The butterfly has often been depicted in Christian art as a symbol of the Resurrection.
In its earlier stages of development, the butterfly is an earthbound caterpillar that crawls along the ground. Then it enters its cocoon as into a tomb. After a death-like sleep, it emerges in a new and beautiful form.
No longer bound to the earth, it freely soars where it wills.
In recent years, the monarch butterfly has begun to decrease in numbers because of declines in milkweed (an essential food for monarchs), weather (a winter storm in Mexico in 2015 killed many monarchs), parasites, and pesticides.
- Little White Book, Diocese of Saginaw