A flower bloomed
In the middle of a cold winter’s night,
A rose that Mary gave us,
A small child,
Who dispels the darkness,
Relieves our sorrows,
And saves us from sin and death.
In the Middle Ages, councils debating confidential matters hung a rose from the ceiling and swore not to reveal what they discussed sub rosa, under the rose. This association of a rose with secrecy dates back to a Greek myth in which the god of love gave a rose to the god of silence, bribing him to stay quiet about the sins of the other gods. To this day, the rose remains an emblem of the spy profession.