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The Flower Group

We meet on the first Friday of every month (except January and August) after evening mass at 8pm in the presbytery to pray together and plan our work for the month ahead.

The Flower Group works in pairs on a rota system, most of us coming in on a Saturday morning, and some on a Friday morning or afternoon.

If you would like to join our group and have a creative talent, with an appreciation of design, shape and colour, please contact the parish priest. We would welcome any one with a sense of committment and reliability. We work as a team an a flexible and non-competitive environment. If you have a love of flowers and want to learn more, come along.

We decorate the church with fresh flowers, to give glory to God by making use of the gift of creativity he has bestowed on us, to complement and enhance the liturgy, and to communicate a wonder for the beauty of nature through the variety of seasonal fresh flowers and foliage, their colours and scents. We pray together, sharing our experience of God's presence in our lives, seeking his guidance and supporting each other in our faith journey.

Ours is a rewarding ministry to join. In giving our time to God we have the chance to decorate His house and to pray with others. It provides a wonderful outlet for creativity, and the incomparable pleasure of working with beautiful flowers. We are fortunate in having the gift of companionship - belonging to a welcoming and supportive group. What better way is there of relaxing than working with nature, providing a release from the stresses and strains of life.

There have been 10 members for several years, with each pair working on a 5-week rota, and each member leading the prayer once a year. Recently two people moved away, one is away on holiday, and two have taken a break. Four new members have just joined and we would welcome more.

Flower Power

The following article appeared in 'Light In White City' about the Flower Group and their ministry.

The Holy Spirit breathes life into the myriad small groups that co-exist in peaceful harmony, making up the web-like structure that supports the parish community of Our Lady of Fatima and spreads out into the areas beyond.

One such group is that of the floral decorators. There are ten of us, and we work in pairs on a five-week rota creating flower arrangements to decorate the church and enhance the liturgy.

On the first Friday of each month we all meet together for an hour in the presbytery after evening mass to give praise to God and to thank him for the gifts he has bestowed on each one of us.

The group came into being thirteen years ago. The initiative came from former parish priest Fr Gabriel Zsidi and the inspiration and guidance from Sr Catherine Macdonagh of the Marist Sisters.

None of the founding members had any experience of church flower arranging, but all felt a calling to the ministry and had an appreciation of art and design - and a love of flowers.

Sr Catherine taught us all she knew about flower arranging, and many of us joined adult education classes and plundered local libraries for books on the subject. The greatest teacher has been experience. We all learned a great deal from our early mistakes: which flowers last, which colours look good together, where to buy quality flowers on a budget, and how a bit of sticky tape around the back stops the arrangement collapsing during mass!

The membership of the group has changed over the years, as people moved away from the area or their interests or personal circumstances changed, and new members were welcomed and soon felt part of the team. Most of the members have been in the group right from the start, however, and that gives it strength and a sense of continuity and although there have been changes, the essential character of the group has always been the same: the combination of flower arranging and prayer.

Each of us gets so much out of belonging to the group. Everyone looks forward to their turn to do the flowers and finds it therapeutic to switch off their busy lives for half a day and to work quietly in the solitude of the empty church, creating beauty to the glory of God.

We are of many nationalities, different backgrounds and various ages, and even though we may have artistic temperaments and strong personalities there is never any rivalry or competition, because we are bound together by the power of prayer.

Sr Catherine guided our spiritual journey from its beginning, providing a focus for contemplation, usually a passage from scripture, music and an invitation to share faith experiences. We have had some wonderful prayer sessions.

One evening she made us close our eyes and hold in our hands some rough sharp stones she had picked up on one of her country walks, and when we had felt these, she passed around some smooth polished pebbles she had found on a beach. The contours of these had been rounded by a lifetime of buffeting by crashing waves, as we ourselves are formed by what life throws at us. Without suffering setbacks and disappointments we cannot become what we are called to be.

On another occasion she brought in two reeds. One had been hollowed out, with holes drilled along one side, and the other was solid. One produced a beautiful melody, while the other gave no sound. Sr Catherine invited us to empty ourselves and allow God to speak through us, rather than remain full of ourselves and resistant to his message.

Once she gave us all a lump of soft clay which we could shape into whatever we were inspired to make. We were reminded of how God created each of us in his image, how he moulds and fashions us, how we are empty earthenware vessels holding the treasure of his love for us, how one day we shall return to dust, and how he holds us in the palm of his hand. Another time, after we had got to know each other well, she asked us all to think of a quality we appreciated in another member of the group. In that way each took their turn to have their self-esteem built up and supported by the other members.

As time passed, our praying evolved, deepened and grew ever more varied, although it continued to be based on God's word in the gospels and the epistles of St Paul. Sr Catherine taught us how to use our minds in prayer, concentrating our thoughts and harnessing our imagination.

Once we were in a boat with the disciples on the sea of Galilee, rocked violently by a storm, terrified by the force of the wind and waves, then being aware of Jesus' presence with us and feeling safe and secure as he calmed the elements.

Another time, we stood next to Mary among the crowds lining Jerusalem's streets as Jesus made his painful journey towards Golgotha, and we saw the suffering in his mother's eyes as she watched him carrying his cross.

Sr Catherine incorporated elements of yoga into our prayer, teaching us the value of physical and mental relaxation. She introduced elements of meditation with the internal repetition of a mantra. We were able to use any of these methods of praying to develop our personal prayer outside the group. At the same time we continued to pray in the traditional way, with a particular devotion to the rosary, following Our Lady's instructions.

Our prayer meetings have always been central to the unity of the group as a whole and a major influence on the spiritual growth of each individual in the group. We all trust each other, we know that we can be completely open and honest because what we say will not be repeated outside the group. We respect each other and do not judge our fellow members. We can count on the other members of the group to sympathise with us and pray for us at times of difficulty, ill health, family problems, bereavement. This is a tremendous source of strength.

Since Sr Catherine left us three years ago, each of us has taken turns to lead the prayer. Everyone was a bit nervous the first time they did it -they were worried about which topic to choose or what they would sound like. The Holy Spirit has guided us and his tangible presence amongst us has enabled us to continue our faith journey. Many of us are also members of other groups in the parish: the meditation group, the Union of Catholic Mothers, the Marist Way, the Bible Study group, and the Holy Hour group among others. It is wonderful to have an opportunity to share what we have received by belonging to other groups. Some of us share what we have learned from books, from courses on spiritual direction, from retreats and pilgrimages; some of us have received the gift of speaking in tongues and healing. The power of prayer enables us to be aware of God's presence in our daily lives and to spread the Good News to people we encounter outside our parish community and to perhaps to touch their lives in a way which opens them to receiving God's love.

We used to go away together for a weekend in May, spending time together in prayer, on invigorating walks by the edge of the sea or taking in panoramic views from cliff tops, poking about in antique shops and charity shops, indulging ourselves with delicious home-cooked meals to which we all contribute. We enjoy cooking and eating as much as flower arranging, and we each have a signature dish, such as, Caribbean rice and peas, Spanish tortilla, Irish roast beef and Italian tiramisu. Every New Year we go out together for a meal, taking pleasure in each other's company.

Apart from arranging flowers, praying, cooking and eating, we also laugh together. We don't take ourselves too seriously. Sometimes we come to our meetings exhausted and drained after a week's hard work, feeling empty, inadequate and broken. After praying together we are filled to bursting with God's overwhelming love, and feel renewed and revitalised. There are sometimes tears as we share something that touches us deeply, but growing closer to God brings inner joy, and the release of tension triggers laughter. We take Christ's enduring peace with us, back to our homes and workplaces. Seeing Christ in the faces of the people we meet makes us smile as we greet them.

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