See Part 1: The Roots of the Church’s Tradition
May and Fatima
Given this rich tradition, how fitting that Our Lady chose to first appear at Fatima during the month of May. On May 5, 1917, Pope Benedict XV implored Her intercession.[1] This was the most terrible year in the Great War which had laid waste to all of Christendom, seeing Christian brethren pointlessly slaughter one another on the trench-ridden, mustard gas-filled plains of Europe. Benedict XV had been elected largely on account of his skills and proven track record in diplomacy. Yet like many of his contemporaries, he came to realize there was no possible human solution to the madness. Only Our Lady could resolve this terrible conflict, and so the Pope specifically called on Her as Queen of Peace and formally included this invocation in Her litany: Regina Pacis, ora pro nobis.
One week later, on May 13th, Our Lady appeared at Fatima and answered the Pope’s heartfelt and public prayer. She asked the children (and all of us) to pray the Rosary every day to bring peace to our world. To this day we celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima in the month of May, on the 13th.
Make May Our Lady’s Month in Your Family
Cardinal Ratzinger, before he became Pope Benedict XVI, exhorted us to embrace the practice of daily May devotions to Our Lady in a vein similar to that of Father Hopkins:
“The mood of springtime informs the Church’s interior; nature’s blossoming, the warm air of May evenings, human gladness in a world that is renewing itself – all these things enter in. Veneration of Mary has its place in this very particular atmosphere, for She, the Virgin, shows us faith under its youthful aspect, as God’s new beginning in a world that has grown old. In Her we see the Christian life set forth as a youthfulness of the heart, as beauty and a waiting readiness for what is to come.”[2]
Every human heart senses the joy of the renewal brought by spring. By channeling that energy to its ultimate supernatural purpose, we can learn to see more deeply into the realities of both this world and the next.
Mothers of young children have a precious opportunity to make lifelong impressions of the beauty of Our Lady’s spiritual Motherhood in those young hearts by prompting them to ponder the visible and invisible realities of this season through May devotions and activities in their homes. Crownings and processions need not be performed only in church. Set up a May Altar in your home as well, or have each child make one with a Marian statue or picture in their own bedroom or in the yard. Add a certain Marian prayer (e.g., the Litany of Loreto) or hymn (e.g., Sub Tuum Praesidium or O Gloriosa Virginum[3]) to the conclusion of your family’s daily Rosary or Evening Prayers, or precede those family prayers with a short reading and discussion centering on Our Lady’s life or role in our lives. Reading poetry about Our Lady can be especially powerful in young imaginations, provoking both thought and discussion. (Father Hopkins’ “The May Magnificat” would be a great one to start with.) Each of these practices powerfully leads us to reflect on and imitate Our Lady’s virtues.
Whatever you choose to add to your regular devotions during May, make an effort to do them as a family. An especially appropriate thing for the family to do together would be to assist at Holy Mass on days dedicated to Our Lady this month – the First Saturday, and the Feasts of Our Lady of Fatima (May 13th), Help of Christians (May 24th), Her Queenship (May 31st), and sometimes Queen of the Apostles (Saturday after the Ascension, this year May 16th). And don’t forget to decorate Her image in your home with flowers on Mother’s Day, if not throughout the month.
Foster Marian Family Traditions
Another beautiful family tradition is to plant a Mary Garden, decorating an outdoor statue of Our Lady with flowers. The children can suggest an intention as they plant each flower, just as they do when they light votive candles in church. A Mary Garden was such a common practice in the past that many flowers (more than 1000!) were given Marian names in the medieval age.[4] These and similar practices are what make the home a “domestic church,” as it is meant to be.
A beautiful activity with the children for each Sunday in May is to have a drawing or poetry-writing contest in Our Lady’s honor. (It’s all the more fun to involve the children of a visiting family.) The ancients, though misled about many things, well understood how fitting it is to include games as part of their worship. Such contests conducted in Our Lady’s honor are likewise a most fitting part of our Sundays. Having the children write a poem or compose a prayer during this Eastertime is perhaps one of the best ways to encourage them to reflect on Our Lady’s role in the Season’s mysteries.
No one should feel discouraged about lacking skill for such things. Our Lady will surely love each person’s gesture in Her praise, regardless of what others think of it. Even Father Hopkins’ masterful works were largely unappreciated in his short lifetime. “The May Magnificat” was written as part of a school project to decorate a corridor in which a statue of Our Lady was to be placed during the month of May and decorated with flowers and poems. His was not among those chosen for display. In fact, the majority of his works were rejected for publication at the time of their writing, even in Jesuit journals.
Regardless of where our particular gifts may lie or be lacking, we all have hearts made for the Good. Each of us can please God and Our Lady greatly by giving frequent gestures of our love to Them. In the month of May especially, when flowers are at their greatest abundance and the beauty of spring is at its height, reminding us so powerfully of Our Heavenly Mother’s praises, let us offer Her our daily grateful prayers for the magnificence of Her role in our Redemption.
End notes
[1] It is also interesting to note that May 5th is the date of Our Lord’s actual Ascension. Tradition informs us that Jesus died on March 25th (see the article The Greatest Day of the Year?), which means He rose from the dead on March 27th. The fortieth day following, therefore, on which He ascended into Heaven would have fallen on May 5th, during the month of the Blessed Virgin Mary on our present Feast of Pope St. Pius V, a great Dominican Pope who did much to promote the Holy Rosary.
[2] Joseph Card. Ratzinger, Seek That Which Is Above, 1986, reprinted 2024 by Ignatius Press.
[3] This latter was St. Anthony’s favorite hymn. His mother sang it often in his childhood, and he asked his brother Friars gathered around his deathbed to sing it as he left this world. See the melody and text with translation here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VagYpDubza8
[4] A few of these flowers are: Mary’s Love of God (Carnation), Eyes of Mary (Forget-Me-Not), Mary’s Tears (Larkspur), Mary’s Gold (Marigold), Our Lady’s Mantle (Morning Glory), Mary’s Prayer (Tulip), Our Lady’s Modesty (Violet), Lady’s Veil (Baby’s Breath), Our Lady’s Delight (Pansy), Mary’s Bitter Sorrow (Dandelion) and Lady’s Locks (Buttercup). The University of Dayton (Ohio) has a rich Catholic and Marianist tradition and features an excellent Marian Library and beautiful Mary Gardens. You can learn much about this tradition at their website.