Members of Johnson City parish, students work together to create prayer space
By Lillian Isaac
On May 23, after more than two years of planning and several months of construction, St. Mary Parish in Johnson City blessed and dedicated its rosary garden—a peaceful prayer space featuring flowers and plants traditionally associated with the Virgin Mary along with a pathway of stepping stones representing the beads of a rosary.
Following the blessing, members of the Legion of Mary and the Ministries in Spanish led the faithful in praying the rosary beside the garden.
Father Dustin Collins, pastor of St. Mary Parish, expressed for the parish appreciation and excitement at the addition of a rosary garden.
“I am very pleased with the new rosary garden as it provides a prayerful place for the rosary under the intercession of Our Lady of Lourdes. I am thankful for all volunteers who helped to carry out this project and our schoolchildren for making the walking stones,” Father Collins said.
Rosary gardens trace their roots to the Middle Ages, when devotion to the rosary was growing throughout the Church and monasteries maintained enclosed gardens for prayer and meditation. Over time, these spaces evolved into rosary gardens, inviting the faithful to pray while surrounded by the beauty of God’s creation.
St. Mary’s rosary garden continues this tradition as a place where prayer and nature come together. Each step along the pathway offers an opportunity to meditate on the life of Christ through the mysteries of the rosary and encounter the peace of God.
The statues in the garden depict the visionary St. Bernadette Soubirous and the Blessed Mother under the title of Our Lady of Lourdes, who during her 16th apparition revealed herself as the “Immaculate Conception.”
This Marian devotion was chosen to reflect Our Lady of Lourdes’ role as patroness of Tennessee and Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception as patroness of the United States.
This beautiful prayer space was made possible through the generosity of many parishioners who shared their time, talent, and treasure, especially through donations collected during the #iGiveCatholic campaign.
Numerous parish ministries also played an important role in bringing the project to life.
By creating this rosary garden on the parish campus, the parish community not only honors the Blessed Mother, patroness of St. Mary Parish, but also provides a peaceful place for people to pray, reflect, and deepen their devotion to the rosary.
It is the hope of the parish that the garden will remain a lasting place of prayer, renewal, and encounter with Christ for generations to come.