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MEET PARISHIONER
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Finding Peace and Sharing Tal O
St. Philip Neri’s Barb Maiolatesi
St. Philip Neri Prayer Garden
ne day this summer, if you have a moment, park in the back parking lot at St. Philip Neri, and then go up the tiny hill. You’ll find a quiet garden space maintained for our faith community. “I love being there in the Prayer Garden, and I want people in the parish to enjoy it the way I do,” Barb Maiolatesi says. “If you’re going through some turmoil or even a happy event, go there and be thankful to God.” Barb joined the parish only a few years ago when she moved to the area from Maryland, but she had been back and forth visiting her daughter. “Now I’m two minutes from my daughter and two minutes from the church,” Barb says. “When I first got involved at the parish, I worked on the Italian Festival. I was looking for something creative to do.” Then, during last year’s stewardship renewal, Barb said that she’d be interested in gardening. Before then, she hadn’t known about the Green Thumb Ministry. “Through this ministry, people beautify the grounds and take care of the Rose Garden,” Barb says. “I had visited the Prayer Garden a few times, and I went one day and started weeding.” Barb began familiarizing herself with the space and trying to understand what was already growing there and what could be added. It was also a meaningful outlet for her during the pandemic. “It was good for me as a COVID project, since I was outside, and an outlet for me considering my joy of gardening,” Barb says. “I was also going through a hard time when my mother began staying in an assisted living facility. She taught me to garden, and now I’m giving my talent back.” The St. Philip Neri Prayer Garden began as an Eagle Scout project years ago. There are a few picnic tables and a pergola. It seems somewhat forgotten now, and Barb hopes that more community members will spend time there. “It would be a good place for a Bible study,”
