Symbols linked to Christmas - Myrrh

Myrrh was one of the gifts of the Magi or Three wise men. Legend says Caspar brought the gift of myrrh from Europe or Tarsus and placed it before Jesus Christ when he was a child.

Because of myrrh's various medicinal uses this gift represents Christ's human nature, the Suffering Saviour, the Great Physician, and the Passion.

Myrrh was an extremely valuable commodity during biblical times and imported from India and Arabia. It is a yellowish brown aromatic gum resin with a bitter, slightly pungent taste obtained from a tree (especially Commiphora abyssinica of the family Burseraceae) of eastern Africa and Arabia.