The Gardens at Sacred Heart have been a long-standing feature of our Parish. In Oct. 2016, the Rosary Garden was added for parishioners to utilize as a way to enhance their prayer life, reflect on spirituality and enjoy God’s creation. Additionally, it has proven itself to be an effective Evangelization tool. Often people from the neighborhood, hospital and other churches can be found admiring its beauty. Questions are often raised about the name of a certain flower, its meaning, how to say the Rosary, and the garden’s history. The SH Gardening Group would like to share all there is to know with you!
The tradition of planting official Mary Gardens originated among monasteries and convents, centuries ago in medieval Europe. In the Middle Ages, when much of the population was illiterate, priests and religious brothers and sisters would plant gardens and bestow names upon the flowers and herbs to symbolically represent Mary, the life of Christ, the saints and the liturgical year in order to teach people about the faith, much in the same way they would use stained glass windows to tell stories of the bible or the saints. The first reference to an actual garden dedicated to Mary is from the life of St. Fiacre, Irish patron saint of gardening, who planted and tended a garden around the oratory to Our Lady he built at his famous hospice for the poor and infirm in France in the 7th Century. The first record of a flower actually named for Mary is that of "seint mary gouldes" (St. Mary's Gold or Marygold), in a 1373 English recipe for a potion to ward off the plague.
The first such garden open to the public in the United States was founded in 1932 at St. Joseph's Church, Woods Hole, Cape Cod, Massachusetts. This garden was founded by Frances Crane Lillie, a summer resident of Woods Hole. It was Lillie's recollection of the symbolic herbs and flowers that she had encountered in England that prompted her to conceive and donate a Mary Garden to St. Joseph's Church. Inspired by the St. Joseph's Mary Garden in Woods Hole, Edward A. G. McTague and John S. Stokes, Jr. founded "Mary's Gardens" of Philadelphia in 1951 as a project to research flowers identified with Mary, and make available seeds and plant source information for starting Mary Gardens. They also initiated a series of articles in religious publications to encourage the planting of Mary gardens.
A Mary Garden may be a single indoor pot, a large plot outdoors, or anything in between. They can be found at parishes, schools, homes, shrines, convents and other institutions. A statue of Mary, sometimes holding the Infant Christ, is usually central to the garden. Select flowers, shrubs, and trees are planted in the garden, all of which are identified as symbolic and significant in the story of Mary as recounted in the Bible. Gardens may have benches and a source of lighting. There are literally limitless possibilities because Mary Gardens are an expression one’s personal devotion to the Blessed Mother. There really isn’t a right or wrong as long as it is meaningful for you and enhances your prayer life. A Marian Garden demonstrates devotional commitment through the spiritual practice of designing, building and maintaining the garden and for the attendance, contemplation, and prayers of visitors