Dedication - A Garden of Remembrance Honoring Sister Ann Roddy, SSND

Dedication

A Garden of Remembrance

Honoring Sr. Ann Roddy, SSND

St. Clare Monastery, New Orleans, LA

27 April 2014 - 12:00 noon

Leader:  Jesus our Savior, after your crucifixion your body was laid in a tomb in a garden, and there you first revealed yourself to your friends after you rose from the dead.  When we felt crucified by Katrina, Ann helped lead us through the destruction to a new vision of life and faith.

All:  Be present with all who come to this place when it seems that all is lost, and awaken them to new life by your resurrection power.

Leader:  Holy Spirit of Truth and Power, our Advocate and Friend,

All:  Be present with all who come to this place seeking direction and strength, fill their hearts with the love of God, and send them out in witness to Jesus.

Leader:  We now dedicate this Memorial Garden to the Glory of God,

to the memory of Sr. Ann Roddy, and of all named here.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

  

Opening Prayers

Genesis 2

Reflection

 

Leader:  Community of God, I ask you to affirm your belief and awareness that you are Beloved Children of God and are made from the “sacred stuffs” of this planet.

 

All: We confess that we belong to God, we live in God’s world, and that we are wonderfully made from God’s hands from the “red clay” of the earth.

 

Leader: I ask you to reaffirm your desire to set aside a portion of the space that is trusted to your care as the Tau Memorial Garden.

 

All: We acknowledge that what we have is held in trust from God. We are responsible to be good stewards and to live in covenant with each other and with this garden. We reaffirm our desire to combine the Tau Memorial Garden with the space that honors St. Roch, he who lived with and healed the poor, the sick and the powerless.

 

 Leader: And how shall you use it?

 

All: It shall be a garden where we can find a quiet center in the many seasons of our lives. It will hold our prayers, questions, and meditations.  It will be a place to remember those named on the red clay we have carried here:  the flesh and bones gathered in this chapel and those who succumbed to the plague of AIDS.

 

Leader:  And in whose memory shall this place be named?

 

All:  This garden shall bear witness to the special gifts of Sr. Ann Roddy.  She ministered among us and with us for many years.  Ann saw the beautiful in us.  She named us “good”.  She took the “sacred stuff” of this earth and anointed us with her strength, tenderness and creative spirit.

 

Leader:  I have born witness to your confession of faith, I have heard your intentions, and I affirm your engagement in the pilgrimage of seasons and life.  As such, do you promise to care for and maintain this Memorial Garden for as long as this community of faith desires it to be such?

 

All:  We do so promise.

 

Leader:  I hear and affirm your desires and promises.  I invite you to join your hearts in prayer as we proceed to and dedicate the Tau Memorial Garden.

 

 Procession to garden

 
Let us pray.

 

Leader:  God our Father, at the dawn of creation you placed your children in a garden and walked with them in the cool of the day.  Ann found great inspiration in the Tau House Garden.

 

All:  Be present with us as we walk in this garden, and open our eyes to the beauty of your creation.

 

Leader:  Jesus, our good Companion, on many occasions you withdrew with your friends to a garden for quiet and refreshment; The Tau community spent many hours of prayer on these red bricks:

 

All:  Be present with all who come to meet you in this place, and teach them your ways.

Leader:  Jesus our Redeemer, you suffered anguish and betrayal in a garden, and there you submitted to your Father’s will.  Ann gave us an example of acceptance and love as we sat with the dying at Project Lazarus.

All:  Be present with all who come in sorrow and pain to this place, and give them the grace of your redeeming love.