The Eyes of Christ

Veronica spicata

This plant is a herb although too much of it is poisonous.  Like a lot of things in life.  It can grow from one to three feet tall and loves the sun although it only gets a few hours of sunlight in the shade of my wooded garden.  It does the best it can.  I  have to search to find this humble little plant every spring.  But it is persistent showing up  year after year, reaching for that life-giving yellow orb.  It's flower message is of joy, healing and recovery which is lovely to have growing in my garden, but the genus name is odd.  Veronica?  Most plants have names I don't recognize and struggle to pronounce like Hemerocallis fulva which is the name for an orange daylily.  But, Veronica spicata (which my spell-check keeps changing to Veronica piccata) has a many-storied etymology.  My favorite is that it's related to the travails of St. Veronica who accompanied Christ on his cross-burdened journey during the crucifixion.  He had healed her from twelves year of bleeding after she touched his cloak and so she followed him on his last walk.  She handed him her veil so he could wipe his brow of sweat and blood.  When he gave it back, the miraculous vision his face was imprinted on the cloth.  The cloth became a relic of the early church, the Veil of Veronica. Which rests in Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome.  Ok. The story gave me shivers but,  how's that connected to this spindly plant?  The bright blue flowers of some of the species, growing on the side of the road as Christ walked to Calvary, are apparently associated with the eyes of Jesus.  HIs eyes were blue?  I don't really get the connection after having searched through a lot of google junk.  Anyway, perhaps a not-so-humble flower after all.  I will say a little prayer next time I water, weed, or admire Veronica spicata as she makes her presence known.  God may be watching me.