Month of May

Month of Mary

The Church dedicates the whole month of May to honour our Blessed Mother, as Mother of God, Mother of the Church, and our own Mother.

This tradition spans for centuries, and one of its roots was to Christianise pagan culture, who themselves dedicated May to various goddesses, Artemis, the goddess of fertility, and Flora the goddess of blooms, and another reason was for the various Marian feast days that occured during the month.

The customs for honouring our Blessed Mother during May are varied, and many saints had their own unique practices. St Josemaria encouraged Marian pilgrimages  (https://stjosemaria.org/marian-pilgrimages-month-may/), Pope Gregory XVI encouraged the May Crowning where a statue of our Lady is crowned (with flowers or a real crown). (https://www.catholicherald.com/article/columns/may-crowning/). Whatever devotion one practices is personal, as long as it is aimed at honouring our Mother, and lifting our hearts to her in love and gratitude.

Some ideas for Marian devotion are:

• Making a consecration to our Blessed Mother
• Praying the Holy Rosary or praying it more often, pray in a group, in a parish, or with the family.
• Placing an image or statue of Mary in the home in a central Location.
• Going on a local pilgrimage to a Marian shrine, or a church named after our lady, to pray.
• Reading literature about our Blessed Mother, and reading about the lives of the saints who had great Marian devotion and how they lived this out.

Those who love Mary would honour her, and be devoted to her throughout the year, as good children would, but during the month of May we can intensify our efforts, and use this time to display our devotion and inspire others to make room in their hearts and homes for their mother as well.