In the front yard of the church, we have a space designated for personalized stone stars made by members of our community. Each star is as unique as the member who created it! We blessed the stars and the space at our four-year anniversary celebration in September 2023. We incorporated the star theme in the garden to connect it to the theme of the indoor sanctuary space.

Stars were a common theme in Hildegard’s writings. In a vision preserved in her collection of letters, she wrote the following:

“Whoever is touched by a spark from the Holy Spirit is so infused and filled up that he / she can never cease from constantly and continually giving voice to new miracles of the mysteries of God through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, in that vision through which I have seen the miracles of God in my soul from my infancy – as God in grace has granted to me – I saw the spiritual gaze of people like an expansive air, red as blood, directed to the Passion of the Son of God. With this redness was mingled a radiant color of dawn, such as appears before it rains. And in this air I saw the yearning of many people like shooting stars… In the brightness of a star, I saw the yearnings of some of these people, which had beautiful human form, and these people had so focused their attention on the Passion of Christ that they abandoned all their own concerns, with faces whole formed in the presence of God… Others received the Passion of Christ with so joyful a spirit that their yearning was like the greenness of early spring when the grass and trees bring joy to people with their fresh viridity” (Letter 379: A Vision about Mankind’s Desire Wholly Directed toward the Lord’s Passion).

The star shaped stones that fill our memorial garden radiate the light and viridity of our community. The colorful beach glass, shells, metals, and other personal trinkets bring joy to our garden. These stones serve as a reminder that “we are created from stardust and unto stardust we shall one day return.”

As new members join our community, whether from North East Ohio or from our zoom community, there is an ongoing invitation to create a star for the outdoor memorial garden. We plan to pull out the concrete and star-shaped molds each spring in anticipation of adding more shining stars to the space!