In the scenic hills above Roaring Creek, a Catholic sanctuary is in full bloom. The bright hues and sweet scents of flowers thrill the senses. The hum of bees and the flight of birds and butterflies lift the spirit. And various statues of saints captivate the imagination with faith-filled stories of the Church Triumphant.
A dozen gardens totaling more than an acre reveal different themes and symbolic surprises among God’s creation along the ridge between Bloomsburg and Catawissa.
This sacred space is the labor and inspiration of Our Lady of Mercy parishioners Jim and Kim Orzolek. While their backyard oasis is limited to family and friends, they graciously welcomed The Witness to their personal gardens to glimpse a bit of heaven here on earth.
“There’s nowhere else I’d rather be,” Kim said as she walked through a patch of wildflowers, picking a few deadheads and tenderly touching the buds about to bloom. “These gardens celebrate our Catholic faith.”
And there is much to take in.
There’s a winding garden of the Stations of the Cross, where small concrete for each Station line a pathway along wildflowers, and shiny red gems representing the drops of Christ’s blood are scattered on the ground. Another long garden bed nearby holds the 150-foot path of a Rosary walk with stones representing its beads.
There’s the Sacred Heart garden, shaped in the form of a heart and featuring a statue of Jesus pointing to his heart among a spray of red and purple wildflowers. St. Michael’s garden is adjacent, with a statue of the archangel piercing his sword through the dragon at his feet. Behind St. Michael are crocosimia lucifer, perennial flowers with red, sword-shaped leaves to represent the saint leading us in battle against Satan.
Nautical blues and whitewashed grottoes on the opposite side of the yard celebrate the island of Santorini. Jim built and whitewashed its large shrine, complete with a belltower and statues of St. Anne and St. Thérèse of Lisieux. Behind it, shells, sea creatures made of glass, and sand dollars lead to a statue of Mary, Star of the Sea.
Elsewhere, statues of various sizes honor Our Lady of Mount Carmel, St. Joseph, St. Charbel, St. Isidore, St. Francis of Assisi and St. Benedict. Bright yellow blooms of prickly pear cactus come to life in front of a wrought-iron image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and a cast-iron statue of Our Lady stands in a shrine that is illuminated with seven lights surrounding her at night.
It’s an endless treasure trove of saints, symbols and wildlife, with a Cedar of Lebanon tree, church-bell chimes, a homemade kaleidoscope, bird feeders and colorful garden décor.
The Orzoleks never set out to create such a grand landscape when they brought home their first finds – a paperbark maple tree from a local nursery and a statue of Our Lady – several years ago. Then in 2020, Kim had the vision for the Rosary garden. Since then, whenever they come across statues of saints at second-hand stores or in discarded piles at local monument companies, they add to their oasis.
“It’s truly a labor of love,” said Kim. “We’re out here in the garden every day. I’ll leave the house in the morning and tell Jim, ‘I’m going to my office.’ Sometimes I’ll remove flowers and put them in better locations or rearrange decorations. And we find that one idea or one new flower sparks something else. It’s never-ending.”
Perhaps the most inspiring space on their property is one that’s hidden behind the tree line at the edge of the yard: a natural grotto to Our Lady.
“I had long wanted a grotto for the Blessed Mother – like the one to Our Lady of Lourdes in France – but couldn’t figure out how to make it happen,” Jim said. “And then one morning after a storm, I looked out along the tree line and saw that a tree had fallen. When I went out to inspect it, there was this perfect little nook where the tree had been uprooted, so I said, ‘God, thank you for giving me the grotto I’ve been wanting.”
Jim added some wooden steps leading into the grotto and placed a statue of Mary at the mouth of the hollowed-out ground, creating a quiet and sacred space hidden from nearby houses and the main road along their property.
“It’s just been a wonderful series of God incidences as far as finding things or being given things from family and friends,” Kim said of the garden’s evolution. There are a few outdoor playhouses among the gardens for the Orzolek’s grandchildren to play and learn about the flowers, trees and saints.
“There is a good amount of symbolism here. Someone could just walk through and appreciate the beauty of it, of course, but for us it’s something to interpret,” Kim said. “I’ll often walk through and talk to the saints, to Jesus and the Blessed Mother.”
“The gardens are an expression of our faith. Some people paint or write poems or music. This is how we express our faith,” Jim said. “Just like Jesus and the Church, the gardens are constantly calling you back.”
(Photos by Jen Reed, The Catholic Witness. Our Lady of Guadalupe photo courtesy of Kim Orzolek.)
By Jen Reed, The Catholic Witness
