Garden – Haiku 2025 — ThursdayDoors

Posted bySuzette BenjaminPosted inPoetryTags:
Madonna dell’Orto Church, Venice Italy. Licensed image credit: © Koba Samurkasov | Dreamstime

a stone rejected,

discarded, yet still shines its light

—plants faith a garden

*

*The featured door: Main Entrance, Madonna dell’Orto Church, Venice, Italy.

Main Entrance, Madonna dell’Orto Church, Venice, Italy. Licensed image credit: © Cebas1
| Dreamstime

The doors are oak. The tympanum is unadorned purple granite.

The statues:

First at the top of the arch of the door and under the rose window, are depictions of Madonna dell’Orto Church’s patron saint, Saint Christopher along with the Virgin Mary on the right and Archangel Gabriel on the left.

Secondly, in the niches in a single row on either side of the rose window are depictions of the twelve apostles.

Thirdly at the top of the facade in the five-pointed niches (aedicules) are depictions of the virtues: Faith, Hope, Prudence, Charity, and Temperance.

Trivia #1 and #2:

The story of the discarded stone sculpture of the Virgin Mary (Madonna.)

So as the story goes…

Back in the 14th century in the city of Venice,

A local priest of a prominent church (Santa Maria Formosa), commissioned a local sculptor to make a stone statue of the Virgin Mary.

The sculptor began the statue and when he had almost completed the work, the priest who commissioned the piece did not like it. The sculptor then discarded the statue, as is, leaving it outside in his vegetable garden.

Please note, as it so happens…this sculptor’s home and garden were just down the street from a newly constructed church (later known as, Madonna dell’Orto Church (circa 1355; rebuilt 1414).

Some time later…

The sculptor’s wife discovered that the statue of the Virgin Mary her husband had placed in their garden glowed at night…on its own!

She reported this finding to her husband….and soon…news spread of the glowing Madonna (Virgin Mary) statue in the garden in Venice. There were even alleged reports of some miracles that happened in the garden near the Madonna statue.

City officials ordered that the statue be placed in a church rather than left out in the open.

Soon thereafter, a large procession along the streets followed the carrying of the statue to the newly constructed church (Madonna dell’Orto) where it has remained ever since.

**Madonna dell’Orto Church (Madonna of the vegetable garden) was the new name given to the church after this event.

Additional facts:

Did you know that much of Venice’s wealth in the 14th century was built—arguably—on its monopoly over the table salt trade across the Adriatic and Mediterranean Seas?

In June 2025, the wedding party for newlyweds Jeff Bezos (founder and Exec. Chairman of ™Amazon) and Lauren Sánchez was held in the cloisters at Madonna dell’Orto Church.

Cannaregio district of Venice canal, with Madonna dell’Orto Church in the distance. Licensed image credit: © Olga Khorkova | Dreamstime

And for more #ThursdayDoors visit Dan Antion at No Facilities

Ritva Photography

Published by Suzette Benjamin

Positive thinker, inspirational, writer, faith

40 thoughts on “Garden – Haiku 2025 — ThursdayDoors”

  2. Great doors. A fine story-telling haiku, and some fascinating facts about the statue of the Madonna. It is a lovely story and speaks of the modesty of the sculptor. I love the name of the church after the story, which gives it some validity.

    Liked by 1 person

  3. Wonderful haiku, Suzette and I love the story it tells. I really like the way the statue of Saint Christopher extends above the base of the rose window. As always, I enjoyed the trivia.I had forgotten that Prudence was one of the virtues (perhaps many people have forgotten this) and I was glad to be reminded. I love how churches of this era communicated these lessons to their parishioners through art.

    The bit about the salt trade is fascinating.

    Thanks so much for sharing this all with us. I hope you have a great weekend.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thanks, Dan. Well spotted about Saint Christopher’s prominence in the facade.

      I am guessing that seafaring cities like Venice hold a special place for St. Christopher due to his role as the protector of travelers.

      And thank you Dan, for your work on Thursday Doors and shepherding the many challenges you support. I understand and appreciate that we love doors; however it takes a lot of extra work (in my opinion) to do what you do so well every week. Much appreciated.

      Liked by 1 person

  11. Another good story.
    Although this is a small church, it has a lot of presence and very pleasing proportions. Not intimidating at all, very suitable as a home for that statue. (K)

    Liked by 1 person

  12. A Stone Rejected, Yet Shining

    A stone rejected, discarded, yet still shining its light—such is the heart of the haiku that honors the cathedral doors of the Madonna dell’Orto Church in Venice. In just three lines, the Poet distills centuries of devotion and history, weaving together the story of the Madonna statue and the very doors that guard her sanctuary. The haiku itself feels like a threshold: simple in form, yet opening into a vast garden of meaning.

    The choice of unadorned purple in the telling speaks to the humility and simplicity with which this story unfolds. Purple, a color often associated with majesty, here becomes restrained, almost ascetic, reminding us that grandeur is not always in embellishment but in truth made plain. It mirrors how faith often takes root—in silence, in modest offerings, in the hidden soil of devotion.

    What makes the Madonna dell’Orto remarkable is not only its Venetian splendor but also its universality. The patron saint of the cathedral is venerated across traditions: Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism, Lutheranism, Oriental Orthodoxy, and Anglicanism. This wide embrace feels like a Madonna garden—abundant and ever-present, where faith grows like vegetables planted in the midst of the twelve apostles, nourished by virtues such as Faith, Hope, Prudence, Charity, and Temperance. It is a reminder that the life of Mary, so interwoven with the apostles, is also a testimony of love, a love we rarely pause to acknowledge in its fullness.

    On this Thursday Cathedral Door offering, we are invited to contemplate more than wood and stone—we are called to consider lives lived in devotion, the quiet strength of Mary, and the steadfast witness of the apostles. Venice itself, with its wealth once tied to table salt, reminds us that even the simplest of elements can become the foundation of prosperity. So too in faith: what seems ordinary, even rejected, can become luminous when rooted in love.

    Here, at the doors of the Madonna dell’Orto, history, devotion, and beauty converge. The haiku captures it all: a stone once discarded now planting a garden of faith—a garden in which we, too, are invited to dwell.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. What a beautiful treatise and meditation on the share!

      I love…love how you explore the breadth and depth of the door’s connection to the city’s culture, history, and faith.
      You are most kind to lavish such flowers on the haiku. Your discernment is always amazing… I agree with your point on the levels of meaning implied but not required for the haiku’s reading.

      Indeed, the church is understated brilliantly… its architecture seems to downplay any semblance of grandness… every element is sparse as you noted so beautifully… “grandeur is not always in embellishment but in truth made plain… Indeed, your homily is perfect in every way… “a garden in which… we dwell.”

      Blessings to you this day. May your path this day be a garden of realized intentions blossoming within and full of joy.

      P.S I also love your reflection on faith as a garden and the invitation that the story of the discarded Madonna statue evokes of the power of faith to plant itself and the virtues on solid ground.

      Liked by 1 person

  13. It was an absolute spiritual joy for me to explore the themes woven into this haiku and the story of the Madonna dell’Orto doors. History, simplicity, and devotion converge here in a way that left me deeply moved. The haiku opens a window into the beauty of what seems ordinary—revealing how rejection is transformed into light, and how Mary’s life with the apostles stands as a testimony of enduring love.

    Reflecting on these profoundly simple doors became, for me, a moment of grace—a garden where faith takes root, where love rests and flourishes. What strikes me most is the understated brilliance of this witness: the quiet determination to carry forth the mysteries of the Gospels. The relationships engraved in stone are breathtaking, like a diary etched for eternity.

    Indeed, the discarded Madonna glowing at the threshold evokes the power of faith to plant itself firmly, anchoring the virtues of Prudence, Faith, Hope, Charity, and Temperance upon solid ground. It is nothing less than breathtaking—a testimony that what is cast aside by men can be exalted in the light of God.

    Thank you so much for your inspiration.
    And thank you for your blessings upon the garden of my intentions.
    Wishing you a day filled with joy.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. You are most welcome. I am happy to share on doors; they are each one of them a special meditation for me as well. I am honored and humbled that you find riches to ponder in them. A blessing indeed.

      Thank you so much for your benediction, your best wishes and kind regards.

      Liked by 1 person

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