Ancient Faith
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Teaching Children Floral Arts for Orthodox Worship
35:32
What the video says
Hannah Hunt demonstrates how to involve children in creating floral arrangements for Orthodox liturgical use, focusing on wiring hyacinths and carnations, making a crown for myrrh-bearing girls, and constructing a garland for an icon frame. She explains the symbolism of hyacinths, the tradition of myrrh-bearing girls on Holy Friday, and practical techniques for wiring flowers and building garlands with a wire spine for shape control.
The children actively participate in wiring, assembling, and placing flowers, emphasizing hands-on engagement in beautifying the church.
Key moments
- Hannah references Wisdom on perceiving the Creator through creation's beauty, emphasizing involving children in liturgical floral design to foster love for creation and God.
- Introduces hyacinths as a spring flower suitable for Holy Week, noting their fragrance and symbolism of the beauty of New Jerusalem, majesty, and divine authority.
- Children Colt and Adelaide wire individual hyacinth florets on 22-gauge wire for hanging on the tomb of Christ, royal doors, or processional lanterns.
- Hannah makes a hyacinth crown for Adelaide, explaining the myrrh-bearing girls' tradition on Holy Friday where girls in white dresses and crowns process around the epitaphios sprinkling petals.
- Demonstrates two wiring methods for carnations: a simple pick for insertion and a traditional wired stem using floral tape, noting carnations hold well out of water.
- Shows wiring spray roses, removing guard petals and sepals, then taping the stem; wired flowers can be bent to face outward for better visibility.
- Builds a garland by hand on a heavy bind-wire spine for shape control, using lemon leaf, leather leaf, ming fern, cedar, wax flower, and wired roses in a bespoke English garden style.
- Attaches the garland to a custom PVC pipe frame fitted to an icon with felt pads for protection, using chenille stems for reusable, adjustable fastening.
In this episode of Mirror of Paradise, Hannah Hunt demonstrates how to involve children in creating floral arrangements for Orthodox liturgical use, turning the craft of flower wiring into a formative spiritual activity. The session centers on wiring hyacinths and carnations, constructing a crown for the myrrh-bearing girls' Holy Friday procession, and building a garland for an icon frame.
Hannah begins by referencing the Wisdom of Solomon on perceiving the Creator through creation's beauty, framing the work as a way to foster children's love for God through hands-on engagement with the natural world. Hyacinths are introduced as a spring flower rich in symbolism — their fragrance and form evoking the beauty of the New Jerusalem, majesty, and divine authority — making them especially fitting for Holy Week.
Children Colt and Adelaide actively participate, wiring individual hyacinth florets on 22-gauge wire for placement on the tomb of Christ, the royal doors, or processional lanterns. Hannah then crafts a hyacinth crown for Adelaide, explaining the tradition of myrrh-bearing girls who, dressed in white and crowned, process around the epitaphios on Holy Friday sprinkling petals.
The demonstration continues with two wiring methods for carnations — a simple pick and a traditional wired stem using floral tape — noting carnations' durability out of water. Spray roses are prepared by removing guard petals and sepals before taping, allowing wired stems to be bent outward for better visibility. Finally, Hannah constructs a garland by hand on a heavy bind-wire spine for shape control, using lemon leaf, leather leaf, ming fern, cedar, wax flower, and wired roses in a bespoke English garden style.
The garland is attached to a custom PVC pipe frame fitted to an icon with felt pads for protection, secured with chenille stems for reusable, adjustable fastening. Throughout, the emphasis remains on forming children in the liturgical life of the Church through beauty, symbolism, and shared labor.
Main points
- Children actively wire hyacinths and carnations for liturgical use, connecting craft to worship.
- Hyacinths symbolize the New Jerusalem, majesty, and divine authority, fitting for Holy Week.
- A hyacinth crown is made for the myrrh-bearing girls' Holy Friday procession tradition.
- Two wiring techniques for carnations and spray roses are taught for durability and presentation.
- A garland is built on a wire spine and mounted on a protective PVC frame for an icon.