Flower Ritual on June 9
Sunday, June 9 will be the last Sunday of our Program Year. As in past years, we will conclude with a flower ritual (some call it Flower Communion), introduced to Unitarian worship by Norbert Čapek of Czechoslovakia in June, 1923. Čapek built a religious movement of Unitarians that, over the course of two decades, grew to nearly 10,000 people. He ministered at what was then the largest Unitarian congregation in the world, in Prague.
The flower ritual was brought to the United States by Mája Čapek in 1940. She was raising money for her husband’s church in Prague. During her tour, World War II broke out and she was unable to return home. Her husband, still in Prague, denounced the brutality of the Nazi regime. Soon after the occupation of Czechoslovakia, Dr. Čapek was arrested. He died in a concentration camp in Germany in 1942. Mája remained in the United States, where she continued to work for international religious freedom until her death in 1956.
In the words of Mája Čapek, “No two flowers are alike, no two people are alike; yet each has a contribution to make; each would help make the world as beautiful as a colorful bouquet. By exchanging the flowers, we signify that we are willing, in the spirit of tolerance and patience, to march together in search of truth, disregarding all that usually divides people.”
On June 9, please bring a flower for each person participating in our pan-generational worship service. The helpful Landscape Committee members will help you put them in a vase when you enter, and then they will be carried into the service before the ritual. If you have any questions, contact Fran in the office.