Here at Queen of Peace Residence we have spacious beautiful grounds! However our rose garden, which was first established 40 years ago, enshrines a beautiful Sacred Heart statue in the center with Jesus’ hands outstretched to welcome whoever comes. Through the years, the roses had not been well watered, pruned or fed; as a result the garden was in disarray.
We were considering uprooting all the old rosebushes and turning the garden into another type of perennial flower garden until we met John, who is a rose specialist. John came to us through his brother-in-law Mark, who was helping in the garden as part of his service to become a Knight of Malta. When we asked Mark if he could help us establish a new garden, he told us to wait until his brother-in-law would be able to come and look at the roses and give his advice.
As in the Gospel when Jesus told his disciples to wait another year to see if the barren fig tree would bear fruit before they cut it down, so John told us to wait another year; he would make a decision about what should be done. So he pruned, cut around the bushes, fed them with manure and made sure they got water. Since the past three years our rose garden is still here and more beautiful than ever, thanks to John’s loving care! Now it is a joy to walk in the garden and see the beautiful roses created by God and helped by John.
Photo Above: John and Sr. Elisabeth Ann in the Sacred Heart rose garden
Our Rose Garden