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                                               Intro Mary Garden

Gardening For Our Lady


Now is the time to seed

By John S. Stokes, Jr.


America March 8, 1952
        .






(Last March Mr. Stokes and a friend
established in Philadelphia a project
called "Mary's Gardens".  In this
unusual and delightful piece, he
explains the thinking behind it.)






WHY GROW A GARDEN?

	While reading the gardening ads in our Sunday papers, one might
conclude that the sole purpose of gardening is to give pleasure by
appealing to the senses and emotions.  This is accomplished by
growing flowers which offer "unbelievable beauty and riotous
color", "hundreds of blossoms on every plant", and "gigantic blooms
from May to October."

	Among horticulturalists, the appeal of the garden is more
refined. Plants and blooms are valued for their delicacy of beauty,
their rarity, their excellence as specimens, their difficult
culture, their contribution to garden design, or their role as
representatives of all nature.

	But above and beyond these natural goods, the garden also has a
religious meaning. The man of faith values it not only for itself,
but also because it is such an excellent means for lifting one's
thoughts to God, Creator of both garden and gardener.

	Because of the emphasis of present-day garden literature on
the natural and technical aspects of gardening, one is more likely
to find the religious sense of the garden set forth in gardening
books of earlier centuries, closer to the "ages of faith."  An
English gardening book of the 16th century, for example, opens with
the following dedication:

		(We) wish you unto daily prayer, and the fruition of the
          Heavenly Paradise; craving of the omnipotent and
          provident God, the guider of that gorgeous garden, that
          he vouchsafe to grant unto you the sweet savor of his
          chief fragrant flowers; and that it be his comfort to
          cleave unto you, his mercy to keep you, and his grace to
          guide you now and evermore.

	If we dig more deeply, we find that in the old popular
traditions of Catholic England - Mary's England - a great many
flowers bore names honoring Our Lady and the mysteries of her life.
Some were so named because of their physical attributes: "Our
Lady's Cushion," "Our Lady's Earrings," "Our Lady's Thimble," "Eyes
of Mary," "Mary's Gold". . .  Some were named from the liturgical
feast of Our Lady for which they usually were in bloom, such as
"Purification Flower" and "Assumption Lily."  Others were associated
with Our Lady because of roles which, according to old legends,
they played in her life, such as "Rosemary," whose previously white
blossoms turned blue after Our Lady rested her blue cloak on it,
and "Our Lady's Bedstraw," which was present in the manger at
Bethlehem. Still others were named because of their mystical
symbolism, for example, the "Madonna Lily" - emblem of the
Virgin - the golden anthers signify the beauty of her soul, and
the white petals her pure body.

	A review of the Mary-names, the "lovenames," of flowers
suggests a query into the subject of flower-names in general.  One
usually does not give much thought to the origin of familiar
flower-names. They are accepted by practice and custom.  Who, for
example, challenges the man, who sells gladiolas to establish the
pedigree for the name before purchasing a basket?

	But if we think back far enough, we realize that the truly
original and authentic names for all flowers - as for all God's
creatures - were those given by Adam in the First Garden.  These
names, which presumably elevated the heart and mind sacramentally
to contemplation of the divine attributes, were lost or garbled,
together with the rest of the universal human language, when God
destroyed the Tower of Babel and introduced the "confusion of
tongues" in punishment for man's pride.

	After the Tower of Babel, flowers were known by a multiplicity
of names in the various religious and cultural traditions. These
names reflected the values of the epochs in which they occurred.
What is more fitting, therefore, than that under the New
Dispensation the flowers of the field should have acquired names
expressing the deep love of Christian peoples for Our Lady?  In the
case of England, how lamentable it is that toward the end of the
17th century these names were replaced by new naturalistic and
romantic names reflecting the loss of the old traditions.

	In recent centuries botanists of the Western world have
classified the species of flowers according to the earliest known
names in Latin, assigning new Latinized names where ancient ones
were lacking, and using descriptive Latin terms to differentiate
among the variations within each species.  These are known as the
technical names of flowers, others being "common names" or
"familiar" names arising from time, place or "the times."
Unquestionably, the technical names are of great value for
botanical science and for nurserymen and seedsmen.  Aside from
preserving some of the by-names of the classical pagan culture,
however, they are largely descriptive labels, in a dead language,
telling us little of the tradition, culture and devotion of
Christendom.  If we are to restore all things in Christ, we must
bring to life the familiar names which flowers bore when they were
lovingly regarded as signs, symbols and, when blest, sacramentals
of the divine attributes and the truths of our redemption.

	There is much more to the religious tradition in gardening
than the existence of symbolical names for flowers. In the garden,
we participate in the fundamental relationship between God, man and
nature, as set forth in God's command to Adam to "subdue" the
earth. We deal with essences, the seeds; and with substances, the
grown plants. We see the effects of original sin in the disease and
death which enter our gardens each season. We also witness the
promise of our resurrection the following spring: ". . . but if
(the grain of wheat) dies it brings forth much fruit."  And we
learn again to trust in God's providence: "Consider the lilies . .
."

	Ancient traditions are also continued in the garden.  In
sowing seed we go back to the time Adam and Eve were banished from
the Garden of Eden, condemned to eat of the fruits of the earth
only "with labor and toil."  God left many types of knowledge to be
discovered by the human race in due time through observation,
experiment and invention.  But in His wisdom - according to an old
legend - He revealed to Adam the art of sowing, tending and
reaping, in order that he and his descendants might survive and
propagate the human race in anticipation of the coming of "the
woman" who was to crush the serpent's head with her heel.  In the
tradition of the Church, we bring ourselves close to the monastery
gardens of the Middle Ages in which the art, science and religious
sense of gardening were carefully preserved and developed by
devoted monks. Finally, we can restore to the garden the religious
names and symbolism which are a neglected part of our own ages-old
English-language tradition.

	By thus restoring, strengthening and extending the Christian
tradition in gardening, and by making it effective in the immediacy
of the present moment, we both render God His due and also
contribute to the spiritualization of the present-day naturalistic
trend in gardening.

	When we come to the actual tasks connected with growing a
garden, we find ourselves confronted with the distinction between
science and art, theory and practice.  No matter how much we may
have read or studied about gardening technique, we learn the
importance of "learning by doing" (unless we are among those rare
persons blessed with a "green thumb"), always recalling that "The
kingdom of heaven is like ... the least of all seeds...."

	The physical work itself is a fulfillment of our responsibility
of stewardship for God's creatures, and often, when it is difficult
or inconvenient, it is a penance.  Still, at all times it is a
means of elevating our heart and mind to God in thanksgiving,
praise, joy and loving contemplation.

	The second great commandment has its place in the garden, too.
Anyone starting a garden in the backyard for the first time will
tell you how neighbors who had previously been only nodding
acquaintances soon entered into conversation, asking questions and
offering suggestions.  A spirit of true neighborliness is quickly
established around the garden.

	Let us all, then, whether we have a plot of ground or only a
window box, undertake a devotional gardening work by growing Our
Lady's flowers . . . for the love of God and neighbor, the
salvation of our souls, the restoration of popular religious
tradition, the development of practical habits, and the exercise of
our responsibility of stewardship.

Reprinted with permission

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