Those of us of a certain age likely learned in the first grade in our Catholic school that May is Mary’s month. I was not a curious kid; so, it never occurred to me to ask why that was true. What was important was that when you got to Mary’s month, the school year was almost over. A May altar was set up in our classroom, and we were encouraged to bring flowers from home to embellish it. With fifty plus students in the classroom and Memphis flowers in full bloom by Mary 1, the statue of Mary was engulfed in flowers of every sort. The other upside of May being Mary’s month was the May procession and the May crowning. This was a complex operation with many moving parts. The main point, as far as most of us were concerned, was that all those moving parts took time away from boring classroom lessons. One of the eight-grade girls was elected to crown the statue of Mary. Being elected May Queen in your school was only one step below the summit of Memphis royalty, being Queen of the Cotton Carnival. (For that you had to be from a socially prominent family, and we didn’t have any of those). All of us had to rehearse the hymns and practice for the procession, since our mothers would be attending the May procession and crowning. There was also a prayer of dedication to Mary that the upper grades recited. It began with “O august and blessed Virgin Mary” and we had to be reminded each year that the accent was on the last syllable of august and not on the first. Once again, I wasn’t a curious kid; so I never wondered what “august” actually meant. I presumed I was saying something complimentary about Mary.

So, why was May dedicated to Mary? A little research shows that the tradition of calling May the Month of Mary goes back to the thirteenth century. It was partly an attempt by the church to eradicate lingering customs from Greek and Roman times. In ancient Greece, the month of May was dedicated to Artemis, the goddess of fertility and childbirth. In ancient Rome the month of May was dedicated to Flora, the goddess of flowers and blossoms. Festivals connected with Artemis and Flora were still popular in some places in Europe. Instead of trying to force people to give up their festivals because of their pagan origins (which would have been immensely unpopular) the church encouraged them to transfer this devotion to Mary, who, after all, gave birth to the one who brought new life to us all. Mary was already immensely popular as a model and intercessor, so dedicating May to Mary, incorporating some of the popular customs, was not a difficult transition to accomplish.

May crownings, May processions, Marian hymns, and devotion to Mary in general, along with many other Catholic traditions were shoved aside in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s during a time of great change in society and a renewed emphasis on the centrality of the Mass. Some feel a nostalgia today for the comfort these devotions brought us. And they have made a comeback to some degree. We are planning to crown our outdoor statue of Mary on Pentecost Sunday. However, if Mary is to play a significant role in the Church today, we need to look forward and not just backward. How might these devotions from the mid-twentieth century find new meaning today?

An obvious place to start is with Pope Francis’ persistent teaching that Catholics must take an active role in preserving and caring for our planet. May devotions always witnessed to the wonder of God’s creation and the many varieties of flowers and plants that beautify our world. In the past, it was easy to assume that the flowers that decorated our May altars would always be with us. Now we know that this might not always be the case. Might we honor Mary during May by bringing to consciousness a greater respect for God’s creation? And since Mary is the mother of the author of all life, might we not also honor Mary during May by prayer and action on behalf of the most vulnerable among us—those who are not yet born, those who at the end of their life are increasingly regarded as expendable, and our youth at risk from gun violence? While politicians continue to debate the future of Eastern Europe and the Middle East, thousands and thousands of people (including thousands of children) are being killed in wars that offer no sign of coming to an end. May devotions were always a celebration of life They certainly have relevance in a world so full of death. And, finally, as we seek to renew the missionary spirit of the early Christian community, we can look to Mary, who, as soon as she received the Good News from the Amgel Gabriel, set out on an arduous journey to share that good news with her kinswoman. Mary did not deliver a sermon. She simply glowed with the greatness of God. Inspired by Mary, might we not also make more of an effort to share our faith and our experience of the Lord when the opportunity presents itself?  Mary was given to us as our mother. What might our mother be asking of us today?

                                                                     Fr. Joe