Chat and Photos
St. Cecelia's Parish Grotto
Paula Mucha, Ashland, MA
May 14,1997
I was so suprised to find out about this. I had no idea. Four
years ago, along with a friend and divine inspiration, I
reconstructed our church's Grotto, and it is now landscaped and
thriving. A new gardening angels club was formed, and now I found
this. We're going to plant these types of flowers, and hopefully
do the rosary! I'm so excited. I can't wait to tell Father.
Please let me know how I can correspond with other churches on this
matter.
May 15, 1997 John Stokes, Mary's Gardens
Thank you for your valued message. Good to hear about the
Gardening Angels club.
We hope for the day when gardeners from various parishes will want
to regularly exchange information, experiences and want lists
through an email group, but we all don't quite seem to have gotten
to that point yet. The number of people who love Mary and flowers
and are on-line is increasing, so that day may come soon.
In the meantime, we keep adding more and more information to our
web site, and hope you will browse through it, and check each month
for the items added.
Active parish Mary Gardening groups include those at at St.
Joseph's Church, Woods Hole, MA; St. Mary's Church, Annapolis, MD,
add St. Cartherine of Siena Church in Portage, MI - all described
under "Representative Mary Gardens" on our web site.
Sep 7,2000 Paula
In 1993 a friend and I took on the responsibility for developing
a planting around the Grotto of Our Lady at our St. Cecelia's
Parish in Ashland. In creating this gardens around the shrine, I
learned many dynamic principles of life. The Lord intended for me
to aid in the creation of this garden that we at Saint Cecilia's
call affectionately Our Lady of the Grotto, or ...the Grotto.
Everyone loves this place, but not like I do...Everyone has a
connection to Our Lady, and gardens and that make this flourish
abundantly. However, true Marianists probably do not need the
affect of nurturing and maintaining flowers for such a pursuit. I
need to however, see the beginning, middle and end. In doing
God's work, I need to feel the sunshine, the soil, working with
bare hands to create and maintain a beautiful place.
I was fortunate to gain divine inspiration, nothing of my own
accord, which makes me so emotional and intense about this
project. It just happened. As a result of physical labor, it was
satisfying to reflect and relish in what was happening. With
God's help the area literally blossomed.
If you can look at a picture and gain peace or acceptance or hope
or love or inspiration or joy, then this photo is doing it's job,
however I suspect that it's mainly a sharing of the world that
sees things given by God. And that in itself is good. But, I'd
rather this picture attain a simplicity of life that enables a
person to find God in everything and God in their life.
If a garden inspires them to be a carpenter, plumber, college
professor or world executive, then these Marian gardens have
achieved their purpose. For to enable one to be in union with
God's will for their families, profession and personal journey,
would be most salutary. And finally, to enable persons to be able
to reflect on the mysteries of nature, which cannot deny God's
exisitence and his mother Mary, what more is there?
For in looking at this picture, we can see a 'gateway' to some
answers.
Upon entering the garden we have a straight path, but many
distractions. In various seasons, there are more or less
confusions, and the vision of this garden and its mission is that
we are not here to confuse.
The straight pathway which now exists will include a circle prior
to reaching the Blessed Mother statue. Upon walking through the
garden, one might conclude there are no answers, but it is the
questions that we ask that are more important than the answers, I
believe. This garden as it is right now, is as straightforward as
a garden will ever be, depicting all the ramifications of snow,
sleet, sun, warmth, light and water. It has not been a botanical
site, but is rich beyond expectations.
I always wanted it to be enclosed as I just 'feel' it should be,
but occassionally I'll see someone over at the statue in the open
just kneeling on the bench praying. So, maybe this little garden
of insight will not change for a few years, it seems to serve the
purpose of a prayerful sanction to some right now, just as it is.
One little story: As I was waiting with some kids to be picked up
by their parents, one girl who knew nothing of my involvement in
tending the Grotto, was talking to her friend. She said her little
sister, who's about seven or eight years old, loves to go 'over
there' to pray. I was standing beside her and said 'where?'. She
said "to Mary".
My interest was peaked off course, and I told her it did my heart
good. She remarked that is the only place she likes. The young
woman told me her baby sister only liked to pray to the Lady and
not 'the guys'. Well, we know that she'll "pray to the guys"
eventually, but if this little girl has a special affinity with
Mary and finds it pleasurable to go to the Grotto to pray, my
mission is accomplished, and hopefully will continue. I'm blessed
to have heard the touching story. I know when I go there,
something comes over me, which makes me forget worldly troubles,
not by escaping but giving me alarming insights into my own
perspective into the community of my family and where God wants me
to BE.
This is the area directly in front of the Grotto,
before reconstruction efforts began in the spring
of 1993
From this patch of soil, I learned the Rosary through some members
of the church, who wanted an Outdoor Rosary. Like the flowers and
trees we were nurturing, I was being aided along the path of faith
and Christianity.
A few years passed and my friend and her family moved away. The
garden lost a bit of spirit with that loss. However, as nature
intends, the movement began to pick up lost luster. While looking
for special flowers to add to the Grotto gardens, I came across a
devout and special man, John Stokes, Jr. See www.mgardens.org for
invaluable and extensive gardening for Mary information. For him
I did some typing of correspondence and we developed a friendship
based on mutual interests and he helped me along the steps of
faith through his gardening efforts and support.
The Grotto now is awaiting a reconstruction by the Boy Scouts. As
I learn patience I am gaining an endurance of faith and humanities
struggles and joys.
o O o
(Suggestions by Paula Mucha for parish Mary Garden groups)
"Establishing and Maintaining a Parish Mary Garden"
(From article by John Stokes on Paula Mucha's "first Parish Mary
Garden Website" - subsequently discontinued when she moved from the
parish)
Parish Mary Garden Web Sites
With the greater numbers of persons coming on-line with computers,
Internet e-mail and websites are being used increasingly for local
as well as remote communications.
Availing herself of this new mode of communication, Mary's Gardens
Associate, Paula Mucha, has put up the first Parish Mary Garden
Website - "St. Cecelia'a Grotto" - at:
www.typeout.com
to inform members of St. Cecelia's Parish in Ashland, MA - and
Mary Gardeners universally - of the inspiration, history,
development, devotion, caring and activities of the parish grotto
Mary Garden and other gardens of the parish.
Through the website, parishioners with computers learn of planned
events and developments, and of happenings in the Grotto Mary Garden
in a manner supplementing the customary parish bulletin boards,
Sunday Announcements, telephone messages and meetings, and with
color photos.
Sections of the St. Cecelia's Grotto website, accessible through
headings "buttons" on the web page, include:
Memorials
Inspiration
Grotto Pictures
The Arbor
Current Month News
Past Newsletters
Grotto 2000
St. Francis Garden
Mary Gardens
The Chaplet
To be added is a section: "Flowers" - those specific Flowers of
Our Lady in or planned for the Grotto Mary Garden, with photos and
descriptions setting forth their symbolism from medieval devotion,
and in some cases the old legends through which this symbolism was
communicated from generation to generation in the oral traditions
before the days of literacy, printing and schools.