brighter Nativity celebrations throughout our generations.
All legends aside, God the Father bursts with love, through the flowers He gives us to love and honor our Redeemer's birth.
Sources:
Legend of the Christmas Cactus | The little blue book Diocese of Saginaw, Inc p52
Confusion about Christmas Cactus | site.extension.uga.edu
Schlumbergera was created by Charles Lemaire | Schlumbergera and Rhipsalidopsis
Science cannot explain suffering. As Lay Passionist and nurse, she challenges modern health care assumptions; contraception, abortion, euthanasia, herd immunity and more. Behind every health dilemma, God asks us to abide in Him. Author of 7 books & >20 peer-reviewed nursing journal articles; she also writes as "The Catholic Nurse" on Substack, see "Archives." She is a veteran of the Army Nurse Corps. Her primary charism is mercy through which she explores redemptive suffering, spiritual healing and the joy of bringing of souls to God.
