Blessing of Lilies

by Rev. Cav. William Rock, FSSP, SMOCSG

On 26 February 1901, the Sacred Congregation of Rites approved a blessing of lilies (benedictio liliorum) in honor of St. Anthony of Padua, Confessor and Doctor of the Church, to be used on his feast day (13 June).  The lily has long been associated with this Saint.  Indeed, “in the earliest pictures [of St. Anthony] we find nothing more distinctive than a book, emblematic of his knowledge of Holy Scripture, or a lily,”¹ which “signifies his love for purity.”²  The translation of the blessing, found in the Roman Ritual, is as follows:³

The priest vests in surplice and white stole, and says:

℣. Our help is in the Name of the Lord.
℟. Who made heaven and earth.
℣. The Lord be with you.
℟. And with your spirit.

Let us pray.

God, the Creator and preserver of the human race, the lover of holy purity, the giver of supernatural grace, and the dispenser of everlasting salvation; bless ✠ these lilies which we, Thine humble servants, present to Thee today as an act of thanksgiving and in honor of St. Anthony, Thy confessor, and with a request for Thy blessing.  Pour out on them, by the saving sign ✠ of the holy cross, Thy dew from on high.  Thou in Thy great kindness have given them to man, and endowed them with a sweet fragrance to lighten the burden of the sick.  Therefore, let them be filled with such power that, whether they are used by the sick, or kept in homes or other places, or devoutly carried on one’s person, they may serve to drive out evil spirits, safeguard holy chastity, and turn away illness – all this through the prayers of St. Anthony – and finally impart to Thy servants grace and peace; through Christ our Lord.
℟. Amen.

Then he sprinkles the lilies with holy water, saying:

Sprinkle me, O Lord, with hyssop, and I shall be clean of sin. Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

℣. Pray for us, St. Anthony.
℟. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray.
We beg Thee, O Lord, that Thy people may be helped by the constant and devout intercession of Blessed Anthony, Thy illustrious confessor.  May he assist us to be worthy of Thy grace in this life, and to attain everlasting joys in the life to come; through Christ our Lord.
℟. Amen.

After this the lilies are distributed to the people.

As might be expected, the main blessing fittingly contains two references to purity, one at the beginning (“holy purity”) and one at the end (“holy chastity”), which is symbolized by the lily.  A point of interest is that the blessing begins by offering the lilies to God, something rare in such blessings.  In addition to the references to purity, a central intention of this main prayer is the prevention of and restoration from illness by the power of the sacramentalized flowers.  This intention regarding the prevention of and restoration from illness may be inspired by an event which occurred when the Saint was interred – “St. Anthony was buried on the Tuesday following his death, in the Church called Santa Maria Maggiore, in Padua.  On that very day, all the sick who had themselves taken to his grave, recovered.”⁴  This event also provides the foundation for holding devotions to St. Anthony on Tuesdays.  The concluding prayer is concerned with receiving supernatural benefits through the intercession of the Saint.

Another unique feature of this blessing is that the concluding rubric directs that they should be distributed to the faithful.  This rubric, then, envisions this ceremony as something done publicly, with a group of the faithful, and with the flowers grouped together for the blessing, rather than something more singular or with the faithful holding the flowers as they are blessed.  The use of the Asperges text (“Sprinkle me…”) while sprinkling the lilies with holy water is also something rare among the blessings of the Ritual, but is used in the three major blessings during the course of the liturgical year, that of the Candles on Candlemas, of the Ashes on Ash Wednesday, and of the Palms on Palm Sunday.  This, again, indicates that this blessing of lilies is foreseen as something major, especially as this ceremony is restricted to one day of the year.  What great honor is thus given to the lily, which is, according to St. Thomas Aquinas, “the most beautiful flower.”⁵

Rev. Cav. William Rock, FSSP, SMOCSG was ordained in the fall of 2019 and was invested as an Ecclesiastical Knight of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St. George in the summer of 2025.  He currently resides at the FSSP Canonical House of St. Casimir in Nashua, NH, and ministers at St. Stanislaus parish.

In support of the causes of Blessed Maria Cristina, Queen, and Servant of God Francesco II, King 

1. Butler, Alban. The Lives of the Saints, vol. 6 (June). Edited and expanded by Thurston, Herbert and Leeson, Norah. (New York: P. J. Kenedy & Sons, 1937), p. 166.
2. Deymann, Clementinus. Devotion to St. Anthony of Padua; or, A novena in His Honor, 3rd ed. (San Francisco: A. Waldteufel, 1888), p. 11.
3. Rituale Romanum [1957], Titulus IX – Caput 10, 5; English adapted from the Weller translation provided online by EWTN (2, XI, VII, 23).
4. Deymann, 12.
5. “est pulcherrimus flos“-St. Thomas Aquinas’ Commentary on Isaias 35:1 (745).