Vacation/Travel Supplement

Desert beauty: Sedona Gardens of St. John Vianney are breathtaking

Red rock formations are a stunning backdrop for the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe—Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe—in the Sedona Gardens of St. John Vianney in Arizona, a popular destination for Catholic tourists visiting the Southwest. While enjoying the gardens, visitors can attend Mass at the church. Father J. C. Ortiz, the pastor, is the author of a book of meditations illustrated with color pictures of the beautiful gardens. (Submitted photo courtesy Al Brown)

By John F. Fink

SEDONA, ARIZ.—Many people consider Sedona, Ariz., about 110 miles north of Phoenix, and its surrounding area to be the most beautiful place in America.

Nestled between the massive rocks of Red Rock State Park and the deep gorges of Oak Creek Canyon, it has attracted thousands of artists and tourists. My wife, Marie, and I enjoy visiting there.

Some tourists prefer to hike through the Red Rock area, which requires a pass available at the Chamber of Commerce. Other visitors take guided tours by Jeep, offered by several companies, or two 55-minute tours by trolley.

One of the most popular stops, either on a tour or driving yourself, is the Chapel of the Holy Cross, which is located about a mile outside town.

A 90-foot cross dominates the chapel, which was built between two large red sandstone peaks and completed in 1956. A ramp leads to the entrance. It’s an attractive site with a good view of the canyon area.

St. John Vianney Church and gardens is another beautiful desert destination. For the past 13 years, Father J. C. Ortiz, the pastor, has supervised the planting of extensive gardens around the church.

Last year, the Keep Sedona Beautiful organization nominated the gardens for a beautiful public space award.

During his seminary formation nearly 20 years ago, Father Ortiz attended the former Saint Meinrad College in southern Indiana. Through the years, he has maintained a long-distance friendship with several Benedictine monks.

You don’t have to drive to Arizona to see some of the results of Father Ortiz’s horticultural work in the parish gardens.

He has published The Sedona Gardens of Saint John Vianney, a gorgeous book filled with about 130 dazzling color photographs of flowers and desert scenery.

Six people are responsible for the stunning photos in the book, all with due credit, of course. Father Ortiz also acknowledges a long list of others, undoubtedly parishioners responsible for some of the heavy lifting.

This isn’t just an attractive picture book. It’s a book of meditations. Each chapter includes two reflections, which begin with a quotation from Scripture that has some connection to flowers or gardens.

In both photos and text, Father Ortiz presents the passing of a year in the gardens. From January through December, he shows how the gardens change from month to month.

Not all the photographs are of flowers. One of the most striking images is a full-page picture of a statue of St. Joseph and the Holy Child, partially adorned with snow, in the chapter for January, at one of several shrines on the parish property.

The Blessed Virgin Mary is pictured with flowers at both the Our Lady of Lourdes Shrine and the shrine of Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe.

There are colorful flowers around the outdoor Stations of the Cross and a goldfish pond in an area dedicated to St. Francis of Assisi.

While Father Ortiz studied for the priesthood at Saint Meinrad, he was “surrounded by cornfields and dearly missed the scenery in Arizona.”

As a Hoosier, I can sympathize with him and admit that the topography in Indiana can’t match the Red Rocks of Sedona. Nevertheless, we also have beautiful gardens in Indiana.

To help himself feel a little more at home while he was studying at Saint Meinrad, he brought some cactuses to Indiana and “proudly displayed in one corner of my cell a piece of my very own desert.”

The photos of the cactuses in this book, in the chapter for August, are certainly among the most beautiful, especially a full-page picture of an Engelmann’s prickly pear and another of a Beavertail prickly pear.

That chapter also has a photo of cactuses in the foreground with the red rock formations of Sail Rock and Steamboat Rock in the background.

The photos show the amazing variety of plants and flowers at the St. John Vianney gardens. One two-page spread shows various tomatoes. It’s followed by a photo of a loaded-down peach tree spread across two pages. The pictures of roses are also spectacular.

Father Ortiz said the reflections in the book sprang from remembrances as he walked on the grounds and in the gardens.

(The book can be ordered from Zitro Press, St. John Vianney Church, 180 Soldiers Pass Road, Sedona, AZ 86336. It is priced at $34.95. John F. Fink is editor emeritus of The Criterion.) †