Catholic Fire

May is the month of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God. As a child, I remember attending a Catholic parochial school named in honor of Mary taught by the Sisters of the Congregation of Notre Dame. Each May, we celebrated the Blessed Mother’s month with a procession in which we crowned her statue with a beautiful wreath of roses. One year, when my older sister was in the eighth grade, she received the special honor of crowning the statue of Our Lady. She was so excited and so happy to have been selected for this task. She wore a pink lace taffeta gown with a full skirt and a beautiful wreath of matching flowers on her head. After we prayed the Rosary, with white gloved hands, she placed the crown of roses on Our Lady's head. Then, as a school we sang the traditional hymn "Queen of the May." Since my sister had an amazing lyric soprano voice, she also had the privilege of singing "Ave Maria", a hymn which has always stirred something deep within me...

1.  May is Mary's month and here are just a few flowers that I love to cultivate to celebrate her special feast days in May. Dianthus  Peony  Rose -- This one is climbing. 2.  This past week we celebrated one of my favorite feasts -- that of Our Lady of Fatima, which you can read about in my piece,  The Feast of Our Lady of Fatima and the Three Prophetic Secrets. 3.  This week we also celebrated the feast of a humble and charitable Franciscan Capuchin friar, who had a deep devotion to Mother Mary, St. Ignatius of Laconi. 4. It has been "monsoon" season here, but earlier this week we had a break in the rain and were able to pick the first "fruits" of our labor -- radishes. Praise God! There is nothing as tasty as fresh veggies from the garden. 5. Even our cat was happy to get out of the house and enjoy a sunshiny day on her private balcony. Doesn't she look content?  6.  If you ...

May is Mary’s month. But, why May? Perhaps the answer is that, in many places, May is the month for Spring’s return of flowers. As the flowers return we honor Mary Whom we call the "Mystical Rose." And of course, the name "May" is a form of Mary and is sometimes used as a "nickname" for women named Mary and then it's spelled Mae. May devotions began during the beginning of the 1700’s in Italy. It seems the first book of May devotions was published by an Italian Jesuit, Father Anniblae Dionisis, about 1726. In it he explains: "When we make an offering we ought to give of our best, so that among all the months of the year we choose the most beautiful, May, the season of flowers, which invites us to crown Mary with the blossoms of good deeds." May devotions were first introduced into England about 1840 by Father Aloysius Gentili of the Institute of Charity. To this day they involve May altars, May Crowning ceremonies and May processions...

The month of May is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary . May 1 through May 11 fall within the liturgical season of Easter, which is represented by the liturgical color white — the color of light, a symbol of joy, purity and innocence (absolute or restored). The last three weeks of the month (beginning the Monday after Pentecost) are in Ordinary Time which is represented by the liturgical color green. This symbol of hope is the color of the sprouting seed and arouses in the faithful the hope of reaping the eternal harvest of heaven, especially the hope of a glorious resurrection.Feasts, Prayers, Activities, Resources honoring the Blessed Virgin Mary can be found at Women for Faith and Family. For more information on a May altar, May processions, the May crowning of Mary, Marian shrines, and a poem dedicated to Mary, see my post here. In May there are many beautiful Marian feast days, some of which include: May 13 - Our Lady of Fatima May 24 - Our Lady, Help of Christians May 31 - M...

The month of May is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary . May 1 through May 11 fall within the liturgical season of Easter, which is represented by the liturgical color white — the color of light, a symbol of joy, purity and innocence (absolute or restored). The last three weeks of the month (beginning the Monday after Pentecost) are in Ordinary Time which is represented by the liturgical color green. This symbol of hope is the color of the sprouting seed and arouses in the faithful the hope of reaping the eternal harvest of heaven, especially the hope of a glorious resurrection. Feasts, Prayers, Activities, Resources honoring the Blessed Virgin Mary can be found here at Women for Faith and Family. For more information on a May altar, May processions, the May crowning of Mary, Marian shrines, and a poem dedicated to Mary, see my post here. In May there are many beautiful Marian feast days, some of which include: May 13 - Our Lady of Fatima May 24 - Our Lady, Help of Christians May 3...

Madonna of Loreto 1846-1850 Filippo Balbi (1806-1890) oil on canvas Vatican Pinacoteca, Inv. 41486 This litany to the Blessed Virgin Mary was composed during the Middle Ages. The place of honor it now holds in the life of the Church is due to its faithful use at the shrine of the Holy House at Loreto . It was definitely approved by Sixtus V in 1587, and all other Marian litanies were suppressed, at least for public use. Its titles and invocations set before us Mary's exalted privileges, her holiness of life, her amiability and power, her motherly spirit and queenly majesty. The principle that has been followed in their interpretation is the one enunciated by the same Pius IX: "God enriched her so wonderfully from the treasury of His divinity, far beyond all angels and saints with the abundance of all heavenly gifts, that she . . .should show forth such fullness of innocence and holiness, than which a greater under God is unthinkable and which, beside God, no one can even conce...

May is Mary’s month. Some perhaps have asked, "Why May?" The poet, Fr. Gerard Manley Hopkins S.J. asks this question in his poem "May Magnificat,""May is Mary’s month, and I muse at that and wonder why." For the rest of this post, go here .