Mary's Tears

Ave Maria! For over a decade now I have had the delightful hobby of growing Coix lacryma-jobi (Job's tears or Mary's tears), a corn-like plant whose seeds are encased in a shiny, hard bead, which grows with two holes naturally. They are grown in India and Saint Teresa of Calcutta was famously photographed with a rosary made from the beads wrapped around her soft, wrinkled, praying hands. The natural beads are known commonly as Job's tears, but also as Mary's tears. When I lived on farms in Springfield, Maine and Lowell, Maine, with plenty of goat manure at my disposal, I was able to grow tall plants, which yielded many beads. I made rosaries and much more. The leaves have a delicious oat-like aroma. I searched and searched for any indication that they might be detrimental if consumed and found none. On the contrary, the beads themselves are ground and consumed in some places. I use every part of the plant. The beads are saved for seed and some are cleaned to use as beads. I dry the leaves and use as tea. The grain I eat or feed to animals. The stems I weave into St. Brigid's crosses. It is one of my favorite plants.

Since returning to Portland I have had zero success with growing Mary's tears. Two years in a row I have bought new seeds and could not get any to sprout. Is it the water? The seeds? The temperature? Always in the back of my mind a question about the imprint of God in God's creation. Was there some foreshadowing of a coming wilderness in the seeds' inability to sprout?

This year I assembled a variety of garden seeds from those I had saved and unused seeds from those I purchased in years past. My granddaughters and I lovingly placed them in jars and on plates with wet paper to watch them sprout. I included twelve Mary's tears seeds on my plate. Last Saturday afternoon one of my granddaughters and I transferred many sprouted popcorn kernels, Lima beans, squash seeds, amaranth, beets, pac choi, cucumbers, lentils, kale, onion, and lettuce sprouts to trays with potting soil for further growth. The Mary's tears were unchanged, so I gave them fresh wet paper and lovingly covered them with a washcloth. I prayed. Food is getting harder to obtain, and we have eleven mouths to feed in this house. The garden must be more than a hobby this year. And having Mary's tears would be a great blessing for me during this time of entering into one's room for prayer. It is the wilderness for sure.

Last evening I discovered that two of my twelve Mary's tears seeds were sprouting. Thank you, Jesus. I decided to wait until today to plant them in my trays, as I need the daylight to do it.

This morning at Mass live-streamed from the Parish of the Resurrection of the Lord in Old Town, Maine, I was reminded by Fr. Kyle Doustou that today, the Friday before Good Friday, is the day we remember Mary as Our Lady of Sorrows. We think of her suffering as her Divine Son was crucified. We contemplate Mary's tears. I did so as I planted my two sprouted Mary's tears seeds.

Our Lady of Sorrows, pray for us.