Ikiwa classicism ya Kikristo na Origenism huko Kaisaria-Palestina zilitafuta kuendeleza theolojia na falsafa za akili, wanafalsafa wa kiklasiki na wanatheolojia Wakristo wa Gaza walitafuta kuchanganya theolojia ya hali ya juu na balagha ya kiklasiki na dini ya watu pamoja na sherehe za kidini, maarufu zaidi kati ya hizo ikiwa Sherehe ya Waridi ya Gaza. Katika mazingira ya starehe ya Gaza, wanabalagha Wakristo Prokopio na Koriki walishiriki katika Sherehe ya Waridi (Kennedy, G. 2008: 171), sherehe ya masika yenye historia ndefu ya kiklasiki na mizizi ya kale ya kipagani. Pia Yohana wa Gaza aliandika mashairi mawili ya kianakreontiki, yakiiga aya za kimeta zilizotumiwa na mshairi wa Kigiriki Anakreoni (takriban 582–takriban 485 KK) katika mashairi yake yanayohusu mapenzi na divai, ambayo anasema aliyawasilisha hadharani "siku ya waridi, na hotuba za Prokopio". Mashairi ya Chorikio wa Gaza nayo yamewekwa katika siku za waridi (Westberg 2009: 187‒189; Talgam 2004: 223‒224).

If Christian classicism and Origenism in Caesarea-Palaestina sought to develop theologies and philosophies of the mind, the classicising philosophers and Christian theologians of Gaza sought to combine high theology and classical rhetoric with popular religion and religious festivals, the most famous of which was the Rose Festival of Gaza. In the relaxed setting of Gaza the Christian rhetoricians Procopius and Coricius participated in the Rose Festival (Kennedy, G. 2008: 171), a spring festival with a long classical history and deep pagan roots. Also John of Gaza wrote two anacreontic poems – imitating verses in metre used by the Greek poet Anacreon (c. 582–c. 485 BC) in his poems dealing with love and wine – that he says he presented publicly on ‘the day of the roses, and declamations by Procopius’. Poetry by Chorikios of Gaza is also set at rose days (Westberg 2009: 187‒189; Talgam 2004: 223‒224).

Katika karne ya 6, "Siku ya Waridi" ilifanyika Gaza kama sherehe ya majira ya chemchemi, huenda ikiwa ni mwendelezo wa Rosalia uliogeuzwa kuwa wa Kikristo (Talgam 2004: 223‒224; Belayche 2004: 17). Katika Ugiriki na Roma, taji za maua, mashada ya maua na mimea ya kijani zilivaliwa na wanaume na wanawake kwa ajili ya sherehe. Rosaria au Rosalia ilikuwa sikukuu ya Kirumi ya waridi iliyoadhimishwa tarehe mbalimbali, hasa mwezi wa Mei. Sherehe hii wakati mwingine huitwa rosatio ("kupamba kwa waridi") au dies rosationis ("siku ya kupamba kwa waridi").

In the 6th century, a ‘Day of Roses’ was held in Gaza as a spring festival that may have been a Christianised continuation of the Rosalia (Talgam 2004: 223‒224; Belayche 2004: 17). In Greece and Rome, floral wreaths and garlands and greenery had been worn by both men and women for festive occasions. Rosaria or Rosalia was a Roman festival of roses celebrated on various dates, primarily in May. The observance is sometimes called a rosatio (‘rose-adornment’) or the dies rosationis (‘day of rose-adornment’).

Kama ukumbusho wa wafu, rosatio ilikua kutokana na desturi ya kuweka maua katika maeneo ya mazishi. Katika hadithi za kale za Kigiriki na Kirumi, damu na maua viliunganishwa katika mabadiliko ya kimungu. Maua yalikuwa alama za kawaida za ufufuo, kuzaliwa upya na kumbukumbu, huku rangi nyekundu na zambarau za waridi na urujuani zikidhaniwa kuamsha rangi ya damu kama njia ya kutuliza hasira.

As a commemoration of the dead, the rosatio developed from the custom of placing flowers at burial sites. In classical mythology blood and flowers were linked in divine metamorphosis. Flowers were traditional symbols of rejuvenation, rebirth and memory, with the red and purple of roses and violets felt to evoke the colour of blood as a form of propitiation.

Adonis, mpendwa wa Aphrodite, alipouawa na nguruwe wakati wa uwindaji, damu yake ilizaa ua. Kipindi cha kuchanua kwao kilitengeneza msimu wa majira ya machipuko. Katika baadhi ya maeneo ya Dola ya Kirumi ya kipagani, sherehe ya Rosalia ilijumuishwa katika vipengele vya maua vya sherehe za majira ya machipuko kwa ajili ya Dionysus, Adonis na Aphrodite (Venus wa Kirumi), lakini desturi ya kupamba kwa waridi ilijitolea kwa ukumbusho wa Kikristo wa wafu. Mila za Kirumi za kipagani zilizohusishwa na Rosalia zilifasiriwa upya kwa maneno ya Kikristo, na waandishi wa mapema wa Kikristo wa Palestina walihamisha taswira ya kipagani ya shada na taji za waridi na urujuani hadi ibada ya watakatifu wa Kikristo. Waridi kwa ujumla lilikuwa sehemu ya taswira ya sanaa ya mazishi ya Kikristo ya mwanzo. Mashahidi wa Kikristo mara nyingi walielezwa au kuchorwa kwa taswira ya maua, au kwa namna zilizowatambulisha na maua. Mila hizi za mapema za Kikristo za Palestina ya Kibyzantium na Gaza pia zilidumu katika mila za kisasa za Kikatoliki za Palestina.

When Adonis, beloved of Aphrodite, was killed by a boar during a hunt, his blood produced a flower. Their blooming period framed the season of spring. In some parts of the pagan Roman Empire the Rosalia was assimilated into floral elements of spring festivals for Dionysus, Adonis and Aphrodite (Roman Venus), but rose-adornment as a practice lent itself to Christian commemoration of the dead. The Roman pagan traditions associated with the Rosalia were reinterpreted into Christian terms and early Christian writers of Palestine transferred the pagan imagery of garlands and crowns of roses and violets to the cult of the Christian saints. Roses were in general part of the imagery of early Christian funerary art. Christian martyrs were often described or depicted with flower imagery, or in ways that identified them with flowers. These early Christian traditions of Byzantine Palestine and Gaza also survived in modern Catholic traditions of Palestine.

Mfano wa kisasa wa Rozari ya Kanisa Katoliki la Roma unapatikana katika jina la Kiarabu Rahbat al-Wardiyyah (‘Masista wa Rozari’). Mnamo Mei 2015, mwanzilishi wa Rahbat-al-Wardiyyah, Sista Marie Alphonsine Danil Ghattas, mtawa wa Kipalestina, alitangazwa kuwa mtakatifu katika sherehe iliyofanyika Vatikani.24

A modern incarnation of the Roman Catholic Rosary is found in the Arabic name Rahbat al-Wardiyyah (‘Sisters of the Rosary’). In May 2015 the founder of Rahbat-al-Wardiyyah, Sister Marie Alphonsine Danil Ghattas, a Palestinian nun, was proclaimed a saint at a ceremony in the Vatican.24

Aliyezaliwa Yerusalemu, Maryam Sultanah Danil Ghattas (1843‒1927) – Marie Alphonsine baada ya kujiunga na Shirika la St Joseph of the Apparition – alianzisha mnamo mwaka 1880 Masista wa Rozari, shirika la kwanza la watawa wanawake lililojitolea kuondoa kutojua kusoma na kuandika miongoni mwa wanawake bila kujali dini, elimu au hali ya kijamii, katika Nchi Takatifu/Palestina. Leo, Masista wa Rozari Waarabu Wakristo, wakiungwa mkono na Patriarkia ya Kilatini ya Yerusalemu, wanaendesha shule arobaini na mbili nchini Palestina, Jordan na Israel. Shule hizi huwasomesha wanafunzi Waarabu Waislamu na Wakristo (Jansen 2006: 59).

Born in Jerusalem, Maryam Sultanah Danil Ghattas (1843‒1927) – Marie Alphonsine after she joined the Congregation of St Joseph of the Apparition – founded in 1880 the Rosary Sisters, the first female congregation of nuns devoted to eradicating illiteracy among women regardless of faith, education and social welfare in the Holy Land/Palestine. Today the Christian Arab Sisters of the Rosary, supported by the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, run forty-two schools in Palestine, Jordan and Israel. These schools educate both Muslim and Christian Arab students (Jansen 2006: 59).