Listen, my faithful children: open up your petals, like roses planted near running waters, Send up the sweet odor of incense, break forth in blossoms like the lily. Send up the sweet odor of your hymn of praise; bless the Lord for all he has done! – Sirach 39:13-14
A few years ago I started a Mary garden. It’s just a simple collection of plants that are associated with our Blessed Mother. As we prepare to celebrate the feast of the Assumption of Mary, I thought it would be a good time to share about this devotion. There are no rules to starting a Mary garden other than having the goal of creating a place of peace, prayer, and honor for Mary.
There are many legends that associate different plants and flowers with the life of Mary. Of course, roses are linked to Our Lady of the Rosary. Mary is also called the “Mystical Rose.” You might have seen images of Mary holding a white Madonna Lily. Did you know that another name for those shade-loving, large-leafed garden favorites, hostas, is “Assumption Lily”? Or that zinnias are also called “the Virgin”? One favorite that I plant each year are colorful impatiens, called “Our Mother’s Love” because they are constantly in bloom, symbolizing how Mary’s love never fades for us. If you have a garden, chances are you already have a few of Mary’s plants.
Fall is for planting, so if you are a gardener, consider adding a couple of Mary’s plants and labeling them. Each time you care for them, ask for Mary’s intercession and honor our Mother with a Hail Mary. Thank Mary for her “yes” to God that brought Jesus, the Word, the Light, and the Life into our world (see Luke 1:38 and John 1: 1-5). The same eternal, abundant Life that she now shares body and soul with God in heaven (CCC 974).
The Most Blessed Virgin Mary, when the course of her earthly life was completed, was taken up body and soul into the glory of heaven, where she already shares in the glory of her Son’s Resurrection, anticipating the resurrection of all members of his Body.
CCC 974
Click here for a past blog post with a list of resources, more Marian names of various common garden flowers, and a prayer I wrote to consecrate my garden to Mary. Happy gardening!
Blessed Mother, thank you for your constant love for me and for all your intercessions, aids, and protections. Help me to imitate you and say “yes” to God’s will for me. Amen.