A friend texted recently to tell me it was “time.”

No, she wasn’t in labour. Well, not that kind of labour. She was labouring to harvest her garden. She had reached the point of saturation when it came to her tomato crop and she knew I was waiting in the wings for any extras. I did not hesitate to head across town with two big bowls and a large bag in tow. We filled the bowls to the brim with some of the largest, most beautiful tomatoes I have ever seen, and her husband packed the bag with a variety of spicy peppers. It was time to make salsa.

Eighteen jars of salsa later (thanks to the tried and true salsa recipe at mennonitegirlscancook.ca and an early-rising industrious husband), we are ready to hunker down for the winter, tortilla chips at the ready.

To be honest, harvesting is something that both thrills and terrifies me. When we lived in the country and had our own rather large garden, harvesting, canning, and preserving were a given fall activity. I’ve always loved the idea of growing our own food and teaching the children how to use God’s bounty to fill our bellies all year.

I remember the first time I realized some of the kids were old enough to help prepare and chop fruits and vegetables for canning. It was a “eureka” moment. Not only was the burden of all the labour no longer just on me and my husband, but now the kids were able to participate in the whole process that began with a tiny seed. Of course, beware it can lead to the problem of your children snubbing all store-bought salsa and jam in the future.

Harvesting a garden is a lot like harvesting the faith in our children. We plant the seed when we baptize them as babies. We nurture the seed by taking them to Mass, teaching them the beauty of God’s creation and helping them discover the Church he so lovingly gave us. We give light and water to the seed by praying with and for our children. And, just like that “eureka” moment when the kids can see the process all the way through, from seed to chopping the actual vegetable for supper, we delight in their spontaneous responses of faith to life’s challenges.

The fascinating story of St. Marguerite d’Youville, whose feast day is Oct. 16, is an inspiring example of a well-cultivated faith. Canonized in 1990 by Pope St. John Paul II, Marguerite is the first Canadian-born saint. Born in 1701 in Varennes, Que., her parents were of meager means. She was able to study with the Ursuline nuns in Quebec City for two years before she had to return home and help school and care for her younger siblings. Her widowed mother remarried – an Irish doctor –  who was not looked upon favourably, and the family eventually relocated to Montreal.

At the age of 22, Marguerite married Francois d’Youville. The marriage proved to be rather difficult due to Francois’ drinking, infidelity, and long absences. When he died at age 30 – his wife was only 28 – he left a large debt, which Marguerite dealt with by operating her own store, the profits of which she often used to help the poor. Only two of her six children survived to adulthood and both became priests.

When her boys were grown, St. Marguerite turned to charitable work. Along with three other women, she founded the Grey Nuns, officially known as the Sisters of Charity of the General Hospital of Montreal. The legacy of those sisters continues today, reaching as far as Africa. Marguerite lived and operated the hospital for the rest of her life, until her death in 1771. She refused help to no one, including the despised English soldiers, who in turn offered protection to her hospital in precarious situations.

One incident that occurred late in St. Marguerite’s life speaks volumes about her character and deep-seeded faith. When the hospital around which she had built her order for almost 20 years burned to the ground in 1766, St. Marguerite knelt in the midst of the ashes and led her sisters in the singing of the Te Deum, a hymn of praise to God and an echo of the Creed. The fact she immediately affirmed her faith in the face of destruction and devastation is an inspiration to us some 250 years later. “O Lord, in thee have I trusted: let me never be confounded” says the last line of the hymn.

Oh, to have that kind of response when things don’t go our way. I can only hope that my instinct would be to sing a hymn of praise to God if my life’s work were seemingly destroyed. St. Marguerite may have lived three centuries ago, in a very different time, but her wisdom is as relevant today as it was then. Her example of motherhood, faith, and service to the Church can help build our Church in Canada today, just like it did in its infancy. Hers was a faith that mimics the harvest of a good garden – plant the seeds of faith early and deeply and cultivate them well so that, in the face of adversity, the bounty of faith can be harvested to see one through the harsh winter.

Ask St. Marguerite to help you in your garden. You might be standing in the kitchen facing those mountains of vegetables that need to be chopped, cooked, canned, and put away in the pantry. You might be in the busy season of planting seeds of faith in your children. Maybe you are helping older children as they start to harvest their faith gardens. Say a prayer to St. Marguerite, who surely faced similar struggles. She’s been there, she knows.

Lazzuri lives in Nova Scotia with her husband and six children.