The Fleur-de-Lis and the image of Christ

Fleur-de-lis. Image from frecuenciasdeluz.ning.com

In a manuscript dated 1536, in the Library of Balliol College, Oxford, comes a poem in which the Fleur-de-Lis is made the image of Christ:

For His love that bought us all dear

Listen, lordings, that be here

And I will tell you in fere

Where-of came the flower delice.

On Christmas night, when it was cold,

Our lady lay among beasts bold,

And there she bare Jesu, Joseph told.

And there-of came the flower -delice.

Sing we all, for time it is,

Mary hath borne the flower delice.

"El Nacimiento de Cristo en el pesebre de Belén". Grabado guatemalteco anónimo de finales del siglo XIX o principios del XX. Al dorso contiene alabados guatemaltecos para el Niño Dios. Hoja de cordel. Se repartía en la Catedral Metropolitana durante "La Misa del Gallo" el 24 de diciembre. (Museo de Historia de la Usac). Texto y foto de Lahora.com

Reference: Green Magic. By Lesley Gordon. p. 166. New York, 1977