Tag: roses

Almost

My potted roses are almost ready to bloom. In addition to the red roses, the pink, rose, gold, and coral-colored roses (not pictured) are also ready to pop. Most of them will bloom all summer, but they will never again be as beautiful as they will be in April.

I can’t wait.

Just getting started

The trees are coming into leaf, and the garden is just beginning to bloom (Cherry Sage and Vinca pictured above). Baby steps.

April and May will be the most beautiful months when everything comes into bloom. The roses are in bud now. They should be gorgeous in a few weeks. I look forward to making bouquets for the Blessed Virgin and the Lord Jesus.

This morning, I played my lap harp on the back porch while the birds chirped along. Were they wondering what kind of bird I am?

Flowers Are Important

Plumbago

It’s late summer when much of the garden is looking dusty and a little brown around the edges, but the plumbago is still flowering. The tall sedums are coming into bloom, and the roses are still providing color. In every season, I manage to have something blooming in the courtyard. Later in the fall, I will pot up multi-colored violas, because they will survive an occasional crusting of snow and ice in winter.

I need flowers. They are essential for my well-being. When I was working outside of the home, I usually bought an inexpensive bunch of flowers for my desk on Mondays. They kept me going throughout the week. No matter how stressful or tedious my job became, just gazing at a bouquet of blue irises made everything better.

The beauty of a tender blossom is delicate and fleeting, but I can deal with the grief of its passing as long as there are more buds on the way.

Flowers remind me that Life is never exhausted.

First Bloom

My roses were still in bud when I went out of town last week. Coming home, I found them in full flower. They will continue to bloom all summer, but they will never be as lush and extravagant as they are today.

There’s something almost magical about the garden in spring. I want to cling to the beauty, but I know it will eventually fade into the heat of summer.

I refuse to grieve. I think heaven will be like this, only it won’t pass away.

St. Therese and Violets

The violets are in full bloom now. They always remind me of St. Therese of Lisieux. In The Story of a Soul, she uses the analogy of violets to represent all the little souls who give God joy as they strive to love Him in their everyday lives. In God’s garden, these little souls do not demonstrate the splendor of the rose or the whiteness of the lily, but they give God joy as his glance falls upon their simple beauty.

The color of violets is the color of Lent. This is a solemn season. We try to ponder the unimaginable gift that Jesus has given us in his passion. We can’t fully appreciate it or understand it. After all, we are only little souls, little violets in the face of such a Mystery.

Blossoming

“Listen to me, my faithful children, and blossom like a rose growing by a stream of water.
      “Send out fragrance like incense, and put forth blossoms like a lily.  Scatter the fragrance, and sing a hymn of praise; bless the Lord for all his works.”  (Sir. 39:13-14, NRSV Catholic Ed.)

I love this passage from the book of Sirach.  God seems to be saying that I can be more than I am in the present moment, more than I can desire or even imagine.  This resonates in my heart, and I believe it is true.  I want to be like the rose or the lily that gives off a lovely fragrance to the world.  I want my life to be a hymn of praise that blesses the Lord who made me and who sustains my life.

At the same time, I am aging.  I see an old woman in the mirror.  I am not as strong as I used to be.  There are more years behind me than before me.  Yet my desire to become something more is as strong and vigorous as if I were a young woman with my whole life ahead of me.

St. Therese of Lisieux wanted to be a saint, and at the same time, she was realistic about her limitations and her situation.  She didn’t think she was made of the stuff of great saints (although it turned she was), but she believed God would not have given her the desire to become a saint unless it was possible for her to achieve that goal.

I can’t compare myself to St. Therese, but I may still have something beautiful to offer to the world.  I may still have some unopened petals, but in order for them to open, I need to remain near the stream of running water.  For me, that stream is the mysterious life that flows from the opened side of the Savior, from the side of the one who gave his life for me so I could have life, so I could be life in myself and for others.

At the end of my life on earth, when my last petal has fallen to the ground, I hope to enter into a greater life, an eternal life with the Lord who has loved me so dearly in this earthly life of preparation.  I look forward to being with him forever in that abundant life – ever fresh, ever radiant, ever blessed.

Passion (Palm) Sunday

Palm crosses on a hand-woven tapestry from Guatemala

This morning on television, I watched the Mass celebrated by Pope Francis in Rome. Like many other Catholics, this was the first year in many years that I was unable to attend Mass in person and receive the Holy Eucharist and my palm. I was reminded of several offerings from my husband from previous years.

In the parking lot of our local Albertsons, a man used to sell palms that he had woven into crosses with roses. They were fresh and green, and occasionally my husband brought one home to me. I hung them in my library and kept them. For some time now, they have been dry and dusty, but I still love them.

I wonder about the man who made them and sold them for a few dollars each. I hope he has shelter and something to eat.

Our Lady of Mount Carmel

Today is the Solemnity of Our Lady of Mount Carmel for Carmelites all around the world. The images above were taken this morning at the monastery of the Discalced Carmelite Nuns of Las Cruces, New Mexico. Once again, the nuns provided a beautiful display with Our Lady floating on a cloud of pink and white roses, hydrangea, and baby’s breath. Her mantle stretched out behind her, forming a tent under which her children could ask for prayers on their behalf.

When Jesus gave Mary to the beloved disciple, Catholics believe He also gave her to all of His disciples down through the ages, and so we love her as our own spiritual Mother.

Mary, Queen and Beauty of Carmel, pray for us!