Our family has a beautiful vegetable garden, one that I spend a great deal of time in during the summer months. Our raised beds are bursting with life and flavor. My mother has a green thumb, and I learned early on in life that gardens are the work of years, not months, and that gardening is work to be done in all seasons.
In the fall and winter, we gather and turn the compost. In March, we plant the seedlings. April and May, we amend the soil, replacing the nutrients last year’s crops used up. In June, the plants are in the beds, being watered and pruned, and carefully watched for bugs. Here in Michigan, it isn’t until late July or early August that we see most of the fruits of our labors. The tomatoes ripen, the peppers grow big, the pumpkins and corn are just beginning to mature. But the work doesn’t stop then — the plants still need care.
Tend the garden faithfully, and it will grow.
The same is true of my family’s devotion to the Blessed Mother. Just as the gardener walks the beds each day, plucking a small weed here, trimming a sucker there, small acts, done often and completed with love, have borne great fruit in our lives.
Developing a relationship with Mary changed my faith life. I would not be the woman I am today without her influence. When I became a mom myself, I knew that I wanted the same for my children. Not being raised in a practicing Catholic family, there were many times I felt like I was muddling through. Just as I’ve become a better gardener in the past decade, I’ve learned a lot about what it means to cultivate a family devotion to Mary.
Here are my garden lessons about growing a devotion to the Blessed Mother.
Learn from the experts
Most bookstores have an entire section on gardening. Walk into any Catholic bookstore, and you’ll find a section on Mary.
Why? Because learning from the experts is valuable. It’s true about gardening, and true about Mary.
Books can be a valuable resource, not just for learning, but for deepening prayer lives as well. If you don’t know where to begin, think about what drew you to Mary in the first place. What fascinates you, intrigues you, makes you uncomfortable? (Yes, that last one matters — growth often comes when we are uncomfortable.)
If you have kids, what questions do they have? What do you want them to know, to understand about who Mary is and how she loves them?
Then, find the resource that will help you answer them. So many of our great saints have written about Our Lady. Their works can edify and encourage you as you get to know her.
Catholic books like “When Mary Says Yes,” “Take it to the Queen” and “Go and Fear Nothing,” as well as my own two Marian-themed books, are regular bedtime reads in our home. The kids enjoy them, and they help lay the groundwork for strong relationships with Mary for our children.
Don’t compare your brand new garden to your neighbor’s that has been growing for 20 years
Today our vegetable garden grows enough produce for our family’s table each summer. But it wasn’t always that way.
The first year we were in our house, my husband built two raised beds for vegetables. The next year, two more. Then we added a grape arbor. Then raspberry bushes. Slowly and steadily we built. We tested different compost ratios. We trialed combinations of plants. We learned from our mistakes.
It’s so tempting to look at the families around us, and instead of being encouraged, become despondent that we aren’t as faithful, devoted or prayerful. If you’re just starting a relationship with Mary, resist the temptation to compare yourself to others. No garden reaches maturity in a single season and no relationship does either.
It’s wonderful if there are families in your community who have strong ties to Our Lady. It’s worth looking to them for inspiration, but always remember that you are working different ground than they are. A Marian devotion is not one size fits all, and you’ll have to figure out what works (and doesn’t work) in your own home and life.
Weave her into the fabric of your day: The Church has a prayer for that
Any busy parent knows that the key to forming a successful habit is routine and repetition. Weaving Mary into our family’s daily life has been a crucial element of cultivating a devotion to her in our home. In addition to sprinkling our read-alouds with faith-based books, we try to do the same with prayer. The Hail Mary is our go-to prayer most of the time.
Employ visual cues and reminders
There are days when the schedule gets busy, and I forget to water the vegetables. But I can’t walk past the beds and see the leaves wilting and the parched dirt without remembering to get the hose.
The same is true for prayer in the home. One of the most impactful things I ever did for our family’s prayer life was also the easiest. I filled our home with Catholic art. Children are concrete learners. They notice details in the art that spark conversations and open doors to prayer. The art in our home also serves as a visual cue for me — it reminds me to pray for them and with them.
Embrace the long view
As you begin to cultivate your family’s devotion to Mary, I have one last piece of advice for you, and that is to embrace the long view. There will be seasons of dryness, seasons of struggle, of wiggly rosaries, grouchy children and too-full schedules. Remember that not every vegetable ripens at the same time. Don’t be discouraged if your garden of devotion takes time to grow.
Colleen Pressprich is a homeschooling mom of five and the author of 10 books for Catholic children, families and adults, including two about Mary: “Marian Consecration for Families with Young Children” and “OSV Kids Discover: Mary.”
