In our part of the world, it’s spring. For those of us who live in colder climes, that means we can ditch coats and boots. We can enjoy watching the world around burst into life: the trees’ first, soft green leaves are unfurling, the colors of tulips and daffodils replace the dull browns of late winter, and kids are out on bikes or kicking a soccer ball around.
The church dedicates this beautiful month to Mary. Parishes have May crownings, a long-standing traditions that faded for awhile, but now seems to be commonplace. Author Elizabeth M. Kelly reflects on a May crowning from her childhood:
Once there, and with as much pageantry and pomp as a farming community church could muster, we processed away, singing our “Ave Maria” and crowning our Mary while the angels kept us company. I imagined angels turned out in especially big numbers for Marian events, those “singing seraphim” that seemed often to appear in Mary’s songs. I still think of that church as filled with angels, country angels, angels meant to protect country people, whose days were spent in labor over soil and crops and barnyard animals. Simple angels for simple people, scrubbed squeaky-clean for Mary and the Mass. I still remember the aroma of flowers, the coolness of the spring air, the lightness of spirit that lingered. The promise of everything made new.
May Crowning marked a new spiritual season. Our Mary, queen of heaven and earth, lifted us right out of the last long, cold days of winter and firmly planted our hearts in the warm and promising soil of spring.
Liturgically, during May, the Church celebrates two feasts associated with Mary: Mary, Queen of Apostles (the Saturday after the Ascension) and the Visitation (May 31.)
But why May? And why a whole month dedicated to Mary? First, May is spring for much of the world, a time that marks growth and birth and new life. Mary, of course, was the bearer of Life itself: our Lord Jesus Christ. Our lives depend on the growth of trees, vegetables, grains. But even more so, our lives depend on Christ, who was brought into this world through God’s graciousness and Mary’s “yes” to Him. With that in mind, setting aside a month to honor her makes sense.
(Every month has liturgical significance, by the way. You can learn more here.)
The celebration of Mary reminds us of her willingness to do God’s will. Not only did Mary say yes to God when He asked her to do the unbelievable and immense task of carrying the very God of the universe in her womb and bring Him into the world for its salvation, she is our model in faith. At the wedding at Cana, Mary gave us the perfect way of the Christian when she told the servants, “Do whatever He tells you.”
We can celebrate the month of May in our homes and with our families. The University of Dayton has some suggestions for involving even the youngest members of the household.
Regardless of how we celebrate May, Mary’s month, we will all do well to follow her example, seek her motherly guidance in prayer, and praise God as she did: My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior.
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