Posted July 10, 2020

Parishioners at St. Helena in Blue Bell, working under pastor Msgr. Joseph Nicolo, have created dozens of shrine gardens throughout the parish’s 37-acre campus.

(Read our feature story on the shrine gardens of St. Helena Parish.)

The sacred spaces, which are the fruit of labor and prayer, bring a sense of serenity to parishioners, and draw them closer to God and one another.

(All photos by Gina Christian.)

  • Mary Jane Mrazik, a member of St. Helena in Blue Bell, weeds the parish’s St. Francis of Assisi garden, July 9. Dozens of parishioners maintain the numerous shrines and gardens on the parish’s 37-acre campus.

  • Msgr. Joseph Nicolo, pastor of St. Helena Parish in Blue Bell, examines a garden pond in front of the rectory with parishioner and garden club coordinator Theresa Smith, July 9. The pond, designed by former parochial vicar Father Tadeusz Gorka, is a memorial to three parish children who died of cancer, and forms part of the parish’s extensive network of garden shrines.

  • The memorial pond’s small waterfall recalls the brief lives of the three parish children it memorializes.

  • Water lilies and hibiscus adorn the parish pond, which is home to several fish, snails and frogs.

  • A parishioner prays at an outdoor grotto chapel located behind the sanctuary of St. Helena Parish in Blue Bell, July 9. Built by parishioners, the chapel has become a popular site for reflection and rosary recitations.

  • The parish’s outdoor grotto chapel features stained glass windows from its previous church.

  • The grotto chapel is encircled by Stations of the Cross plaques from the parish’s former convent.

  • A garden built by the parish’s Boy Scout troop members features a rosary of stones.

  • A painted terra cotta statue of St. Joseph and the child Jesus stands amid a spray of wildflowers in the prayer garden of St. Helena Parish in Blue Bell, Montgomery County.

  • A black moth rests upon a plant before a Bavarian wayside crucifix donated to the parish in honor of Msgr. Nicolo’s parents.

  • A statue of St. Francis of Assisi gazes thoughtfully across the parish lawns.

  • A statue of St. Therese of Lisieux, known as the Little Flower, fittingly stands amid several rose bushes.

  • The parish’s Calvary garden contains three stark wooden crosses and minimal foliage.

  • A series of roadside Stations of the Cross line the eastern drive of the parish campus. When area churches closed due to COVID-19 restrictions, parishioners prayed the Stations from their cars.

  • An angel statue guards one of the six entrances to the campus of St. Helena Parish.

  • Summer sunshine pours over the bell tower of St. Helena Parish. In the foreground is a roadside Station of the Cross.