HUU Sermon Archives

The Flower Communion

Delivered August 22, 2004
by Michele O'Connor

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OPENING HYMN : #203, All Creatures of the Earth and Sky (1-3)

INTRODUCTION TO FLOWER COMMUNION:

The flower communion service was created by Dr. Norbert Fabian Capek who founded the Unitarian church in Czechoslovakia. He introduced this special service to that church on June 4, 1923.

For some time he had felt the need for some symbolic ritual that would bring people more closely together. The format had to be one which would not alienate any who had forsaken other religious traditions. The traditional Christian communion service with bread and wine was unacceptable to the members of his congregation because of their strong reaction against the Catholic church which they saw as having aided and abetted their suffering.

So Dr. Capek turned to the native beauty of their countryside for elements of a communion which would be genuine to them. This simple service was the result. It was such a success that it was repeated every year.

Dr. Capek was arrested by the Nazis and killed in Dachau concentration on October 1942. He was charged with listening to radio broadcasts and “high treason.” As is the case so many times in human affairs his treason was reaching out to his fellow citizens and helping them be their highest selves as the world was closing in on them.

The following paragraph was written by Sy Safransky, editor of The Sun magazine. It appeared in this year’s March issue.

"I don’t know what’s harder to fathom: the atrocities committed by the Nazis, or a prayer found written on a piece of wrapping paper in Ravensbruck, the largest concentration camp for women in Nazi Germany. The prayer asks God to remember 'not only the men and women of good will, but also those of ill will. But do not remember all the suffering they have inflicted on us. Remember the fruits borne of this suffering: the loyalty, the humility, the courage, the generosity, the greatness of heart which has grown out of this. And when they come to judgment, let all the fruits which we have borne by their forgiveness.'"

HYMN: Our second hymn will be HYMN #78, Color and Fragrance. This hymn is fairly unfamiliar to us. I chose it not just because it was written by Norbert Capek but for the last three words at the end of each verse: “God’s vision growing.” All that I have read and learned about Norbert Capek pointed to his earnest desire for all people, regardless of differences, to strive to be “God’s vision growing” on this earth.

 

We have heard a little about the flower service and Dr. Norbert Capek. I’d like to give you some additional background about both.

Like most Unitarians Dr. Capek’s spiritual journey took him through various religious traditions. He began his life as a Roman Catholic, and after becoming disillusioned with the Catholic faith, he became a Baptist. He thus began a career as a minister, missionary, publicist, and composer of hymns. As WWI ignited and his religious views became increasingly liberal, he came under danger of arrest by authorities because of his political and liberal religious writings and thus made the decision to move to the United States.

Dr. Capek met Maja in NYC at the public library where she worked as a librarian. They were married in 1917, and in 1919 after coming to the conclusion that he could no longer be a Baptist, he resigned his pastorate.

Before Dr. Capek and his wife returned to Czechoslovakia in 1921, they were introduced to Unitarianism by two of his children from a previous marriage who had gone to a service in Orange, New Jersey. It is reported they found there "not only clear heads but warm hearts too."

Upon their return to a now independent Czechoslovakia, Capek established The Prague Congregation of Religious Fellowship. Nine years later this congregation would get a new name: The Unitarian Church of Czechoslovakia and official recognition by the Czech government.

From the pulpit Dr. Capek encouraged his fellow citizens to have courage in the face of the growing Nazi madness: “We are today” he said in 1938, “the only nation in the whole of Europe that is ready to resist oppression…. Confronting our descendants, we will never have to feel ashamed of the fact that as a small nation in the middle of Europe we were ready to defend human dignity, freedom and justice from violence, lies and lawlessness.” And as certain as death, his speaking out against blind and murderous power cost him his life.

On March 28, 1941 Norbert Capek, the Minister of the Unitarian Church of Czechoslovakia and his youngest daughter Zora were arrested by the Nazi Gestapo. They were charged and convicted of listening to foreign radio broadcasts. This was not a made up charge, it was a crime in his country at that time to try to find out the truth.

Capek was sentenced to a year in prison, and eleven months that he had already been confined while waiting for trail were to be counted in the sentence. Unfortunately, at that time the German official in charge of the occupied Czechoslovakia was killed, and Dr. Capek became a victim of German retaliation for his murder.

Capek spent a year is Dresden Prison before being sent to Dachau where he met his death. He wrote the following meditation in Dresden in 1942:

In the Depths of my soul
There where lies the source of strength,
Where the divine and the human meet,
There, quiet your mind, quiet, quiet.

Outside let lightning reign,
Horrible darkness frighten the world.
But from the depths of your own soul
From that silence will rise again God’s flower.

Return to your self,
Rest in your self, Live in the depths of your soul
Where the divine and the human meet.
Tune your heart to the eternal
And in the depths of your own soul
Your panting quiets down.
Where the divine and the human meet,
There is your refuge.

The flower communion was brought to the US in 1940 by Dr. Capek’s wife, Maja Capek, and was introduced to the Cambridge Mass. UU church.

In a 1961 letter to American Unitarian Association, Maja Capek explained Norbert Capek’s flower communion in this way:

Capek’s only motivation was to stress and bring about BROTHERHOOD. As a symbol he used flowers because in the name of a flower or flowers no wars were waged as was the case with the Cross of the Chalice. The flowers are used as symbols of the gifts which each person can make to the church and through the church to other persons. Because of the large variety [people are] able to express [their] individuality. The exchange of flowers means that I shall walk, without reservation, with anyone—regardless of [their] social status, or [ ] former religious affiliation, as long as [they are] ready and willing to go along in search of truth and service to man.

As we are treated to some of Charlotte’s beautiful piano playing, beginning with the first two rows (starting at the ends), everyone is invited to walk quietly up to the communal vase of flowers, take a different flower than the one you brought to share today, and return to your seat in silent reflection.

CLOSING WORDS: The following is excerpted from “For the Flowers Have the Gift of Language,” which I obtained from a service by Reginald Zottoli.

For the Flowers Have the Gift of Language

The flowers have the gift of language.
In the meadow they speak of freedom.
Creating patterns wild and free as no gardener could match.
In the forest they nestle, snug carpets under roof of
Leaf and branch, making a rug of such softness.
At end tip of branches they cling briefly
Before bursting into fruit sweat to taste….

The flowers have the gift of language.
At the occasion of birth they are buds before bursting.
At the ceremony of love they unite two lovers in beauty.
At the occasion of death, they remind us how lovely is life….

The flowers have the gift of language.
In the dark depths of a death camp
They speak the light of life.
In the face of cruelty
They speak of courage.
In the experience of ugliness
They bespeak the persistence of beauty….
 

For the flowers have the gift of language:
They transport the human voice on winds of beauty;
They lift the melody of song to our ears;
They paint through the eye and hand of the artist;
Their fragrance binds us to sweet-smelling earth.

May the blessing of the flowers be upon you.
May their beauty beckon to you each morning.
And their loveliness lure you each day,
And their tenderness caress you each night.
May their delicate petals make you gentle,
And their eyes make you aware.
May their stems make you sturdy,
And their reaching make you care.
 

CLOSING HYMN: #203 (4-5)

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