Listen to the Flowers

2 Replies

Passionist Garden, Jamaica , New York


By Andrea Florendo

I can’t imagine a pilgrimage any time of year without remembering Saint Paul of the Cross, Founder of the Congregation of the Passionists (1694-1775). He once talked of the beauty of communing with Nature. I am certain he was not simply writing for himself but to you and me , as well, when he wrote this:

“Listen to the sermon preached by the flowers,
the trees, the shrubs, the sky and the whole world.
Notice how they preached to you a sermon full of love,
of praise of God, and how they invite you to glorify
the sublimity of that Sovereign Artist
Who has given them being.”

Just simply, listen!

2 thoughts on “Listen to the Flowers”

  1. Gloria's avatarGloria

    I Can See God

    I read a question that asked
    “You can’t see the wind,
    so how can you see God?”
    Well, I have news
    for the questioner.

    I can see the wind
    as leaves flutter in the breeze,
    as it bends huge tree branches,
    as the windmill whirls around,
    as the wind changes the morning
    from hazy and humid
    to clear and bright.

    I can smell the wind
    before the rain starts and
    in the scent of lilies and roses,
    in the garden soil after the rain.

    I can hear the wind
    as it sighs in the pine trees,
    as it roars in a storm,
    as it whispers in the grasses.

    I can taste the wind
    when I stick out my tongue
    to catch raindrops or snowflakes.

    I can see God.

    Gloria Ziemienski
    2009

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  2. Gloria's avatarGloria

    Dear Fr. Victor, I have a friend who glorifies God with the beauty of her garden and the hours and days of work she devotes to it, There are really not words to describe it, but I tried. Gloria

    An Afternoon in Eden

    I stepped onto the pathway to her garden,
    into color, sunlight, and shade,
    and Eden came alive again.

    Lovely trees, flowering bushes,
    ornamentals and shrubbery
    grow in the ground and in
    huge beautiful pottery.
    Exquisite tiny plants in small containers,
    flowers of all varieties, sizes, and colors
    were everywhere I looked.
    Herbs for cooking grew in a planter
    on the wall next to the door,
    ready for snipping.

    There was tiny waterfall bubbling
    from an earthenware jug,
    a table under the trees and another
    under market umbrellas.
    Beautiful birds sang in the trees.
    Lovely little statues and stepping stones
    were placed among the plantings.
    Whimsical things of all kinds
    hung from tree branches.

    If I had been Eve,
    I would have sent that serpent on its way!

    How could anyone bear to leave Eden?

    Gloria Ziemienski
    2013

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