On Monday, every student in our Digital Journalism class was gifted a branch of freshly picked rosemary. It was a gift from Fr. Lucas S.J. a visual arts professor at USF. Fr. Lucas is a resident of Loyola Village on Lone Mountain and the caretaker of one of the most spectacular private gardens in San Francisco.

Fr. Lucas led us through his hilltop sanctuary and he spoke of his personal reflection on the garden. “There are a lot of metaphors in gardens. Gardens are about memory…you have to remember what you planted and always be thinking ahead about what’s coming up,” said Fr. Lucas.

Walking through the garden you can see the dedication that went into creating such a lovely space. Fr. Lucas talked about the different cycles of life and blooming that took place in the garden and it was clear he was very much in step with those rhythms. He said, “It’s (the garden) constant work, like life well-lived is constant work.”

The gift of rosemary could not have been more appropriate. Fr. Lucas gave us this herb saying, “Shakespeare says that rosemary is for remembrance.” As I searched for this quote in Shakespeare’s archives, I was amazed to see what the full quote truly is.



“There's rosemary, that's for remembrance; pray, love, remember.” These are the words of Ophelia in Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

Prayer, love, and remembrance; three actions that the Loyola Village Garden truly evoked and actions we could all spend a lot more of our time doing.