Rose Garden Guild Ministry Fosters the Beauty of Our Church While Honoring St. Therese

Avisit to a saint’s shrine — and the scent of roses — led to the founding of our beautiful rose garden, cared for by our Rose Garden Guild Ministry.

The rose garden is a peaceful sanctuary on our church campus, often visited by those seeking a tranquil place for prayer, and for joyous wedding parties looking for a beautiful place to photograph their momentous day. The garden draws compliments from parishioners and nonparishioners alike.

The rose garden has its origins in a pilgrimage in 2016 to the Canton, Ohio, shrine of St. Therese of Lisieux. Fr. Giuliani, then our Pastor, led the trip that included Joe Knippenberg and his wife.

The shrine is a simple cottage once owned by Rhoda Wise, a Catholic convert, who became a stigmatist and who dedicated her life to St. Therese, known for her love of roses.

“We visited it, and became so impressed with the simple things Rhoda left,” Joe says. “When I entered the cottage, I didn’t know much about St. Therese, and her connection with roses during her lifetime. She was a simple Carmelite nun who became a nun at age 15 and somehow was connected with roses.

“When I entered this simple cottage, I smelled roses,” Joe adds. “I looked around and there was a bouquet on a sideboard, but the flowers were artificial. I asked one of the guides whether they were using a rose scent. She said, ‘No, why?’ I told her I smelled roses.

She asked, ‘Do you know anything about St. Therese? If you smelled roses, St. Therese has something for you to do.’ That’s how I got involved. I needed to become more active in spreading the life of St. Therese.”

On the bus ride home, the 20 other pilgrims decided to establish a rose garden at the church. The group began to collect money from our parishioners, and their generosity enabled the project to get underway.

The new ministry ordered a Carrera marble statue of St. Therese from Italy and hired a rose garden nursery to plant the roses. There were 72 rose bushes initially planted, and the garden became a reality in 2017.

“I became the coordinator of the Rose Garden Guild, and there are 24 people who do the regular ‘deadheading’ of the roses,” Joe says. “The 24 are divided into 12 teams of two each, and I set up the schedule annually. Each team works once a month.”

As the project was in its early stages, Joe received an apparent message from St. Therese that the rose garden was important to our parish.

“My wife and I were on our way from the parking lot to the sanctuary for Mass on a winter Saturday evening,” Joe says. “Our rose garden was dormant at that time. All of a sudden, I saw rose petals on the path to church. I mentioned this to my wife, ‘Where did they come from?’”

When they reached the church, the couple met several friends in the vestibule, and Joe asked them if they had seen the petals. They had not. There were no petals, they said.

“But I saw them,” Joe says. “I don’t know where they came from. There were no roses in church, and no one had brought roses up the path. But St. Therese had said of the time of her death, ‘I will let fall from heaven a shower of roses.’ That strengthened my resolve to make sure the rose garden was a success.”

The simple life of St. Therese and her firm faith made an impact on Joe. As he is working in the garden, he feels drawn closer to Christ, thanks to St. Therese. He has made note of St. Therese’s writings — termed “simple,” but significant enough to earn St. Therese the designation as a Doctor of the Church. She is the youngest receiving that designation, despite her lack of a theological education. She died in 1924, and, as she foretold, there was a shower of roses at the convent. She was canonized May 17, 1925.

New Rose Garden Guild Ministry members are always welcome. Those wanting to join or who would like more information may call Joe Knippenberg at 803-400-3838.

The beautiful rose garden planted and maintained by our Rose Garden Guild Ministry is dedicated to St. Therese of Lisieux, whose statue centers the garden.