The legend of the poinsettia comes from
Mexico. It tells of a girl and her little brother. They were very poor but
always looked forward to the Christmas festival. Each year a large manger scene
was set up in the village church, and the days before Christmas were filled
with parades and parties. The two children loved Christmas, but were always
saddened because they had no money to buy presents. They especially wished that
they could give something to the church for the Baby Jesus. But they had
nothing.
One Christmas Eve, the children set out
for church to attend the service. On their way they picked some weeds growing
along the roadside and decided to take them as their gift in the manger scene.
The children began placing the green plants around the manger and miraculously,
the green top leaves turned into bright red petals, and soon the manger was
surrounded by beautiful star-like flowers and so we see them today.
