Arlene Wilkinson has tended the flowers and grounds of her parish for more than 15 years.
She is the only member left of the original garden ministry at St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception Church in Fredericksburg. The ministry was started by then-pastor Father Donald J. Rooney, who saw a need to upkeep the church’s extensive property, which encompasses an entire city block.
“Father Rooney said something needed to be done about it. He knew where to say it, in front of me,” Wilkinson said with a chuckle.
A teacher, Wilkinson began volunteering on the grounds during her summer breaks and school vacations.
The yardwork was familiar.
When she was a young girl, her father died and she learned how to maintain the yard, mowing the lawn and pruning the shrubs. “I just tried to make everything look clean and nice,” she said. “I’ve always loved plants.”
After she grew up and married, she moved a lot with her husband, Joe, who served in the U.S. Navy — but she continued to find ways to work in the yards of the churches she attended or the schools where she taught.
When she retired from working in a kindergarten at Marine Corps Base Quantico in 2017, she began spending more time with the garden ministry at St. Mary.
“I just found a lot of peace and comfort doing it,” she said.
She continued to learn, and that same year she joined a Master Gardener program, which provides horticultural classes and requires community involvement through gardening, research and other projects.
Now, she volunteers year-round 10-20 hours a week. When she spoke with the Catholic Herald, she had just returned from gardening at the parish and said she was still warming up from the chilly winter day.
She typically begins work Monday morning after daily Mass at 6:30. Every week, she emails the team of volunteers with what she plans to work on and where, so they can find her when they show up to help. While there’s a group of about eight regular volunteers, the group fluctuates in size as people come when they can.
Over the years, she’s also reached out to the broader community. During the school year, she works with student volunteers from the nearby University of Mary Washington. She’s also helped people fulfill court-assigned community service hours. “Some people liked it so much that they stayed and finished a project because they wanted to see it to completion,” she said.
When she noticed the parish kindergarteners pulling up flowers, she started a seed program to help them plant French marigolds. She knew if they were invested in the flowers, they wouldn’t pluck them.
Her husband also volunteers, taking care of the trees. A woodworker, he uses the fallen branches to craft bowls and furniture. He’s made tables and kneelers for the parish.
“People can see the woods of St. Mary in a different light, so to speak,” said Wilkinson.
“One need only walk the grounds and see how immaculately, professionally and beautifully maintained is the landscaping at St. Mary’s,” said Father John P. Mosimann, pastor. “It is impossible to thank (Arlene and Joe) sufficiently, but we know that they are storing up a treasure in heaven where Our Lord will reward them with a garden beyond our imagining.”
In every season, Arlene finds cause for wonder.
“I like the different seasons for different reasons,” she said. While spring can be busy, in the summer, “you can start to see some of the fruits of your labor.” Fall brings different flowers and all sorts of wildlife searching for seeds and nuts. “I even enjoy the winter. There’s a beauty in the starkness,” she said. “Each season brings its own little sense of amazement and awe.”
Her favorite part of the work is “the joy that it brings to the people who come to church,” or who are “amazed at the flowers and insects.”
One of her favorite memories was when St. Mary reopened during the pandemic after she’d continued to care for the grounds. “I think one of the most spectacular things that I experienced was when we came back to church … at that particular time frame the flowers were incredible,” she said. “The Easter flowers were all around the church in full bloom.”
She said people often see her working on the grounds and ask how they can help.
“We all feel that by gardening, it’s helping bring peace to us. Being closer to God and his creation.”
Bartlett can be reached at [email protected].
