Flower Communion reflections July 5, 2026 by Lucille LePage

Gloucester Unitarian Universalist Church

 

So, here are your flowers – and here we are, together.  It is cause for celebration.

Today we take part in the Flower Communion, as people have done for more than 100 years.

As you know, the ritual centers on gathering flowers – radiant, diverse, separate blossoms – into one glorious new creation that also reflects our church community.  We individual church members are like the flowers – we are varied, vibrant, wonderful, and complete in ourselves –  but together we create an expansive entity that is stronger and richer than the sum of its parts.  The flowers take on new dimensions when joined with their companions, and so do we.  In so many ways, as members of this congregation, we transform, enhance and sustain one another.

 

The flowers speak for themselves.  Let’s take a little time to look and listen – to give them the attention and appreciation they deserve. Now, the typical process of assembling the blossoms on a Flower Communion morning tends to be a bit haphazard;  it reminds me a lot of the wonders and hazards of a church potluck.  So, the process results either in a harmonious bouquet or a somewhat riotous hodgepodge -but in either case, what materializes is something dazzling, impactful, delightful, even miraculous

So, let’s take a moment to feast our eyes on the flowers and savor their gracious gifts of beauty, bounty, cheer, and love.

And then I invite you to look around, again with appreciation, at one another.   Let’s take joy in the sight of one another’s faces.  Each of us is a gift, as individuals and as members of our church community.  Maybe as you look around you would like to share a silent greeting:  a smile, a wave, a bow, . . .   I encourage you to include, in your thoughts and maybe by facing the camera, those who are not physically with us here today.

Thank you.

 

Here on the table, surrounded by the flowers, are photos of Norbert and Maja Capek, who gave us the gift of the Flower Communion – or, as they called it, the Flower Festival or Flower Celebration.

They had met in the U.S., in the 1910’s, as expatriates from Bohemia, and had married, and then converted to Unitarianism here.  In 1920, they returned to their native land, which was now the new country of Czechoslovakia.  There, in Prague, they started the Unitarian Church of Czechoslovakia.

On June 24, 1923, Norbert Capek created the Flower Festival.  It was a novel, beautiful, universally meaningful ritual, designed to unite the diverse members of his new, large congregation while respecting their individuality.

Although the ceremony shared many symbolic features in common with bread-and-wine communion, Norbert intentionally avoided the term Flower Communion so as not to confuse the ritual with the Christian Communion tradition.  That older tradition had been a part of the religions of many of his congregants and held many connotations for them.  (Capek himself had been born Catholic, and then became a Baptist minister before converting to Unitarianism.)

The new ritual was essentially the one we celebrate today: each participant would simply bring a flower, join it with the flowers brought by others to form a bouquet, and then at the end of the ceremony choose a different blossom from the bouquet to take home with them.

In 1939, Maja Capek, who had been ordained in 1926, came back to the United States to raise funds for Czechoslovakian relief work, while Norbert and his oldest daughter remained in Prague.

While visiting Cambridge, MA, Rev. Maja introduced the Flower Festival to the Unitarian Church in that city.   And in time, this new ritual was adapted and warmly embraced by many UU congregations, until it became a treasured tradition in our denomination.

Maja Capek was unable to return to Prague and to her husband there, or even to communicate with him, because of the outbreak of World War 2.   Then, after the war, Maja received tragic news about her husband.

Because Norbert Capek preached about the inherent worth and beauty of every human person, the Nazis had found him to be too dangerous to be allowed to live. He was sent to the infamous Dachau concentration camp, where he was put to death, in 1942.

Shortly before his death, at Dachau, Dr. Capek had written these words:

“I have lived amidst eternity. Be grateful, my soul. My life was worth living.”

Clearly, his life had been worth living – a life of courage, hope, compassion, wisdom, and profound goodness.

Norbert and Maja Capek’s vision and the spirit of their lives are still with us, in many ways.

And the Flower Ceremony that we celebrate today is one of those gifts.

We can honor the Capeks by trying to live as they did: bravely, joyfully, creatively, and compassionately, appreciating and sharing earth’s gifts. This morning, we also honor them by carrying on the ritual that they gave us.

Thank you for making it possible by being here and by the gifts of your flowers.