Monday, December 9, 2013

Crèche Exhibits

Mary and the Holy Family are in the spotlight at the University of Dayton Libraries again this year. More than 2,500 visitors are expected: they will come to see the 300 or so crèches on display between now and January 26, 2014.  The crèches are part of the Marian Library’s collection of more than 2,500 crèches and nativity-related ornaments.

The theme this year, At the Manger: And Animals Were There, will delight and intrigue adults and children as they view world nativity traditions at the “manger.” Creative children’s activities, light refreshments, live entertainment by the Dayton International Festival Singers and a Stable Store provide something for everyone.

The idea for the crèche displays started when the late Constance Breen saw two crèche scenes on the top shelf of a bookcase at the Marian Library. She asked about them, talked with Father Johan Roten, and suggested to several friends that they might see about displaying them. Ginny Whalen and other close friends agreed, and an annual tradition began.

Since 1995, the collection has grown to include thousands of nativities from around the world that reflect a variety of customs and traditions.  The crèches are expressions of how Christianity has shaped the culture and faith of people all over the world; 96 cultures and countries are represented.

From 15 to 19 volunteers donate time each week during the year, repairing, organizing and building new settings for the collection. The volunteers donate more than 5,500 hours each year! The cost to preserve, create and repair the crèches and present the collection is from $10,000 to $15,000 each year. Donations to the Crèche Collection are welcome.

The crèches are shown on three floors of UD’s Roesch library and change each year. Crèches are on loan to offices at the University and venues in other cities and states, mostly in the East, during the Christmas season. The displays can be seen during University Library hours.

Meanwhile, Africa Meets Asia, an exhibit at Gallery St. John, at 4400 Shakertown Road in Beavercreek, features more than 25 crèches from UD’s Marian Library collection. This exhibit tells the Christmas story from the viewpoint of various African cultures. The clothes, animals and participants are presented in African settings; the various woods, fabrics and decorations complete the African theme. The show runs to January 5 with special holiday hours. Call the gallery at 937-320-5405 for more information.


Thursday, November 28, 2013

Giving thanks

As the year winds down now, winter on its way, it seems a perfect time to think of the past year and to give thanks for God’s blessings.
Mary’s Magnificat, her prayer of praise and thanksgiving, details his mercy, his strength and his many blessings.

My soul doth magnify the Lord.
And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
Because he hath regarded the humility of his handmaid;
for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
Because he that is mighty,
hath done great things to me;
and holy is his name.
And his mercy is from generation unto generations,
to them that fear him.
He hath shewed might in his arm:
he hath scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart.
He hath put down the mighty from their seat,
and hath exalted the humble.
He hath filled the hungry with good things;
and the rich he hath sent empty away.
He hath received Israel his servant,
being mindful of his mercy:
As he spoke to our fathers,
to Abraham and to his seed for ever.

On November 21 we celebrate the presentation of Mary in the Temple. The Protoevengelium of James tells us that Anna and Joachim offered Mary to God in the Temple when she was three years old, fulfilling a promise made to God when Anna was still childless. She was dedicated to God in preparation for her unique role in God’s saving work.

On November 28, in the U.S., we will celebrate Thanksgiving, a time when we give thanks for all our blessings.

It seems a fitting time to give thanks to God for the life and accomplishments of John Stokes, whose vision of flower gardens honoring Mary led to the establishment of Mary Gardens in the U.S. and many other countries.

As we peruse John ‘s legacy, the Mary’s Gardens website, campus.udayton.edu/mary/resources/m_garden/marygardensmain.html‎ 
we are grateful for his vision, his inspiration.

·          







Monday, November 11, 2013

Indoor Mary Gardens
The legacy of John Stokes continues to amaze me. Winter is upon us and those of us in the northern part of the U.S. have put our gardens to bed for the winter.  But a quick search of the Mary Gardens web site brought information about “indoor dish Mary Gardens” as well as “windowsill dish Mary Gardens,” two options for those of us who want to continue to honor Mary with her flowers throughout the year.

Stokes recommends indoor Mary Gardens for the home bound and those living in climates which cannot sustain a year-round Mary Garden.  The example below appears on his web site.



Four or five of the plants listed below are suitable for a beginning indoor dish Mary Garden:

Religious Name         Botanical Name              Common Name
"Fair Olive Tree"      Olea Europea                Olive Tree
Trinity                Oxalis braziliensis         "Shamrock"
Star of Bethlehem      Begonia, rhizomatic hybrid  Star of Bethlm
Mary's Sword of Sorrow Iris gen.                   Iris
Crown of Thorns        Euphorbia splendens         Crown of Thorns
Tears of Mary          Cymbalaria muralis          Kenilworth Ivy
Mother-of-Thousands    Menthe Requine              Spanish Moss
Herb of Grace          Ruta graveolens             Rue
Mary's Heart           Begonia fuchsoides          Begonia
Our Lady's Mantle      Alchemilla vulgaris         Ladies Mantle
Rosary Vine            Ceropegia woodii            Heart Vine
Prayer Plant           Moranta Leuonerri Kerchon.  Prayer Plant

Plants are available from mail order greenhouses and some local house plant suppliers and can be ordered by common or botanical names.  Check out local greenhouses for availability. Two of the three that I contacted had herbs and indoor house plants in stock at this time.
Stokes writes that “Mary Gardens Associate, Bonnie Roberson, who assumed primary responsibility for carrying forward the work of Mary’s Gardens from 1968 to 1983, introduced  indoor dish Mary Gardens in order to extend the direct experience of the symbolical Flowers of Our Lady during northern latitude winters.”

First time Mary Gardeners are further encouraged to “plant an Indoor Windowsill Dish Mary Garden with one each of 4 to 6 House Plants of Our Lady, placed around a ceramic or plaster figurine of Mary or of Mary and the Christ Child in a deep dish of drained soil material.”

He writes:
Among the most inspiring Mary Gardens are windowsill Mary Gardens, in which a series of potted single plants are movably arranged around a figurine of Our Lady. The number of plants which can be grouped in a dish Mary Garden is limited, and the plants must be small….But in a windowsill Mary Garden the plants can be larger…and those plants in fullest bloom at any given season can be moved to positions next to the figurine.
The movability of plants also permits their grouping, variously, either in general artistic composition by their forms and colors….or in tableaus of composition by related symbolism, such as the Herbs of Our Lady” shown in the illustration below:  


Rosemary - Rose of Mary, Mary’s Nosegay
Sage - Mary’s Shawl
Lavender - Mary’s Drying Plant
Thyme - Mary’s Bedstraw
 

During the early darkness and gray of winter, a tiny bit of growth and green surrounding Mary and her Divine Child in our little garden remind us of the beginning of creation when, out of the depths and darkness, life spread over the earth. Maybe our day needs a reminder now and then of the birth of the greatest Light and Love of all, our little Lord Jesus who rests in the arms of his loving mother.

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Mary Gardens and More . . .

John Stokes must have been at my shoulder, encouraging me on, as I surfed the web the other day looking for Mary Gardens! There must be more than we know of, I thought, as I clicked here and there. And sure enough, I found two (there may be more, yet to be discovered) as well as a Hospitallers’ garden and a saint’s garden.

First are the medieval gardens at the Church of St. Mary de Haura, Shoreham-by-Sea in West Sussex, England. They include the Mary Garden, planted for the 900th anniversary celebrations in May, 2003, and the Hospitallers’ Garden, established as part of the anniversary celebrations in June, 2003. The web site http://www.stmarydehaura.org.uk/gardens.html describes the Mary Garden:
In medieval times, a garden could have a symbolic and spiritual dimension. The hortus conclusus or 'enclosed garden' was a sacred area which might represent the Christian soul, enclosed in the body, or the Church, formed of the body of the faithful. It was also, in the late Middle Ages, an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary, identified with the bride in the Song of Songs in the Old Testament. In the 15th century, depictions of the Virgin in a Paradise Garden were frequent, in particular in Flemish and German painting. In these images, the flowers all have a symbolic meaning, representing Mary's virtues. By growing these flowers in a bed outside our own church dedicated to St Mary, we have created an area of colour and interest, and also linked ourselves with the medieval inhabitants of Shoreham, who would have understood very well the spiritual significance of these lovely plants.
The Hospitallers’ Garden offered treatment for the sick, the aged and the poor of the area, but, above all, it provided a caring environment for weary and under-nourished pilgrims and gave them the opportunity to recover their strength and to continue their journey. The use of herbal remedies was very important and the Hospitallers relied on the abundance of healing herbs growing in the garden. 

The saint’s garden is dedicated to St. Francis of Assisi. It is in Boston, on the grounds of the historic Old North Church, also known as Christ Church, built in 1723. It is Boston’s oldest church building. On the steeple of the church, the tallest in Boston, Robert Newman used lanterns to signal the approach of the British regulars: “One if by land, and two, if by sea.” Paul Revere was one of the neighborhood bell ringers.

The Chapel of St. Francis at Christ Church was built in 1918 to meet the needs of Italian immigrants who belonged to the Waldensian Reform movement. When the small community moved on, the building found new use as the Old North Church Museum and Gift Shop. In the 1970’s the St. Francis of Assisi Garden was established, to remember the Waldensian presence and commemorate the links between the 1723 church and the 1918 chapel. 

The present garden began in 1995 as a volunteer project of the Old North Church Gardeners – members of the church’s congregation and their North End neighbors. The plants and shrubs are similar to the ones used in the late 18th century and are suitable for the partial shade and clay soil of the setting. 

Finally, my search took me to the web site for the Mary’s Garden of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church in North Huntingdon, PA. The Christian Mothers and Ladies Guild began the planning for the Mary’s Garden in the fall of 1999. The new officers, looking for a project for the church and also a way to honor Mary, decided to pursue the idea of a Mary Garden after two of its members, who had attended a horticultural class, got the idea for the garden. The garden was dedicated on May 19, 2002. I know there are more Mary Gardens out there, and I urge you to send information about them to me – either as a comment at the end of this blog, or in an e-mail to vincenzina@krymow.com - so they may be included on the Mary’s Gardens web site.

Friday, October 11, 2013

Our Lady of the Rosary

The feast of Our Lady of the Rosary was established by Pope St. Pius V to honor and thank Mary for the Christian victory over the Turks at Lepanto on October 7, 1571. The Pope and all Christians had prayed the Rosary for victory, a victory which saved Europe from being overrun by the forces of Islam. In her 1955 memoir, Around the Year with the Trapp Family, Maria Von Trapp wrote:
Two months in the year are especially dedicated to the Blessed Mother – the month of May and the month of October – October is the month dedicated to the Rosary, since the feast of the Most Holy Rosary is celebrated on October 7th. In these months the Blessed Mother’s statue or her picture in the living room are daily decorated with fresh flowers and candles. The family adds one or the other prayer, mornings and nights, such as the Salve Regina or the Memorare or the Magnificat. It is traditional throughout the Catholic world to sing hymns in honor of Mary the Mother of God…We love especially the round by Mozart. It is composed only on the two words with which the Angel greeted Our Lady the first time and which countless millions of lips have repeated since: Ave Maria.
The Rosary, or the Psalter of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is considered one of the best prayers to Mary, the Mother of God. My Rosary is always at my bedside, and I go to sleep praying the Rosary. I like to alternate the language, in English, Italian and French; somehow it seems more meaningful to do that, and I have to concentrate more – I can’t just rattle off the words. “Ave Maria, piena di grazia…” and “Je vous salue, Marie, pleine de grace…” As I say the words I focus on the meaning of each word and phrase. In The Garden Way of the Rosary, on the Mary’s Gardens web site, John Stokes explains that the name Rosary, meaning a garland or bouquet of roses, was given to the Psalter of Our Lady because of an early legend which connected this name with a story of Our Lady, who was seen taking rosebuds from the lips of a young monk when he was reciting Hail Marys, and to weave them into a garland which she placed upon her head. In October, 2002, Pope John Paul II introduced the Luminous Mysteries. In his Apostolic Letter, Rosarium Virginis Mariae, he said,
Moving on from the infancy and the hidden life in Nazareth to the public life of Jesus, our contemplation brings us to those mysteries which may be called in a special way ‘mysteries of light.’ Certainly the whole mystery of Christ is a mystery of light. He is the ‘light of the world.’ Yet this truth emerges in a special way during the years of his public life, when he proclaims the Gospel of the Kingdom.
The five Luminous Mysteries (the Mysteries of Light), are the Baptism in the Jordan, the Wedding at Cana, the Proclamation of the Kingdom, the Transfiguration and the Institution of the Eucharist. In the foreword to her book, The Rosary of Jesus & Mary, published in 2003, Sister Jean Frisk writes:
The rosary is like a journey that begins and ends at home. To pray the Rosary means to look at Jesus through Mary’s eyes, through Mary’s heart, for none can be found who loved Him more faithfully. She journeys with him from the moment of his Conception, through his death, resurrection, and ascension until she one day joins him in that eternal home called heaven. When we take the Rosary in hand and let the beads slip through our fingers, we walk full circle with Mary as our loving mother, who will contemplate the face of her beloved and divine Son with us until our lives, too, like hers, will mirror Christ’s being and actions here on earth.
In the Midwest flowers to honor Mary at this time can include such traditional fall flowers as asters and chrysanthemums but other climates have their own favorites. An online search revealed the existence of Crassula rupestris, known as the Rosary vine, listed under cactus and succulents!

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Ade Bethune



This sculpture by Ade Bethune now graces the entrance to my home. A beautiful rendition of the Madonna and Child, this and a figure of Joseph by the liturgical artist were commissioned by John Stokes and several copies are part of the collection of his work that was left to the Marian Library. Each statue is stamped “Copyright Mary Gardens.”

This sculpture of the Madonna and Child is a treasured gift from the Marian Library.

Ade’s life is a litany of good works.  Born in Belgium in 1914, Ade immigrated to New York with her parents in 1928.  From 1933 to 1938 she was closely associated with Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin of the Catholic Worker movement. She designed the masthead and provided the illustrations for the Catholic Worker.

She established herself as a liturgical artist and consultant in church architecture in the 1940s and from the 1960s until her death was art director of the Terra Sancta Guild of Broomall, Pa., which produced church furnishings, liturgical objects, memorial cards and religious objects for home use.

The gifted and skilled artist was a sculptor, painter, mosaic artist, wood carver, and jewelry and metal worker.

She was also a social activist. Ade was a founder of the Church Community Housing Corporation in Newport, R.I., in1969. She designed the prototype house for the corporation’s building program and directed the construction of many such units throughout Newport County.

In 1991 she founded a nonprofit corporation, Star of the Sea, to provide living quarters for the elderly. In conjunction with the Housing Corporation, Star of the Sea acquired the unused property of Cenacle Convent, and Ade oversaw the refurbishing of the site’s structures into a state-of-the-art facility to house the elderly.

Ade Bethune died May 1, 2002, at her home in Newport, R.I. She was an oblate of Portsmouth Abbey in Rhode Island and is buried there.

 Like “every artisan and master artisan” (Sirach 38:27), she “labored by night as well as by day,” set her heart on making a “lifelike image” and was “diligent in making a great variety” of work.


Sunday, September 8, 2013

September 8 – Our Lady’s Birthday

Today we celebrate the birthday of Our Lady.

Mary's birth has been celebrated by the Church since at least the sixth century. The Church of Jerusalem is said to be the first to honor the memory of the Nativity; Rome began to celebrate her birthday toward the end of the seventh century when Pope Sergius I endowed it with a special procession.

In Milan, Italy, devotion to Mary, known as Maria Bambina (since Vatican II called “Little Immaculate Mary”) can be traced back to 1007, the year in which the church of Santa Maria Fulcorina was dedicated to “the mystery of the Nativity of Mary.” The church became the Cathedral of Milan, and in 1251 Pope Innocent IV granted a plenary indulgence in perpetuity to those who visit the Cathedral on the feast day of Mary’s  nativity. (A new church was built and in 1572 dedicated to the Birth of Mary.) Over the main entrance, in bronze letters, are the words: Mariae Nascenti, meaning to the Infant Mary.

The Mary Garden behind St. Mary’s Church in Annapolis, Maryland, was dedicated on Mary’s birthday in 1988. It is located in the quadrangle formed by the church, the rectory and the historic John Carroll house. More than 60 plants named after Mary are in the garden. They include Virgin’s Bower (clematis), Ave Maria (hydrangea), Her Virginity (crepe myrtle), Our Lady’s Mantle (Alchemilla speciosa), Mary’s Rose (peony and rose), Madonna Lily (Lilium speciosum) and Mary’s Sword (German iris).

A recent video of the Mary Garden, which shows the progress of the garden in recent years, can be found at       https://www.dropbox.com/s/whzqtm89dzyyg79/Second%20STM%20Show80.wmv

Mary, Our Mother, has always been special for me. Mary is my confirmation name and over the years my devotion to her has grown. I pray to her each night with my Rosary. I’m reminded of the “Hail Mary” pass in football when I ask for her help during the day. She has never failed me; her help has come in unexpected ways but it has come.

Mary is honored with several other feast days this month. On September 12 we celebrate the Most Holy Name of Mary; on September 15 we remember the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and on September 24 we honor Our Lady of Ransom.

The story of Our Lady of Ransom is that of Saint Peter Nolasco, born in Languedoc about 1189. He proposed to establish a religious order for the rescue of captives seized by the Moors on the seas and in Spain who were being tortured to make them deny their faith. Our Lady appeared to Saint Peter, his confessor and to King James I on August 1, 1218, and through these men established a plan for the redemption of the captives. Their goal was to rescue the Christian captives, offering themselves, if necessary, as payment.  The order, established in Spain, was approved by Pope Gregory IX under the name of Our Lady of Mercy. In more recent times devotion to Our Lady of Ransom was revived to obtain the rescue of England as Our Lady’s Dowry.

We can honor Mary on her feast day with asters (Aster amellus). The Italian aster is so named because it blooms around the time of the feast of her Nativity.


Thursday, August 22, 2013

Queenship of Mary

Today we celebrate the feast of the Queenship of Mary.  Pope Pius XII established this feast in 1954, placing  it an octive, or eight days, after the celebration of Mary's Assumption into Heaven. The feast can be considered a prolongation of the celebration of the Assumption.

Mary’s queenship has roots in Scripture. At the Annunciation, Gabriel announced that Mary’s Son would receive the throne of David and rule forever. At the Visitation, Elizabeth calls Mary “mother of my Lord.” In all the events of her life, Mary is closely associated with Jesus, and through her queenship, she shares in Jesus’ kingship.

In the fourth century St. Ephrem called Mary “Lady” and Queen.” Later on Church fathers and doctors continued  to use the title. Hymns of the 11th to 13th centuries address Mary as queen: “Hail, Holy Queen,” “Hail, Queen of Heaven,” “Queen of Heaven.”

The early writers of the Church called Mary "the Mother of the King" and "the Mother of the Lord," based on the words of St. Gabriel the archangel, who foretold that the Son of Mary would reign forever, and the words of Elizabeth who greeted her with reverence and called her "the Mother of my Lord."

In his 1954 encyclical To the Queen of Heaven, Pope Pius XII points out that Mary well deserves the title: she is Mother of God and she is closely associated as the New Eve with Jesus’ redemptive work. She deserves the title because of her preeminent perfection and because of her intercessory power.

Many of “Mary’s flowers” are associated with the attributes of Mary:
          Madonna Iris is an emblem of Mary’s queenship and of her descent from the royal house of David.
          Madonna Lily is an ancient emblem of Our Lady -  the waxy white petals symbolizing her bodily purity and the golden anthers her purity of soul.   
          Lily of the Valley is called Beata Maria (Blessed Mary) in Spanish. It is  a symbol of humility: its tiny bell-shaped white flowers humbly bending downward.
          Dante called Mary the “Mystical Rose.”
          The white rose represents Mary’s purity.
          Marigold - Mary’s Gold - represents Mary’s glory, in heaven and on  earth.

John Stokes wrote: “We see how beautifully the golden masses of marigolds suggest Our Lady’s splendor after her glorious assumption into heaven, and her “coming forth as the morning rising….bright as the sun” from the interior of the Trinity, as the “Woman clothed with the sun” and “Queen in gilded clothing” and in her subsequent merciful appearances on earth. We ask her to pray that we may obtain the promise of heaven.”

I have marigolds growing in pots on my patio, their bright gold reminding me of her glory and her many blessings.

Let us honor Mary on this special day with her flowers.

The Assumption of Our Blessed Lady   

Sweet summer passes, melting day by day;
Into the smiling mellow autumn-tide:
The flowers are blooming still, the birds are gay,
And the fields wave in all their golden pride;
Fair Nature pours her treasures far and wide
In joyful homage to our Lady dear,
For that her festival of highest tide,
The crowning gem of Mary's circling year,
The bright triumphant day of heaven and earth, is here.

                           The Catholic Review. August 1872
On August 15 we celebrate the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven. This celebration can be traced back to the fifth-century community of Jerusalem. August 15, 432 may have been the day of dedication of the Church to the Virgin Mary located between Jerusalem and Bethlehem.

In the middle ages, August 15 was the major Marian feast. Its mid-summer date, which, in the medieval calendar, coincided with harvest time, enhanced its festive character. Well into the modern period, the Assumption was the most popular of the Marian feasts. In Scotland it was known as Marymass or St. Mary’s Day.



John S. Stokes Jr., in "The Blessing of Mary Gardens as Holy Places,"  http://campus.udayton.edu/mary/resources/m_garden/marygardensmain.html writes that “An essential medieval tradition and practice from which we draw in cultivating the Flowers of Our Lady and Mary Gardens is that of the sacramental blessing of homes, workplaces, seeds, plants, trees, gardens and fields as holy places and objects. Among the most important of Plant Blessings were those at the time of harvest, beginning with those on the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into heaven, on August 15th.”

The blessing of herbs, part of the medieval harvest celebration, continues today in many parishes in Germany. On the feast of the Assumption, the faithful gather large bouquets of herbs and wildflowers, especially those associated with healing, and bring them to Mass, tied in Assumption Bundles, and place them on the altar. During the Mass the Bundles are blessed, and then they are taken home to be dried and kept for healing, seasoning, and for fragrant decoration of the home.

What if we were to gather herbs and flowers, tie them in Assumption Bundles, and bring them to Mass for blessing on the feast of the Assumption? (Might be best to alert your priest to this beforehand.)  Another way to honor Mary and to keep her in our hearts and minds in our daily lives.



I pray that some of you will compose an Assumption Bundle and take it with you to Mass on the feast of the Assumption. Let me know, by using the comment space at the end of this blog.  






Monday, July 22, 2013

In the spirit of John Stokes


I’ve been thinking about John Stokes a lot lately. His books and papers were donated to the Marian Library at the University of Dayton and an archivist is systematically cataloging them. I hope to be able to see them sometime soon.

John Stokes had developed an amazing network of contacts. I remember how elated he was when the Internet began, making it possible for him to easily communicate with his many correspondents. Some of them are in touch with staff at the Marian Library, contacting them with news as well as questions, but many are not.

Following in the tradition of John Stokes, I invite all of you to keep in touch, telling us your news, asking questions, sharing your joys and struggles.

Countless Mary Gardens have been established over the years and my hope is that we can create a database of all these Gardens.

In some places, for various reasons, it’s been difficult to maintain the Mary Gardens that were established in earlier years. We can learn from each other and be nourished and supported by our successes, as well as learn from our setbacks.

Let’s get started! Post a comment at the end of this blog. The comments will be there for all to see. Tell us about your Mary Garden. Your posts can include questions and requests for information. They can tell of hurdles resolved and report on progress made. And, in the spirit of John Stokes, they can be sources of inspiration for us.

As John Stokes wrote on his site:  “A key link in the spread of flower devotion to Our Lady today is, as in medieval times, the initiative of individuals who are personally attracted to it on learning of it from the broader culture, and who are inspired to spread it among others in their own communities.”

                                                -30-   

 

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Start a Mary Garden

It’s not too late to start your Mary Garden! Yes, it’s summertime, and most gardens are planted and established by now, but it’s not too late for a modest garden. I remember reading about small ones on the Mary’s Gardens web site.

There are windowsill gardens, where a small statue of Mary is surrounded by her flowers. Marigolds, pansies, petunias – all would do well in a window box. I remember seeing one in a small planter, with a statue of Mary among the impatiens blossoms.

An herbal garden might include basil, thyme, parsley, sage and spearmint – all associated with Mary. Placed outside the kitchen door, it could serve as a special reminder that Mary was also a homemaker.

Patio containers can be used to create larger garden spaces. Roses are special to Mary and there are many legends about roses and Mary. A favorite one is about the roses (and lilies) that were found in Mary’s tomb after she was assumed into heaven, with doubting Thomas watching in astonishment.

Indoor dish Mary Gardens can be a source of prayer and inspiration for those who are homebound or without access to an outdoor space for a garden. Bonnie Roberson, cited by John Stokes as a pioneer in developing variations in Mary Gardens, created indoor gardens for the blind, sick and homebound.

Roberson researched tropical and sub-tropical plans appropriate for indoor gardens. Her suggestions included geranium, lady palm, asparagus fern, African violet, jasmine and miniature rose.

All of the plants mentioned above have Mary names, which can be found on the Mary’s Gardens web site and in my book, Mary’s Flowers: Gardens, Legends and Meditations.


In his article, Patio Container Mary Gardens, written in August, 1998, and found on the Mary’s Gardens web site, John Stokes wrote:

“In gardens composed with a view to color, white flowers are symbolic, for our meditation, of Mary's immaculate purity; red of her love of God; blue of her fullness with the waters of grace; purple of her sorrows at the foot of the Cross; and gold of her glorification as heavenly Mother and Queen.

“Or the composition may be a selection of specially loved flowers. Thus the heart-shaped buds of red begonias recall the love of Mary's Immaculate Heart. Petunias, known as "Our Lady's Praises" in Germany, recall the original Communion Verse for the Mass for the feast of the Rosary of Mary (October 7th), established in 1573, which we are to emulate:

Send forth flowers as the Lily,
and yield a fragrance,
And bring forth leaves in grace,
and praise with canticles,
And bless the Lord in his works."

Sirach 39:13-14 (Ecclesiasticus 39:18-19)

“The flowers of impatiens from their constancy of bloom are known as "Mother Love" and, from their curved flower stems, as "Our Lady's Earrings" - pure adornments for the ears of Mary, who "heard the word of God and kept it." Miniature roses are symbolic of the virgin birth of Christ, as in the carol, "Lo How a Rose 'ere Blooming". Plants with spearlike foliage recall the sword of sorrow piercing Mary's heart. Tuberous begonias (the tubers coming to life in nature when watered), bring to mind the Resurrection.”

-30-

Sunday, June 30, 2013

About Mary Gardens


About Mary Gardens                                                      
Today we call a garden planted in Mary’s honor, with plants associated with her by name and/or legend, a Mary Garden.

In the Middle Ages, people loved Mary, Mother of God, so much that they saw reflections of her in plants and flowers and named many of them after her. The white lily reminded them of Mary’s immaculate purity, innocence and virginity and was called Mary’s purity. Roses symbolized her purity, glory and sorrow; she was the Mystical Rose of Heaven.
Saint Peter Damian, who lived in the eleventh century, wrote these lines in a hymn to Mary:
    He clothed you with lilies, covered you with roses     
   He embellished you with the flowers of virtue.                             
 Raphael, Giotto, Fra Angelico and other artists included roses and lilies in their paintings of the Madonna.
Shakespeare wrote that “winking Mary-buds (marigolds) begin to ope their golden eyes” in Cybeline,  (Act II, Scene iii).

Old garden books indicate that hundreds of plants were associated with Mary, in England, France, Italy and Germany. Plants were dedicated to Mary because they may have been connected with some event in her life or flowered around the time of one of her feast days – snowdrops for the Feast of the Purification and Assumption lily for the feast of the Assumption – and were used in decorating the altar on these days.
A few examples:
Marigolds are called Mary’s Gold and a legend tells that when the Holy Family was on its way to Egypt, robbers accosted them and demanded money. Mary opened her purse and out fell marigold blossoms.
Columbine is called Our Lady’s Shoes and Our Lady’s Slipper, because the fallen spurs resemble shoes and slippers. Foxgloves were Mary’s Gloves, zinnias were Little Mary.
Artists first began to depict Mary with flowers in the twelfth century and by the fifteenth century numerous paintings showed Mary in flower gardens, many of them enclosed gardens. Some drawings or woodcuts of Mary in a small garden were titled “Mary Garden,” from which comes the name Mary Garden for gardens filled with Mary’s flowers. (Information about these art works can be found in my book, Mary’s Flowers: Gardens, Legends and Meditations.)
The Protestant Reformation, which began in 1517, limited overt devotion to Mary, but flowers associated with Mary still grew in English monastery gardens.

The concept of a “Mary Garden” seems to have originated in this country, when the Mary Garden at St. Joseph’s Church in Woods Hole, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, was established in 1932.  The garden included some fifty flowers of Our Lady from the medieval countryside of England.
In 1951, John Stokes, who was inspired by a visit to the Garden at Woods Hole, began to promote the idea of Mary Gardens. Since then Mary Gardens have been established in the U.S. and other countries, many in association with parish churches. Stokes wrote: “Proposed first for home gardens, Mary Gardens were soon established at schools, parishes, burial plots, institutions, and shrines.”
The Mary Garden at Woods Hole, and John Stokes’ unceasing efforts, led to the development of other Mary Gardens in this country and elsewhere. Early gardens in the U.S. include those at St. Mary’s Church, Annapolis, Maryland; Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto on the property of Mount Saint John near Dayton, Ohio; St. Catherine of Siena Church in Portage, Michigan, and the Episcopal Convent of the Transfiguration in Glendale near Cincinnati, Ohio.
Countless Mary Gardens have been established by parishes, schools, religious communities and private homes. John Stokes’ vision continues to inspire.
John Stokes died in 2007. The Mary’s Gardens web site, developed by Stokes and now available at http://campus.udayton.edu/mary/resources/m_garden/marygardensmain.html, includes all of his work - practical, factual, spiritual and inspirational.
                                                                      

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Honoring Mary, Our Mother, in May

In the northern hemisphere, May is often called Mary’s month, the month dedicated to the Mother of God. It’s also the month we celebrate Mother’s Day, and honor our own mothers.

I like May because here in the Midwest, winter is definitely over, with spring well on its way to summer. Early spring flowers have been blooming, first the daffodils and now tulips. Trees and shrubs are flowering.


Yesterday I walked along the wildflower paths at Cox Arboretum Metro-Park in Dayton, just a few minutes from my home. My thoughts went to Mary, walking to visit Elizabeth. What flowers did she see?


I was reminded of the early spring blossoms of columbine, and the legend that it sprang up wherever Mary’s feet touched the ground when she was on her way to visit Elizabeth. The flower reflected the innocence of the Virgin Mary. In England the flower was called Our Lady’s Shoes and Our Lady’s Flower. The name comes from Columba, the Latin word for dove, as the blossom, usually with pink or purple and white petals, resembles five doves clustered together.


We are told that during the Middle Ages, the faithful saw reminders of Mary, the Mother of God, in the flowers and herbs growing around them. Violets were symbols of her humility, lilies her purity and roses her glory. They called her “Flower of Flowers,” and named plants after her. Marigolds were Mary’s Gold, clematis was the Virgin’s Bower and lavender was Our Lady’s Drying Plant.
People were so devoted to Mary they decorated her altars with flowers on her feast days. Poets and popes praised her in hymns, as in this 15th-century Ave Maria:


Heil be thou, Marie, that aff flour of all
As roose in eerbir so reed.

In the last century, prior to the Second Vatican Council of the early 1960’s, the faithful also honored Mary with flowers. May crownings were the tradition in Catholic schools during Mary’s month, and makeshift home altars bearing an image of Mary were decorated with the choicest home-grown blossoms.
Those traditions have almost disappeared, but the medieval custom of finding reminders of Mary’s attributes, glory and sorrows in flowers and herbs has left a legacy that can enrich our lives in this millennium.


More than 30 flowers and herbs bear legends about Mary’s life. Many of the plants can be easily grown in your own Mary Garden, a garden dedicated to Mary and containing her image and plants associated with her by name or legend. They are found in Mary Gardens throughout the world, should you want to make a pilgrimage in Mary’s honor. The legends and reflections are found in my book, Mary’s Flowers: Gardens, Legends and Meditations, first published by St. Anthony Messenger Press and now available from Tau Publications.


(Portions of the above first appeared in "Honoring Mary in Your Garden" in the May 2000 issue of St. Anthony Messenger Press.)
For information about Mary Gardens in this country and elsewhere, go to the Mary Gardens web site, Mary's Gardens home,
campus.udayton.edu/mary/resources/m_garden/marygardensmain.html

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

John S. Stokes


John Stokes would have loved the blog! The former Quaker and engineer, whose life changed when he learned about the Mary Garden at Woods Hole on Cape Cod, would have been one of the first bloggers.
John and his friend, Edward McTague, visited that Mary Garden, dedicated to Our Lady and filled with flowers named after her, and conceived the idea of promoting “the restoration of old medieval religious names, symbolisms and uses of flowers – especially those associating them with the Blessed Virgin -  to present-day religion and gardening.”  
They envisioned many gardens with Mary’s flowers and set about to encourage their development. In 1951 they founded Mary’s Gardens in Philadelphia as a means for publicizing and restoring the old Mary flower tradition. They advertised in Catholic publications and through the Mary’s Gardens Catalog offered “seeds, bulbs, plants, shrines and literature.”

This was long before the internet and blogging. John corresponded with those who ordered the seeds and plants, traveled to garden shows and wrote articles for Catholic publications to encourage the creation of Mary’s gardens.
He was elated when the internet emerged and on September 8, 1995, set about establishing a website, Mary’s Gardens, which increased his presence and ability to reach a greater audience.

I met John Stokes in June, 1996, when my husband and I traveled to Woods Hole to visit that first Mary Garden. He had come from Philadelphia to meet us and we spent the day together, talking about his work and his dreams. I had been inspired by him and was considering the possibility of writing a book about Mary Gardens (Mary’s Flowers: Gardens, Legends and Meditations was published in 1999 and is currently in its third printing).
The Mary’s Gardens website grew and grew under John’s enthusiastic and prayerful guidance. It became a bit unwieldy and confusing: John sometimes placed the same article in several categories, perhaps to encourage easy access. He also imbedded articles within articles! Recently I was charged with revamping the site and was able to streamline it, eliminate duplication and bring the imbedded articles to light. Some of the section titles were changed to better reflect content and facilitate searches. The reorganized website should be on-line within the next few months.
John Stokes died in 2007. In his will he left the website to the Marian Library at the University of Dayton.
There is so much to discover on the website! In future blogs I will highlight some of the jewels found there. I will tell you about some of my favorite sections and articles, and identify those that relate to the seasons, feast days and holy days and our liturgical year.
Meanwhile, I invite you to join me in continuing the prayerful legacy of honoring Mary in the simple everyday of flowers and gardens. There is an old German saying, “Three things are left from paradise: The flowers with their fragrance, the stars with their brilliance, and the eyes of a little child.” We can imagine our Blessed Mother as she looked into the eyes of her little child, walked through the flowers of her homeland, and looked to the distant stars. Sometimes our hearts need the joy of beauty that John Stokes wished to preserve for us.