Rev. Emelia Attridge

There's a type of rose that grows without thorns in Assisi, Italy.

Supposedly, this variety only grows in one location: at the site of the Portiuncula, where St. Francis and his friars minore lived. Today, there is a large church property at the site, which includes the small chapel where Francis prayed, the place where he died, a bookshop, library, small museum, as well as a rose garden with roses completely lacking thorns. 

The legend goes that one day a melancholy and frustrated Francis in a moment like Jeremiah, threw himself on to the rose bushes outside the chapel and the little huts they had built there. Miraculously, God removed all the thorns from the bushes to prevent Francis from being hurt. 

How many of us, in our despair, have had moments like this? Perhaps God intercedes for us with a loving friend to console us or the wisdom to do no harm to oneself or others. When we are in our most desperate places of lament, anger, and fear, we could really use a sign. Sometimes they come in the form of a rose without thorns, a consolation from a friend, or a reminder. For Christians, the knowledge that our God experienced all the suffering of humanity in the life of Jesus Christ is sometimes enough. Other times, it's te faith we hold that God continues to dwell with us.