Monastic beauty

Sometimes I wonder what I've been doing here for 16 years. I just found yet another wonderful find in my back-yard while waiting for the big move. Living in Catonsville hasn't been so bad, but why it's taken me so long to discover so much is a question I continue to ask myself. Maybe I was just too focused on the flowers and gardens I was creating inside my studio to notice the ones that were blooming outside.


Catonsville is very quaint and hospitable, even though someone stole the "Welcome to Catonsville" sign last year (there is a reward for its return, UMBC students...). It's a small enough town to figure out where all the good restaurants and bars are within a few months--there are three, btw. But for some reason, it took me 14 years to join the Chamber of Commerce even though I've been in business here for that long. There is still a Main St., and a small post office, as well as six music stores, earning our Mayberry-esque little town the name, Music City.


This town is not only a throw-back to simpler times, it's got a pretty religious scene going on, making it even more historic. There are plenty of churches and Catholic schools, but there is another sacred place that happens to sit right next to the Patapsco State Park.


It's called All Saints Convent, and thanks to resident Catonsville factoid/pilates boot-camp expert, Maggie Schorr, I learned a lot about it on a private guided tour on one spring morning when everything was in full bloom.


A walk down a tree lined path produced the first building on the property. I was taken by the setting and with the early mist, it looked more like we were in Europe than in an suburb in Maryland. It was so quiet, even through we saw shadows inside, we heard no voices. Only the sounds of birds signaling love and food could be heard, and I realized I just found my new meditation place.


We keep on walking, veering right and suddenly a wide open field appeared with tall grasses, but just enough mowed paths for us to investigate more garden vignettes. Since the monastery sits next to a state park, deer are a problem for most anything that grows, so fencing covers much of the plants-- creating a 'flowers as hostage' look that made me a little sad.






My spirits didn't get a chance to lull for too long when Maggie pointed across a field at a perfectly shaped circular garden. She told me there was a surprise inside, so I ran over to see just like a child would do. I guess flowers are my version of candy-- so that sort of thing can't really be helped.


There was an angel sign on the fence that greeted us. But the surprise was still waiting. When we unhooked the gate latch and found ourselves under a roof of Kwanzan cherry blossoms, I started to discover a magic world of pink snow--it was ethereal, actually more than ethereal, for when I focused my eyes back down to the ground, I discovered more surprises-- little angel figurines were virtually everywhere. Maggie said they call it the "Angel Garden". I lost count after 25... there were angels of every size and shape, sticking out of forget-me-nots, hostas and miniature rose bushes. It was the wildest, sweetest thing ever.






And if that vision wasn't enough, I started spotted perennials that shouldn't have been there--meaning they should have been out of season. But there they were, hellebores, muscari, narcissus and primroses, looking strong and vibrant, standing next to the forget-me-nots, lilies of the valley and foxgloves. Double bonus was the lilies-of-the-valley being pink! I went a little mental at this point.








The angel garden contained us for a long time, until we headed over to the heart shaped pond. The energy surrounding All Saints Convent is the most tranquil I have yet to experience in Catonsville. You could sit for hours and just pray and meditate, which is exactly what I intend to do when I return.


As we made our way out, I started noticing more trees and shrubs that were non-native and quite established. I'd love to know the history of these as well as the buildings. There is a mystical energy about the property making me wonder who envisioned such a alluring, yet private landscape. But, I am concerned about its future. I pray this sacred property remains as untouched in the future as it is today.


We headed towards the car, and a mother deer with her babies crossed the road, turning around to look at us. I realized this magical place should be left to them and no one else. Neglected beauty such as this is just too special to envision it any other way but in silence, with wildlife grazing under rare trees and a nun working in her garden, tending to angels and pink snow.

A rare red buckeye tree in full bloom

If you'd like to learn more about All Saints Convent, visit their web site. They offer weekend retreats, which I believe may have been attended and written about by an old Baltimore City Paper editor in the early 1990's.



ALL PHOTOS TAKEN AND ARE PROPERTY OF THE FLOWER SPY.