During Rosary Month, the faithful are invited to recite the rosary in Wallingford on Oct. 13.
Story by Karen A. Avitabile
For more than 20 years, a meditation and rosary garden at SS. Peter & Paul Church in Wallingford has been a mainstay for anyone who has a devotion to Mary.
On the 13th day of each month from May to October, the recitation of the holy rosary is prayed at 6 p.m., by St. Faustina Parish, which represents the churches of SS. Peter & Paul and St. Stanislaus, in Meriden. Parishioners of other Wallingford parishes, Church of the Resurrection and Most Holy Trinity, also take part as a body.
“People were so glad when we created the meditation and rosary garden,” says Ann Marie Marriott, who came up with the idea with her husband, John. “It makes people happy.”
The garden has humble beginnings. In 1999, a statue of Mary in front of Most Holy Trinity Church was vandalized. The statue was going to be relocated to a parking lot not being used.
However, John Marriott, who always felt a devotion to Mary, thought that Mary deserved something better. Therefore, he began designing the garden, with approval by the Parish Council.
While some people were in favor of repairing the statue of Mary, it was decided she would be retained – dents and all – and become the centerpiece of the garden. “It is a testament that out of something bad, something good can happen,” Ann Marie Marriott says of the statue.
The walk around the garden is a full rosary. The Blessed Virgin is surrounded by a rosary walk of flamed bluestone Hail Mary beads, and granite Our Father beads memorializing loved ones. The site also features a reflecting pool and a recirculating brook. After its completion, the garden was dedicated and consecrated by Bishop Peter A. Rosazza in 2002.
There are five gardens with designated mysteries of the rosary at each. The first garden includes the first decade of the joyous, sorrowful, glorious and luminous mysteries. Each additional garden, as the number designates, includes the second, third, fourth and fifth mysteries.
The monuments are placed amid a garden of shrubs, perennials and annuals with a theme of one or more liturgically correct colors. For example, the first garden plantings are gold and white; second is green; third is red; fourth is pink; and fifth is purple. At each monument, a granite bench allows for restful and prayerful meditation of all the mysteries.
The final recitation of the most holy rosary for the season, in honor of Our Lady of Fatima, will take place on Fri., Oct. 13, at 6 p.m. The entrance to the rosary garden is from SS. Peter & Paul Church, 127 North Orchard St., Wallingford. There is accessibility for wheelchair-bound visitors or those who use walkers. One decade of the rosary is recited in Polish. In the event of inclement weather, the rosary will be recited in SS. Peter & Paul Church. During the off-months of the recitation of the rosary outside, parishioners and non-parishioners may visit and pray at the garden.
