Bees are precious; in tomorrow’s blog, we will have a chance to understand why, but even before they are precious to us, they are precious in the eyes of God.
Let’s discover the many ways the Bible speaks about them and how their “small lives” intertwine with those of many saints.
Bees in the Bible
“The bee is small among winged creatures, but its product is the best among sweet things” (Sir 11:3)—this poetic sentence is found in the Bible! Indeed, bees are mentioned in the holy book no fewer than five times! Bees symbolize industriousness and organization, goodness and humility, but also strength and support (Jdg 14:8). In a swarm, they symbolize the enemies of the people of Israel. Moses says so to the people who came out of Egypt: “They pursued you like bees…” (Dt 1:44).
Isaiah compares Assyria, Israel’s enemy, to angered bees (Is 7:18). Bees describe the suffering of the persecuted righteous person: “They surrounded me like bees” (Ps 118:12).
Honey too, the fruit of the bees’ work, is a gift of God’s goodness and favor: “I would satisfy him with honey from the rock” (Ps 81:17). Honey is a symbol of the promised land, a “land flowing with milk and honey” (for example: Ex 3:8; 3:17; 13:5); it is the food of those consecrated to God, such as John (Mt 3:4) and the Messiah announced by Isaiah, who “will eat curds and honey” (Is 7:15).
Bees in the lives of the saints
Bees also play a significant role in the life of the Church. During the Easter Vigil, the chant proclaiming Easter refers to the bees whose wax is used to make the Paschal candle.
Saint Ambrose, patron saint of beekeepers, has great admiration for bees, so much so that he compares the Church to the hive where the bees, the Christians, work faithfully, seeking and obtaining the best from every flower: honey.
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux considers bees a symbol of the Holy Spirit.
For Pope Pius XII, bees are “visible testimony to the invisible wisdom of the Creator,” an “example of life and social activity, in which each group has its duty to fulfill.” He also highlights the importance of the “lesson of the bees”: “Ah! If only people knew and wished to heed the lesson of the bees; if each person knew how to fulfill, in order and love, in the place assigned by Providence, their daily duty; if each person knew how to appreciate, love, and value, through the intimate collaboration of the domestic hearth, the small treasures accumulated during their day's work outside the home; if only people knew how, with delicacy and elegance - to speak in human terms -, with charity - to speak in Christian terms -, in their relationships with their fellow human beings, to benefit from what they have conceived as true and beautiful in their spirit, from what they carry of honesty and goodness in the depths of their hearts, without offending them through indiscretion or foolishness, without altering the purity of their thought or love.”
Rita of Cascia: the saint of bees
The saint's real name in the civil registry is Margherita, but everyone soon calls her Rita. One day, when Rita's parents left her alone in her cradle, something extraordinary happened. Bees approached her and began entering and leaving her mouth without stinging her; on the contrary, they left honey in the mouth of the future saint. In a nearby field, a farmer injures his hand with a sickle. Frightened, he quickly leaves the field to seek medical attention. He passes in front of the cradle and sees the bees buzzing near the little girl. He tries to drive them away by waving his hands. Then he suddenly notices that his injured hand has miraculously healed.
Thus, bees became part of the saint's symbolism from the time she was still in her cradle. In particular, the choice of bees is linked to the need to convey the importance of Rita's figure from the time she was very young.
These industrious insects inspired Blessed Mother Fasce to name the support project for the Apette “Saint Rita's Beehive”; this is the affectionate name given to the girls who find a welcoming place full of love here.
