Office Of Readings | Week 20, Thursday, Ordinary Time | A Reading From A Sermon Of Saint Baldwin Of Canterbury, Bishop | A Flower Grew Up From The Root Of Jesse

Christian Art | Annunciation | The Angel Gabriel Greets Mary | Hail Mary! | Do Not Be Afraid

Office Of Readings | Week 20, Thursday, Ordinary Time | A Reading From A Sermon Of Saint Baldwin Of Canterbury, Bishop | A Flower Grew Up From The Root Of Jesse

‘A flower rises from the root of Jesse.’

Saint Baldwin of Canterbury (d. 1190), a Cistercian monk and later Archbishop of Canterbury, draws together Scripture, liturgy, and devotion in a meditation on Christ as the fruit of Mary’s womb. His sermon situates Marian devotion firmly within Christology: honouring the Virgin leads directly to contemplation of her Son.

The sermon begins with the Ave Maria, uniting the angel Gabriel’s greeting to Mary (Lk 1:28) with Elizabeth’s exclamation (Lk 1:42). Baldwin shows how this twofold salutation expresses both the Virgin’s blessedness and the blessedness of the fruit she bears. Christ is this fruit, identified with the messianic imagery of Isaiah 4:2 and 11:1—the ‘shoot of the Lord’, the ‘flower from the root of Jesse’. These prophetic metaphors are read typologically, Christ being the fulfilment of Israel’s hopes, both rooted in Abraham and flowering in David’s line.

The sermon moves in three stages. First, it presents the Christological foundation: Jesus alone possesses the fullness of the Spirit (Jn 3:34), perfectly embodying justice and holiness. Baldwin draws on Isaiah 61:11—just as the earth brings forth fruit, so Christ brings forth justice for all nations. The natural imagery of seed, shoot, and flower conveys growth and perfection.

Second, Baldwin reflects on the glory of Christ’s exaltation. The flower that rises from Jesse’s root does not remain confined to earth but ascends ‘even to the highest place’—the glory of God the Father (Phil 2:9–11). The metaphor thus links Christ’s humble origins with his heavenly majesty, spanning the whole arc of salvation.

Third, the sermon turns to the believer’s participation. The fruit is not only splendid in itself but fruitful for us. Baldwin traces a spiritual progression: Christ as seed (planted in us through pardon and grace), as shoot (growth in perfection), and as flower (hope of final glory). Thus the messianic fruit becomes the pattern of Christian life: forgiveness, sanctification, glorification. The echo of Abraham’s promise (Gen 12:3: ‘in you all nations shall be blessed’) underscores that this blessing extends universally.

The sermon’s structure weaves biblical prophecy, liturgical devotion, and soteriological reflection into a unified vision. Baldwin’s choice of natural imagery makes theological truths accessible and memorable, showing Christ as the life-giving fruit from which all Christian blessing flows.

A Reading From A Sermon Of Saint Baldwin Of Canterbury, Bishop | A Flower Grew Up From The Root Of Jesse

Every day we devoutly greet the most Blessed Virgin Mary with the angel’s greeting and we usually add: Blessed is the fruit of your womb. After she was greeted by the Virgin, Elizabeth added this phrase as if she were echoing the salutation of the angel: Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb. This is the fruit of which Isaiah spoke: On that day the shoot of the Lord shall be splendid and radiant – the sublime fruit of earth. What is this fruit but the holy one of Israel, the seed of Abraham, the shoot of the Lord, the flower arising from the root of Jesse, the fruit of life, whom we have shared?

Blessed surely in seed and blessed in the shoot, blessed in the flower, blessed in the gift, finally blessed in thanksgiving and praise, Christ, the seed of Abraham, was brought forth from the seed of David into the flesh.

He alone among men is found perfected in every good quality, for the Spirit was given to him without measure so that he alone could fulfill all justice. For his justice is sufficient for all nations, according to the Scriptures. As the earth brings forth its buds, and as the garden germinates its own seed, so the Lord God shall bring forth justice and praise before all the nations. For this is the shoot of justice, which the flower of glory adorns with its blessings when it has grown. But how great is this glory? How can anyone think of anything more glorious, or rather, how can anyone conceive of this at all? For the flower rises from the root of Jesse. you ask: ‘How far?’ Surely it rises even to the highest place, because Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father. His magnificence is elevated above the heavens so that he, the issue of the Lord, is splendid and glorious, the sublime fruit of earth.

But what is our benefit from this fruit? What other than the fruit of blessing from the blessed fruit? From this seed, this shoot, this flower, surely the fruit of blessing comes forth. It has come even to us; first as a seed it is planted through the grace of pardon, then germinated with the increase of perfection, and finally it flowers in the hope or the attainment of glory. For the fruit was blessed by God, and in God, so that God may be glorified through it. For us, too, the fruit was blessed, so that blessed by God we may be glorified in him through the promise spoken to Abraham. God made the fruit a blessing for all nations.

Christian Prayer With Jesus Christ

O God,
from the root of Jesse you brought forth the flower of salvation,
our Lord Jesus Christ,
born of the Virgin Mary in the fullness of time.
Grant that we, who rejoice in the blessed fruit of her womb,
may share in the pardon of his grace,
grow in the justice of his Spirit,
and come at last to the glory prepared for your children.
Through the same Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Glossary Of Christian Terms

Root of Jesse: Biblical image (Is 11:1) referring to King David’s father; used to signify the messianic lineage from which Christ would come.

Fruit of the womb: Scriptural expression (Lk 1:42) applied to Christ, emphasising both his true humanity and his divine blessing.

Typology: A method of biblical interpretation in which Old Testament figures and images prefigure Christ and the New Covenant.

Soteriological: The adjective form of soteriology, which is the theological study of salvation, particularly in Christianity. The word comes from the Greek words sōtēr (saviour) and -logia (study of), referring to doctrines and beliefs about deliverance from a fallen or sinful state through divine intervention.

Seed, shoot, flower: Stages of growth used by Baldwin as metaphors for Christ’s presence in the believer: pardon (seed), perfection (shoot), glory (flower).

Justice: In biblical theology, not merely fairness but right relationship with God; Christ embodies and imparts this justice.

Exaltation: The raising of Christ to heavenly glory following his passion and resurrection, seated at the right hand of the Father.

Blessing of Abraham: God’s covenant promise (Gen 12:3) that through Abraham’s offspring all nations would receive blessing; fulfilled in Christ.