The Garden of my life

This is a reflection by Blessed Adeodata Pisani, a Maltese mystic, beatified in 2001. Her feastday was on February 25, and her biography is on that day's post. She sees her life as a beautiful garden. Let us listen to her describing it:
This is a garden situated inside my heart. I will plant these flowers inside my garden: red roses, carnations, passion flower, lilies, violets, jasmine, and daisies. What do I have to do for these flowers to grow healthy and beautiful? The roses will grow if the soul attends Mass and receives communion while performing acts of charity, faith, and hope. The carnations will grow as long as the soul prays vocally and fervently. The passion flower will open and flower when we pray the Divine Office, including the evening prayer when it closes up again. Lilies will grow with acts of mortification and the practice of modesty and chastity. The violets will show up splendidly with acts of humility, poverty, and obedience. It’s important that we check on the ground that it will never sprout any thorns to choke any of these flowers. The jasmine and daisies will flower nicely when our acts of mercy are done to the service of other people and in honor of God.
For this garden to be protected, we must build around it strong walls and other defences, so that enemies will be kept away, and so that they will never know what is planted inside our garden. The first walls consist of the observance of the 10 commandments and the precepts of the church. Another wall is made up from the observance of the Rule of Saint Benedict (since Pisani was a Benedictine sister.) On the facade of this garden there is a powerful weapon to keep all enemies away – this is the Holy Name of Jesus and Mary, the true protectors of this garden. At the door, there are also several other defenders: the Guardian Angel, St. Benedict and his twin sister St. Scholastica, St. Francis, St. Clare, St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross.
Today I locked myself in this garden, so that with the grace of God and I can look out for weeds that have been growing so that this garden will look as pleasant and as colorfully beautiful as possible. Accompanying me are Mary and Joseph, and with Jesus’ support, I practice the virtues I learned at childhood, and learn of His love for me and everyone, so that with the help and the company of the saints I mentioned, I can spread more love in this world, by my actions and my example.