The Flower Communion of Norbert Čapek

We Unitarians celebrate our diversity this Easter Sunday in our annual Flower Communion, held against a backdrop of rising xenophobia within Australia - by Neo Nazis - and also abroad. Ironically - terrorists in Sri Lanka were, on this very day, also seeking to homogenise their society by bombing Sri Lankan Christians attending Easter church services and hotels where tourists were being targeted. The Flower Communion was first held by Unitarian minister, Norbert Čapek in Prague, Czechoslovakia in June 1923. Each person would bring a flower to the church. In today's Flower Communion - our children gathered up all our flowers which were then placed in a large central vase and redistributed by each of us to another during the service so that we, each took home a different flower from the one we brought. This Flower Communion symbolises the uniqueness of each individual, and celebrates our coming together in communion to share and celebrate our uniqueness and diversity.
In 1942, Norbert Čapek was charged with listening to foreign broadcasts, an offence punishable by death. Norbert Čapek was taken to the Dachau concentration camp in 1942, imprisoned, tortured and eventually gassed late in 1942 - a Unitarian martyr who left the Flower Communion to us as his lasting legacy.