Stations of The Cross at Saint Therese Home
New Hope, MinnesotaThe Garden at St. Therese is a beautiful place that deeply comforts residents of the adjacent assisted living facility who come to immerse themselves spiritually in prayer. First developed by St. Francis of Assisi, the Stations of the Cross symbolize Jesus Christ's sacrificial journey at the Crucifixion. The Garden at Saint Therese is a rare expression of this liturgy in the landscape. Walking with the Lord is the theme of the garden. Each of the fourteen "stations" is identified by a large limestone slab with a bronze plaque and associated plantings. The garden is richly imbued with symbolism expressed in stone, imagery, and plantings. Each station is built of Mankato Kasota stone, an indigenous stone in Minnesota and well suited for sculptural design. The warm, pink beige stones gesture in the direction of the journey and some of them express poignant stories. In the late afternoon, the setting sun illuminates the stones so that they take on an almost ember-like glow. This glowing spiritual immanence - the transformation of matter to spirit - underlies the visitor's experience of the garden. The Stations of the Cross are not so much a place, as a journey that takes us beyond the places of daily life to empathize with the suffering of Christ. The act of prayer at each station helps to engage visitors in this transformation. Upright arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis) suggests a group of witnesses to the crucifixion. Further on, at the Resurrection, five white spruce frame an outdoor gathering place and burning bushes (Euonymus alatus) symbolize the twelve disciples. A prayer book was also designed to lead the sequence of prayer. Few garden forms in Western Culture offer such a close tie between physical design and narrative, between movement and spirituality.