"A Gardener of the Divine- Bishop William Giaquinta, 1914-1994"

I am a member of the Secular Institute of the Apostolic Oblates, a consecrated woman, and national director of an ecclesial movement called Pro Sanctity, in which I have been involved for almost thirty-four years. I live and work on a twenty-acre farm that has been transformed into a Retreat and Spirituality Center for people of all ages, but especially young people. We host kids’ camps, retreats, family outings, and just about every kind of spiritual gathering you can imagine, all in this rural setting. These activities require that the place be neat and pretty, which of course takes labor, time, attention to detail, and a love for beauty. There is a tremendous amount of manual work involved: cutting grass, planting flower gardens, trimming trees, pulling weeds, pulling weeds, and yes, pulling more weeds.  The importance of nature to people never fails to amaze me—it inspires and refreshes us in so many ways and brings us in touch with the God who desires growth within us. The work I do here on this twenty-acre farm is both exterior and interior. It is a work that inspires people to holiness.

Today as I was surveying the “weed population” and quickly getting into the gardening mood, I suddenly thought of our founder, Bishop Giaquinta who passed away over fifteen years ago: June 15, 1994. There have been many priests and bishops who have influenced me over the years, but Bishop William Giaquinta, from Tivoli, Italy, changed my life. He was almost eighty years old when he died, and I can say from firsthand experience that he was a great gardener of a different kind.

I had the opportunity to meet this man in  Italy in 1978, and over several summers I spent time with him and other members of our Institute in a the little village outside of Rome. The cottage where we stayed was beautiful, but in much need of maintenance, especially the garden. As soon as I saw it, I knew I could contribute my weed-pulling skills; the space was a jungle of roses and shrubs, entangled in vines and suffocating from the weeds. Much attention was needed and I wondered if the brief time that I had would be enough, but to my surprise Bishop Giaquinta volunteered to help. He said he would put on his work clothes and be happy to do whatever needed to be done. While it was a wonderful privilege to work with him, I soon realized that this holy priest, bishop and founder, was not gifted as a gardener of the soil. It took him only two minutes to prick his hands from the wild roses and suffer a blister from the pruning shears. I ended up finishing the chore myself, but he stayed by my side to cheer me on. While I pulled weeds, he spoke to me of the “interior garden” and for the next sixteen years he was my personal gardener—not of the soil, but of my soul! Bishop Giaquinta was an accomplished gardener of the interior life, and I was only one of so many to personally benefit from his skill.

There are many, many qualities he had as this gardener of souls, but the predominate gift was his great desire for a flowering of holiness as the only true answer to the Lord’s love as well as the answer to the needs of our society.  Servant of God, Bishop William Giaquinta prayed and offered his life that we all would carry on the “profession” and become spiritual gardeners. He said, “We are called to live a deep interior life and to work apostolically as the universal call to holiness demands. Let us ourselves strive for perfection, and we will become sanctifiers. Let us sow goodness and holiness and in our families, places of work, of study, and play and we will become ‘holy.’”

In the name of all, I thank you, Bishop Giaquinta; your memory continues to sow seeds of holiness in a multitude of souls. We know you are still gardening, even from Heaven. Pray for us and guide us that our spiritual lives will flower and thus attract many persons to God. Help us to make our world a beautiful garden of God’s love. Amen.

Teresa Monaghen, A.O., is the National Director of the Pro Sanctity Movement (www.prosanctity.org).