About a dozen people gathered Tuesday morning at St. Mary's Catholic Church to offer a prayer of blessing on a new Peace Garden near the front entrance to the church sanctuary.

Father John Henderson led a brief dedication service after the 8 a.m. weekday Mass: "May all who come here and gather at this garden, may they grow in their awareness of peace," Henderson prayed.

The pastor expressed appreciation to the small group of women who planted the garden in May and announced that a more formal ceremony might take place next spring after all the construction was complete.

"I'm really excited about this (garden). You've done an excellent job of putting it together," Henderson told them.

Janet Moore said she had the inspiration for the garden when she visited her daughter's church in Washington state and saw a peace garden that she found moving.

Back home, she enlisted the help of friends who liked the idea of creating a peace garden at St. Mary's. The group of about eight women had been tending the small plot of soil outside the church entrance for years, and it was time to replace some of the overgrown landscaping.

They asked Garland's Nursery to draw up a plan that would include species from around the world. Tom and Mary Verhoeven, owners of Peoria Gardens and members of St. Mary's, offered to donate many of the plants.

The enthusiastic gardeners planted a Japanese maple at the site 14 years ago. They decided to add a variety of ground cover, including lime thyme from Africa and blue star creeper from Australia, and ornamental grasses such as Elijah blue fescue from Canada and Mexican feather grass. They also planted dragon's blood sedum from Russia, compact nandina from New Zealand, lupine from South America and the white Pope John Paul II "peace" rose developed in the United States.

Small signs identify the name and origins of each plant, and a large plaque has been placed at the edge of the garden that reads: "Peace Garden: The plants in this garden came from the four corners of the world. They grow together in peace. So too, may God's children."

Known around St. Mary's as the Lites (Ladies in the Eternal Search), Moore said many of the women who worked on the garden have been friends for more than 20 years. A few began to meet for coffee to celebrate their children returning to school and the group grew from there. The oldest will turn 75 in a few days; the youngest is 60.

"We'll get together to study a book, especially during Lent," Moore said, "and we go on retreats and celebrate birthdays together. At Christmas, we go in together and adopt a family in need."

The circle of friends has grown really close as they've gone through difficult experiences such as cancer and the loss of loved ones over the years, she said. "We try to encourage each other through our faith. If any of us or our families have a problem, this is the first group we call."

Moore said the women were proud of how the garden turned out, and they were glad to offer it as a gift to the entire congregation. "We hope people will pause there, and think about peace," she said.