| Faith and Flowers presents
Our Lady of Lourdes Pray For Us! |
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 “My name is Bernadette Soubirous of Lourdes. I am 14 years old. I can neither read nor write and I haven’t yet taken my First Communion. On 11 February, market day in Tarbes, Jeanne Baloume came to fetch me so that we could go along the banks of the river together to collect bones.
Before Crossing the canal of Madame Lafitte;s mill to go across to the other side, I heard a very loud noise amid the shrubbery above the Masavielle grotto. Looking in that direction, I noticed that the shrubbery was shaking a great deal and that there was something white behind it that resembled a girl. I gazed at the appiraition ofr an instant, then I fell on my knees and began to pray. (She ) smiled at me and then moved into the grotto. —– From the deposition of Bernadette in “Bernadette recounts her Apparitions.” |
 Mary, Roses and the Rosaryby Vincenzina Krymow Roses have long been associated with Mary. One of the earliest legends, from the second century, tells that when Mary was assumed into heaven, lilies and roses were found in her tomb. The pagan rose celebrated in Hellenic poetry and sacred to Venus, became the flower of the Virgin Mary, who was known as the Rosa Mystica, and a symbol of mystical devotion in the fourth century. To Christian mystics the white rose typified the Virginity of Mary. As the early church Fathers promulgated the doctrine of the Virgin Birth, they began to associate Mary with “ The most perfect of flowers”- the rose. The perfect rose became a symbol of the Queen of Heaven. The cult of the Virgin began in the sixth century and by the seventh century the cult of Mary the Virgin and the Mystical Rose Flourished. Early Christian poets saw Mary’s motherhood as enclosing heaven and earth within her womb, symbolized within the space of a single round rose. They associated Mary with the rose and the sealed garden of roses and lilies described in the Song of Solomon: “ I am a rose of Sharon,/a lily of the valleys” ( Song of Solomon, 2:1) |
Faith and Flowers Presents
Finding Mary and her flowers
Vincenzina's Mary Garden
By Vincenzina Krymow
My mother loved flowers. She remembered the beautiful flowers she had seen in the Sicilian resort town of Taormina when she was young and spoke of roses and wisteria trailing over stone balconies. On Sundays, walking home from Mass, my mother and sisters and I we would stop and visit a rose garden that the city of Detroit had established in a previously empty square block. We would walk up and down the lanes of rose bushes, admiring and smelling the blooms. I remember most the red roses, and it seems like the entire garden was filled with deep pink and red roses.
My mother had a special devotion to Mary and she passed that on to me. I remember becoming a member of Our Lady’s Sodality after I graduated from grade school, and how proud I was when I was elected president.
Roses and Mary seemed to go together. But it wasn’t until many years later, when I was beginning my writing life as a free lance writer, that I learned about flowers named after Mary and associated with her by legend as well as name.
Sometime in the early 1990’s I was asked to write an article about Mary and her flower legends for our local diocesan newspaper, The Catholic Telegraph.
I was fascinated by the legends, did some research at the Marian Library at the University of Dayton and found that nothing had been written about them recently – there were only a few old books from the early 20th century.
My research led me to Mary Gardens and I visited the first one established in the U.S. at St. Joseph Church, Woods Hole, on Cape Cod. Then I learned about four others and visited those.
That’s how my book, Mary’s Flowers: Gardens, Legends and Meditations, came about. It includes meditations by Sister Jean Frisk and illustrations by Brother Joe Barrish.
It was published in 1999 by St. Anthony Messenger Press and is now in its third printing. Tau Publishing in Phoenix, AZ is the present publisher.
I did book signings and gave talks. John Stokes, who had learned about the Mary Gardens and was responsible for their development in this country, praised the book and promoted it. I wrote articles about Mary Gardens and the flowers and legends for newspapers and magazines.
I was a gardener by that time, growing vegetables and flowers in various spots around our home, and decided I too wanted a Mary Garden. I found a four-foot concrete statue of Our Lady while visiting a Mary Garden in Michigan, and selected a place at the bottom of the hill at the back of our house.
I soon realized that the area was wet and damp, especially in the spring. So I found flowers that liked wet roots, and planted the garden. The iris loved the site, and came back every year. Each spring I would add annuals, and because the area dried out a bit in the summer, they thrived. Marigolds, petunias, zinnias – every year was different.
Gradually, as we continued to enhance the landscape, the house was surrounded by Mary’s flowers. Holly, day lilies, strawberries, mint, roses, dianthus, yarrow, pansies, petunias, impatiens, daisies and more – all found a home and honored Mary. Herbs, many of them associated with Mary, thrived in a sunny side garden.
Now I live in a condo with a large enclosed patio. In warm weather a smaller concrete statue of Mary sits on a low wall, surrounded by many of her flowers and herbs, all growing in pots.
(Vincenzina Krymow is the author of Mary’s Flowers: Gardens, Legends and Meditations, now in its third printing and available from Tau Publishing. She has given several talks about Mary’s flowers on Radio Maria, two of which have been archived. See
http://radiomaria.us/livingwithmarytoday/category/presenter/vincenzina_krymow/
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About Faith & Flowers and Mary Gardens
At the heart of our Faith and Flowers logo, designed by Phoenix artist Celeine Minton, is the Passion flower. For centuries, this magnificent flower has enriched the faith and devotion of believers throughout the world. The various parts of the flower represent Our Lord’s Passion through its symbols of the scourging, crowning with thorns and crucifixion.
Born on the Feast of the Presentation of Mary;
Conceived on the steps of the Vatican
I
n January 2008, two moms who met through their devotion to St. Philomena and Our Blessed Mother, traveled to Rome, Italy on pilgrimage with their families. Rebecca made this journey with her beloved mother Peggy who was battling ovarian cancer. Her mother’s love for everyone around her and her strong devotion to the Catholic Church inspired the entire family to deepen their faith. Their pilgrimage of hope began with their visit to the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes and continued to other holy sites including St. Peter’s Basilica, the Catacombs of Priscilla, the site of the Eucharistic Miracle in Lanciano, and the earthly home of St. Philomena in Mugnano. Melody joined Rebecca and her family in Rome, and it was on this spiritual trip that they discovered a shared desire to promote the beauty of their faith through flowers. This was a growing aspiration Rebecca had held close to her heart for many years. And, it was literally on the steps of St. Peter’s square in Vatican City, that this dream bloomed into the vision that was to become Faith and Flowers.
With more than three decades of communications and marketing experience in the corporate and government sectors, Melody and Rebecca set out to join their skills for the purpose of spreading The Word – connecting flowers to the virtues of faith lived by Jesus and Our Blessed Mother Mary.
Through reading the work of John Stokes, who established the international Mary Garden movement in 1951, they learned that before modern-day botanical names were assigned to plants and flowers with the introduction of printing, every flower was first bestowed a name that reflected the virtues of Our Lord and Our Blessed Mother. Marian religious flower names were circulated through the countryside by priests, monks (beginning with St. Francis of Assisi) and pilgrims, and handed down in oral tradition through successive generations. This was another example of how throughout history, man has sought spiritual symbols on earth, and through plants and flowers has discovered the glory of heaven on earth.
On November 21, 2009, the Feast of the Presentation of Mary, Faith and Flowers debuted. It is dedicated to Our Mother Mary, the most perfect creation and model of how to live and adore God in all things. On this day, “Wherefore let us cry out to her with all our strength: ‘Joy to you, fulfillment of the Creator’s plan!’ At the moment when the young girl Mary was presented in the glorious temple, ‘everything that humans build was already diminished by the praise in her heart’” (Rilke).
We present this endeavor for the glory of God, and hope that it inspires others to meditate on the beauty of life in all of creation and draw ever closer to Him through their appreciation of the miracle and splendor of His great works. In keeping with the spirit of Faith and Flowers, a portion of our proceeds will be donated to support culture of life initiatives promoting respect for life from conception to natural death.
“They will bloom with abundant flowers, and rejoice with joyful song.” Isaiah 35:1
On June 28, 2009, Peggy Barrett passed from time to eternity. Like Mary, her beautiful soul always proclaimed the greatness of the Lord: “The Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name.” – Luke 1:49