Yesterday, ArchBalt opened the John Paul II Prayer Garden.  It is a wonderful spot of green in the midst of the city as well as a testament of faith.

The garden features plants, shrubs, and trees specifically chosen for their relation to the Bible, Pope John Paul II, or the local area.  For example, the colors of the fall annuals reflect those of the Papal flag: yellow and white.  In the spring, the blooming annuals will be red and white– the colors of the flag of the Pope’s native Poland.  Kousa dogwood trees were chosen because they tell a “visual story of the crucifixon of Jesus; the bracts (flowers) are in the shape of a cross, while the ends of the bracts resemble the nail scars and the blood.  The center is the crown of thorns worn by Jesus.”

The centerpiece of the garden is a seven-feet-tall, 850-pound bronze statue perched atop a polished granite base, patterned after a photograph of Pope John Paul II’s 1995 arrival at BWI Airport.  More here.