The garden in which the tower stands is dedicated to Mary and it rests as an invitation to prayer.  “The Marian garden that surrounds the tower will draw us in, quiet our hearts, inspire contemplation, and comfort us,” said Father Beauchamp. All of the flowers and plants in the Marian garden of the plaza have a reference to Mary, Jesus or other elements of Christian tradition. Experiencing the flowers of the Marian garden can be an immersive experience of prayer.

The Marian garden was a gift to the University from that Galati family that quickly became a favorite place of prayer and respite for students, faculty and staff.  The original garden (on the same site) incorporated the same Italian bronze of Mary, large stones and cherry trees.  Their flowering coinsides each year with our celebration of Easter and the conclusion of the Spring semester.

The advent of the bell tower allowed the garden to be redesigned as an even more restful meditative space.  Among several changes to the previous garden configuration is the new location of the statue of the Madonna, now aligned with the Chapel's tabernacle.  Emphasizing the role of both the Blessed Mother and tabernacle as carriers of Christ. 

The image of a garden plays a fundamental role in the history of our salvation. God placed our forebears, Adam and Eve, in a garden and walked with them there in the cool of the evening. It was in this garden that they first sinned, tasting of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. This sin was confronted and overcome by Jesus in his decision in the garden of Gethsemane to remain faithful, even in the face of him impending suffering and death. This faithfulness was vindicated by God when Jesus was resurrected from the dead, emerging from his tomb in a garden. In fact, the first person to see the risen Lord, Mary Magdalene, mistook him first for a gardener. The garden is the setting for our fall and our redemption—full of life, the garden encapsulates all of creation and our salvation.

In medieval allegory, the sealed garden of Eden is also an image of Mary because it is self-contained (virgin), pure, abundant, and contained the tree of life, a typological reference to Jesus, whose death on a tree (cross) gives us all life. Early Christians had such a devotion to Mary that they saw her life reflected in the plants, even using flowers as illustrations for teaching about Mary and Jesus.

Central to the Marian garden is the bronze statue of Mary. Mary holds a lily, an ancient Christian symbol of purity. By design, the statue is placed directly outside of the space in the Chapel of Christ the Teacher that contains the tabernacle. Mary, having held Jesus in her body for nine months before he was born, is an image of the tabernacle (which holds the Real Presence of Jesus) and of us all, who bear Christ to the world. In Christian symbolism, Mary is seen as the new ark of the covenant. The original ark contained the ten commandments, the word of God articulated as a life-giving law to Moses and the people of Israel. Mary also contained the Word of God, Jesus Christ, who gives life to all people through his life, death and resurrection.