I Recommend a Beautiful New Book: “A Catholic Gardener’s Spiritual Almanac”

Last updated on: April 8, 2015 at 2:17 am by Lisa Mladinich

I Recommend a Beautiful New Book: “A Catholic Gardener’s Spiritual Almanac” 2015-04-08T02:17:59-04:00 Lisa Mladinich

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Margaret Rose Realy, Obl. OSB, is a contemplative lay hermit. She grew up just outside Detroit, sharing a home with her maternal grandmother where the love of gardening flourished. Margaret reveals her love of nature and learning about the Creator through his creation in her books, columns, and presentations. She is a regular contributor to Catholicmom.com, and writes for the Catholic Channel on Patheos.

Margaret’s third book, A Catholic Gardener’s Spiritual Almanac is the first book to offer gardeners spiritual resources and creative projects that connect a love of gardening with their Catholic faith. Margaret writes from a Benedictine spirituality, and as an advanced Master Gardener, retreat leader, and writer, presents this spiritual companion that follows the natural and liturgical seasons and offers gardening tips and easy-to-do projects for each month of the year.

Here is an excerpt from the book, a portion of April’s section on Faith Filled Gardening:

Easter Season

Easter Sunday! The Lord is risen; He is risen indeed! It is a day of new life and light, of breaking bread with God and family and friends.

The garden on Easter Sunday can be much more than a hunting ground for colorful hard-boiled eggs hidden around the lawn.

On Holy Saturday, before you went to Mass, you removed [from the penitential garden] all of the reminders of Lent. For Easter, you can now decorate your garden with white and gold accents. Hang tiny white Christmas lights, or white paper lanterns around your outdoor prayer space.

The holy women that came to the tomb of Jesus brought myrrh along with other herbs for anointing. Myrrh was also present at the birth of Jesus. If you had purchased some of this resinous incense at Christmas, pull it out of storage and use it during Easter to make your garden fragrant.

You can make or buy a Resurrection Cross to add to your garden. Paint it white and adorn it with what brings you joy. Because Christ is risen, a crucifix with raised arms is more appropriate than the crucified corpus.

If you desire to create an Easter Garden, use elements that remain true to the Easter season. White and gold colors are prominent. Include an assortment of white lilies that will bloom at different times as well as other white and gold flowering plants. You could also use plants that symbolize the theme of resurrection and ascension. [In the book a table follows that lists several plants that connote these sentiments.]

“What delighted me most in the writing of this book was sharing my love of gardening and God. Each section of a monthly chapter brought some level of joy. I often felt that I was doing an odd sort of evangelization by offering some of what our church teaches in a way that brings to light the Bible parables that were related to nature. It was fun researching and then correlating spiritual themes, and then to actualize them in a garden setting. I pray that those who read my book might apply some of the gardening themes to their own outdoor prayer space and in doing so draw closer to Our Lord.” ~Margaret Rose Realy, Obl. OSB

Catholic books

Liturgical year

scripture

A Catholic Gardener's Spiritual Almanac: Cultivating Your Faith Throughout the Year

Previous Post

April 5, 2015

Hallelujah! God Be Praised! He is Risen!

Next Post

April 9, 2015 UPDATED: Liberal Intolerance Gets Ridiculous in North Dakota

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category #freestuff #GetUp&Dance_Wednesday #giveaway A Preparatory Catechesis for the World Meeting of Families Advent aging atheism beauty Blessed Virgin Mary Book Review catechetical resources Catholic books Catholic conference Catholic events Catholic podcast Catholic prayers Catholic products Catholic radio Catholic television children conversion Divine Mercy Eucharist evangelization free goodies gay marriage GET UP AND DANCE! grieving Health Holy Souls human sexuality Interview joy in the Lord Liturgical year marriage martyrs media memes missionaries mothers movies music occult parents persecution photography pornography prayer prayers for peace pro-life propaganda psychology Purgatory quotations quotatons relationships religious education religious freedom resources resources for women sacraments sacred music saints scripture self-help social media special needs spiritual warfare spirituality The Catechism of the Catholic Church the rosary traditional marriage travel Uncategorized video vocations

Select a Month June 2016 May 2016 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz