A beautiful and symbolic garden which will bloom in time for Easter Sunday will be created at the Cathedral during Holy Week. The Easter Garden will contain many locally grown spring flowers, and is a representation of the place of Jesus’ burial after his crucifixion and of his resurrection.
The tomb of Jesus is represented by a hollow trunk of mulberry wood cut from within the Cathedral precincts, and the stone that sealed it by a circle of bark. It is surrounded by flowers and plants which give colour and life, and a reminder of the vibrancy of the new life when Jesus rose again.
Many of the flowers come from the Deanery garden, others from local garden centres, and the cut flowers are supplied by Rococo Florist in South Street, Chichester. They include Easter lilies to represent purity, hope, peace and the resurrection, as well as wild hedgerow plants and flowers, spring bulbs and even a blossoming tree.
The Easter Garden is located in the St Mary Magdalene Chapel, home to Graham Sutherland’s famous painting Noli me tangere (Do not hold me) from 1960. The painting depicts the scene as Mary Magdalene met Jesus in the garden on the first Easter morning, and supposed him to be the gardener. She recognised him when he spoke her name and told her “Do not hold onto me because I have not yet ascended to my Father.”
The Easter Garden will remain in place, topped up with fresh flowers, until just before Pentecost in the first week of June.