Egredietur Virga De Radice Jesse

I found this lovely statue of St. Anne Mother of Mary and the Virgin Mary in the Church of St. Louis. At first glance it looked just like other statues of the two I had seen before. It was the window lighting that had caught my eye.



The inscription on the scroll is what held my attention. "Egredietur Virga De Radice Jesse." While the only word I understood was Jesse, I was pretty sure I knew what it was about. A Google search confirmed my guess.



The prophecy of Isaiah that a Messiah would spring from the family of Jesse, the Father of David.

Isaiah 11:1-3 (New King James Version)
There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, And a Branch shall grow out of his roots. The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him, The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, The Spirit of counsel and might, The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD. His delight is in the fear of the LORD, And He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, Nor decide by the hearing of His ears;

The Latin "Egredietur Virga De Radice Jesse" refers to the first part of the first verse. "There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse,"

It's the little things like this that make me want to keep exploring "The Land of the Cross Tipped Churches", and to keep coming back to see what has changed or what I missed in my earlier travels.