Marie Proulx Meder has a growing interest in what she calls “Mary’s Gardens,” outdoor statues of Mary, the mother of Jesus, usually in a special setting, often incorporating flowers.
Marie Proulx Meder poses in her sister's Mary's Garden.CHICOPEE--They catch her eye while she is driving along the highway and through neighborhoods.
Family members and friends tell her about them, and she has been known to knock at the doors of people she does not know to inquire about them, even photograph them.
Marie Proulx Meder has a growing interest in what she calls “Mary’s Gardens,” outdoor statues of Mary, the mother of Jesus, usually in a special setting, often incorporating flowers.
Stemming from her personal religious devotion, Meder’s growing hobby is rooted in the image she has in her mind’s eye of a statue of Mary visible from the Massachusetts Turnpike in Warren. She had long admired the statue as she passed by it in her travels.
After reading an article in The Republican about it and learning more, she became fascinated with searching out other Mary’s Gardens in yards throughout the region.
Her sister, Jeanne Hebert, who also lives in Chicopee, has a Mary’s Garden, and Alfred Brodeur, (who owned the statue visible from the turnpike) allowed Hebert and Meder to visit the statue in Warren. “Despite the noise of the (nearby) highway, (it) was so peaceful,” Meder said. “It truly felt like we were on holy ground.”
So far, Meder has photographs of 25 statues, most of them older statues, most at locations around Western Massachusetts.
She’s looking for more and planning to compile photographs and information about them into a book or booklet.
Her mother, Edna M. Proulx, of Chicopee, always kept a small statue of Mary on her bureau, and that nurtured Meder’s interest.
Her own name, Marie, is French for Mary. “So I thought, OK, I’m supposed to do this,” she said.
Meder, a Catholic, said many of her neighbors have statues of Mary in their yards; one is in a stone grotto built by the owner’s grandfather.
She prefers the older statues to new ones because they are “more individualized and more beautiful and different” than those which are mass produced today.
Meder has had the idea for the Mary’s Garden project for years, and last summer she began taking photographs of the various statues she found.
But for years as she traveled and has been photographing other statues with a particular interest in statues of Mary and her mother, St. Anne; she took photos of the statues at her former parish, St. Mary of the Assumption in Chicopee, before it closed.
Most of the Mary’s Garden statues she has photographed are at the homes of older people who placed the statues there as many as 50 years ago. “Riding around and seeing so many, I just became really fascinated and interested in how strong a devotion to Mary people had,” Meder said.
Since medieval times, flowers have taken their names from the virtues of Mary; hundreds of types were named after her and held as symbols of her life, mysteries and privileges associated with her and are particular favorites. They include the sunflower (Mary’s gold), impatiens (mother’s love), morning glory (Our Lady’s mantle), asters (Mary’s stars), geraniums (Lady beautiful), petunias (Our Lady’s praises), zinnias (The Virgin), tulips (Mary’s prayers), forget-me-nots (Mary’s beautiful eyes) and lily of the valley (Mary’s tears).
The book, “Mary’s Flowers: Gardens, Legends & Meditations,” by Vincenzina Krymow, has information about the legends that fostered such names. Readers can spend time with meditations they inspire and view 30 designs that bring each bloom to life.
Meder has not yet created her own Mary’s Garden because she has been looking for just the right statue. “I would love to find an older one,” she said.
Anyone interested in participating in her project can contact Meder by email at marysgardenproject@aol.com. ÂÂ