Do you know why the poinsettia is the flower that people give to one another and decorate with during Christmas? It's not because it is red and green! I actually originated in Mexico. Here is the Poinsettia Legend:
Long ago in a small Mexican village there lived a girl name Maria and her little brother Pablo. maria and Pablo were very poor, but they always looked forward to the Christmas festival. Each year a large Manger scene was set up in the village church, and the days before Christmas were filled with processions and parties.
Maria and Pablo loved Christmas. But one thing made them sad. Because they were so poor, they had no money to buy presents. They especially wished that they could give something to the church for the Baby Jesus. But they had nothing.
On Christmas Eve, Maria and Pablo set out for church to attend the Christmas service. Along the way, they saw some bright green plants growing by the roadside.
" I know, " said Maria. "Let's take these plants with us to give to the Baby Jesus." "All right," said Pablo.
So the children gathered up the plants and took them to the church where they placed them around the Manger. Some of the other children teased them because they had no better presents to offer. But Maria and Pablo said nothing. They knew they had given what they could.
Then during the church service a wonderful thing happened. All around the manger the plants that Maria and Pablo had brought began to change color. One by one the green leaves on the top of the plants turned into bright red petals, and soon the manger was surrounded by beautiful star like flowers.
From that time on, people in Mexico began calling the green plant with the bright red petals "The Flower of Christmas Eve." Others came to call it the poinsettia, and to this day it is a favorite flower at Christmas time everywhere.
The next time you buy a poinsettia for someone, type up the legend of the poinsettia for them. I found this so interesting and I will never look at a poinsettia again without thinking of the legend.
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