Draw Near to Yourself – Let Jesus Tend the Garden of Your Heart
- Beata
- Nov 28, 2025
- 8 min read
Updated: Nov 30, 2025
Jesus as the Gardener of the Soul
In Scripture, we find numerous plant and garden images that symbolize spiritual life.
In the Gospel of John 15:1–5 Jesus says:
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in Me, as I remain in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in Me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever remains in Me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without Me you can do nothing.”
This is the classical image of the soul as a plant in the garden, tended by Jesus and the Father — pruned, purified, and guided to full growth.
Matthew 13:31–32 speaks about the mustard seed:
“The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a person took and sowed in a field. It is the smallest of all seeds, yet when full-grown it is larger than the garden plants. It becomes a tree so that the birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches.”
This fragment symbolizes the hidden potential of the soul — requiring care, patience, and time, so that it may bear fruit and become a blessing to others.
Faustina on the “Garden of the Soul” and Its Care
St. Faustina records many moments and visions that can be understood as the image of the soul as a field or garden cultivated by God, the Gentle Gardener.
Although Faustina never literally uses the word garden, her writings paint a vivid picture of a soul continually tended by Jesus. She writes:
“The Lord Jesus has purified the interior of my heart.” (Diary, 1721)“I see that You constantly work on my soul.” (Diary, 1065)“You eradicate in me everything that is not pleasing to You.” (Diary, 1242)
This purification is like clearing out whatever blocks growth.
Then comes the image of shaping — as though Jesus is forming the soul according to the design He has lovingly prepared:
“You shape my soul according to Your divine Heart.” (Diary, 163)
Elsewhere, she speaks of growing:
“I feel that I am growing in deep love of God.” (Diary, 498)
And about the Source without which nothing can flourish:
“Jesus, the Source of life for my soul…” (Diary, 8)
When gathered together, these images form not a metaphor invented by us, but a natural interpretation of her experience: the soul as a garden tended by God.
Jesus purifies the soil, removes what stifles growth, waters it with grace, shapes it according to His Heart, and draws out the life He Himself planted — life that matures in the light of His love.
This is why the image of a spiritual garden is so fitting for the goal of this reflection: to pause in daily life, to see within yourself a place God truly tends, and to notice — in ordinary moments like tea, walking, or cooking — the traces of His care.
Every virtue in this garden requires cooperation: watering with prayer, pulling out the weeds of bad habits, patiently waiting for fruit.
Jesus remains the Gardener who watches over every plant — every flower, every herb — the emotions, feelings, virtues, healing of wounds (yours and others’), character-building, new thinking, choices. We become His co-workers through small, humble acts: reducing pride, self-sufficiency, and ego — because His power is made perfect in our weakness when we invite Him in. Then even difficulties become part of growth.
When we open our hearts and allow God to tend our garden, daily life gains a spiritual fragrance — like a kitchen full of spices. Our soul begins to blossom like a meadow where every herb — humility, gentleness, peace, perseverance — has its own place and purpose.
This is my response to His gentle call: “First, draw near to yourself. Love yourself with My Love, so that you may have something to give to others.”
May this reflection make your day a little brighter and your soul more open to the delicate hands of God, who “constantly works on the soul” (Diary, 1065).
Every woman carries in her heart/garden her own herbs — intuition, tenderness, inner wisdom, a way of seeing that perceives what is hidden. But we do not always know how to use these gifts. Sometimes we even forget that we have within us a space where something can be soothed, straightened, or ripened.
Only when we pause for a moment do we begin to discover that the heart itself whispers what it needs: breath, truth, or simply a place where it can be soft again.
Draw Near to Yourself – 5 Walks with Faustina
The spiritual herbal is a simple practice for sensitive, scattered souls seeking gentleness in their relationship with God.
It is a return to yourself — as if you were gathering herbs for prayer, leaf by leaf, flower by flower, following the whisper of the soul. Each spiritual herb is a tender spice that God adds to your day, making it a source of nourishment for love and peace.
The Concept:
One spiritual herb per day. One short walk across the meadow of your soul. Not alone — but with Faustina. With a heart open like hands ready to receive.
Draw near to yourself.
This is my proposal for this summer. In a world that constantly demands more — pause, or rather: set out on a gentle walk. Listen to the silence where God speaks and you listen. Not speaking first — but listening first, then receiving.
You don’t need to run away to a monastery to taste mystical closeness. Five days, five steps, five meditative walks — and a touch of the sensitivity you already carry in your heart.
This is a spiritual practice for women weary from daily life, for scattered souls suffocated by noise, longing for tenderness, for those who feel something within quietly calling: “I am here. See me. I am.”
Each day we will meet one spiritual herb — a flavour that gives the heart humility, gentleness, patience, mercy… We will walk a short path through the meadow of the soul with Faustina, who saw with the heart and loved despite everything.
Instead of searching for yourself outwardly, draw near to yourself — to the woman whom God already sees with tenderness.
Jesus (ALS #367):
“My Child, if in your mind there is a clamor of thoughts and in your heart a storm of emotions, fight against it through the activity of prayer using words and the fervor of praise and thanksgiving, especially for hardship and suffering. Ask for strength and perseverance, for the ability to accept everything and offer it with a pure heart.”
Faustina (Diary #606):
“When the heaviness of the struggle exceeds my strength, I throw myself like a child into the arms of the Heavenly Father and trust that I will not be lost.”
How to Use This Practice
• Choose one walk a day — morning, afternoon, before work or school.
• In the evening, return to the herb of the day: write down one thought that stayed with you.
• Do not judge yourself. You are on the way — and that is enough.
Some encounters do not need many words — just a simple whisper is enough at the moment: Jesus, I trust in You. Others require more: quiet intervals of silence, longer pauses, the scent of herbs, the touch of a word that knows your name.
The “Herbal of Mercy” is a gentle 5-day path of prayer. Each day offers one virtue, a quote from Faustina’s Diary, a symbolic herb, and questions that touch the feminine heart. It is a spiritual herbal for women who want to feel that Mercy is not a theory, but a home given by a loving Father.
Enter this rhythm. In your pace. With a heart ready to trust, to heal, to love anew. This is not a guidebook. It is prayer hidden in questions, tenderness, and presence. It is my prayer for you.
🌿 Walk 1: Humility – Burdock root
Faustina says:
“Humility is truth. Without it there is no grace.” (Diary, 1502)
Imagine sitting with Faustina in the shade of an old tree. Both of you hold burdock leaves and other flowers gathered along the way. Faustina leans toward you and whispers: “Let’s begin with the root. Truth does not hurt the way masks strain the body.”
Herb of the day: burdock — cleanses what has built up especially its roots.
Practice: Write down one truth about yourself that you fear. A situation where you are not yourself. Look at it together with Jesus.
🌿 Walk 2: Trust – Thyme for a fearful heart
Faustina says:
“Trust is the vessel with which we draw graces.” (Diary, 1578)
You sit together on the edge of a field. Thyme grows between stones, intense and warm. Faustina says: “Trust is a decision, not a feeling. I trusted when I felt nothing.”
Herb of the day: thyme — strengthens a weak heart.
Practice: Say aloud, even in a whisper: “Jesus, I trust in You.” Repeat it whenever doubt stirs. Immerse yourself in His heart and listen.
"Remain in the silence of wonder, so as not to lose anything of the holiness of this moment of grace granted to you. This is the greatest grace and the most exalted state of your soul, immersed in Me, which is meant to illuminate the time that will follow, when you return outwardly through your senses and mind." (ALS #367)
🌿 Walk 3: Silence – The mint of the soul
Faustina says:
“Silence is a sword in the spiritual battle.” (Diary, 477)
The meadow is quiet today. Mint rustles by the ground, its freshness filling the air. Faustina says nothing — and your heart grows still. No words needed. Just presence.
Herb of the day: mint — cools, calms, soothes.
Practice: Do one thing today in silence. No explanations, no reaching outward — just be.
🌿 Walk 4: Mercy – The rose that pierces and perfumes
Faustina says:
“If a soul does not practice mercy, it will not obtain My Mercy.” (Diary, 742)
You find a wild rose bush. Faustina gathers the fruits gently and says: “Mercy begins where pride hurts. But it is mercy that carries the sweetest fragrance.”
Herb of the day: rose — beautiful and demanding.
Practice: Say to someone today — even if only in your heart — “I understand” or “I forgive.”
🌿 Walk 5: Adoration – Cinnamon for the evening of the soul
Faustina says:
“The Holy Hour is for me a source of strength.” (Diary, 147)
Evening. You return from your walk. You hold a cup of wild rose tea with cinnamon. Its warmth settles into your heart like the warmth of Jesus’ hand.Both of you sit quietly in the candlelight. What does Jesus say to your heart?
Herb of the day: cinnamon — warms, softens loneliness.
Practice: “Nothing, you need to say nothing,
Rest in Me,
Be safe.
Let yourself be loved —Love longs for you.”
Today you do not need to say anything. Just be. Tell Jesus: “I am here. I love You.”
Invitation:
I invite you to these walks with Faustina. Each walk may end with the Chaplet of Divine Mercy as a thank-you for the graces you received.
If this journey touched your heart, share it with another woman. Pass on this spiritual herbal — let every one of us feel that God’s Mercy is a place where we can finally breathe. Invite her into a week with Faustina — with a cup of herb tea and an open heart.
🌸 Let the herbs of Faustina blossom further in hearts seeking peace.
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