May is traditionally the month dedicated to the Virgin Mary, but where does this tradition come from? In this article, we try to answer this question and invite you to experience this month accompanied by the Mother’s gentle presence.
Why is May the month of Mary?
The tradition of dedicating the month of May to the Virgin Mary, borrowed from pagan customs, dates back to the Middle Ages. In ancient Greece and later in Rome, May was considered the month of fertility and spring, the month of the goddesses Artemis and Flora. From this developed the custom of considering May the month of life and motherhood. This happened long before Mother’s Day was established in May, although this modern observance is rooted precisely in the desire to celebrate motherhood in the height of spring.
Mary, the most beautiful among roses
May is a wonderful month. Nature, which has already awakened, is now in full bloom, and roses, flowers of timeless beauty, offer themselves with their unmistakable fragrance and most varied colors. Since the 13th century, Mary has been associated with this flower and is called “the most beautiful among roses.”
A devotion that spreads
During the month of May, Saint Philip Neri taught the boys at the oratory to offer flowers to Mary, sing her praises, and perform acts of mortification in her honor. Over the course of this month, various private devotions to Mary spread rapidly, as reported in the Collection, a prayer book published in the mid-19th century.
In 1945, Pius XII consolidated May as the month of Mary after establishing the feast of the Queenship of Mary on May 31. After the Second Vatican Council, this feast was moved to August 22, while May 31 became the feast of the Visitation of Mary.
The Saints and Popes united by a single love
Marian devotion reaches us through the proclamation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception (1854), grows through the love for the Virgin shown by saints such as Don Bosco, and is nourished by the teaching of the Popes, who have always had wonderful words for the Mother of God.
Saint Paul VI describes May as «the month in which, in churches and within the walls of the home, the tribute of the Christians’ prayer and veneration rises to Mary from their hearts with greater fervor and affection. It is also the month in which the gifts of divine mercy flow to us more abundantly from her throne». However, Pope Montini does not misunderstand the role of the Virgin, because he observes that «Mary is always the way that leads to Christ».
In the Treatise on True Devotion to Mary, Saint Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort writes: «God the Father gathered all the waters together and called them mària (sea); he gathered all graces together and called them Mary».
If we wanted to name all those who have loved and still love the Virgin, we would write pages upon pages, but these lines are merely a starting point for reflection, so that each of us may find our own way to live the month of May dedicated to Mary: bringing a flower each day to the image we have at home, taking part in parish activities, praying a decade of the Rosary as a family, reading a book of Marian meditations... let our imagination run free and live a beautiful month of May in the company of the Holy Virgin!
