In the garden, our First Parents were attacked by the deception of that envious serpent, the Devil. Thereafter, in some circumstances, the snake has become a symbol of his malice and hate for man. Such was the case on the deserted Isles of Lerins in Gaul which was infested by the beasts when Saint Honoratus and his spiritual Father arrived there to found the famous monastery. But, having following the Lord’s command to be “wise as serpents, ” — the redemption of the negative symbolism — the future Archbishop drove them off by his prayer. In place of the desolate wilderness, he cultivated a garden of the Theotokos, which provided the Church with many fruitful tress and flowers, the saints of Lerins.