The earliest traces of the Marian month

The tradition associating the Madonna with the month of May took hold and developed over the centuries through a succession of initiatives and celebrations.
The earliest traces of the tradition of the month of May date back to around 1100, when the philosophers of Chartres in France, in the shadow of the great abbey dedicated to the Virgin Mary, attempted to Christianize pagan celebrations honoring nature in bloom and certain female deities, attributing to them the features of the Most Holy Virgin Mary. In the 13th century, Alfonso X, king of Castile and León, known as “the Wise,” celebrated Mary in one of his compositions, “Las Cantigas de Santa Maria,” as: “Rose of roses, flower of flowers, woman among women, sole lady, light of the saints and way to heaven.”
We must then turn to Germany, where Blessed Henry Suso of Constance, a Dominican mystic who lived from 1295 to 1366, addresses the Madonna in the “Little Book of Eternal Wisdom”: “Blessed are you, rising dawn, above all creatures, and blessed is the rose-red flowering meadow of your beautiful face, adorned with the ruby-red flower of Eternal Wisdom!”

Why is May the month of Our Lady and the Rosary?

However, the month of May as a Marian month originated in Rome in the 16th century and is linked to Saint Philip Neri. In his experience of the Oratory, the saint taught his young followers to adorn images of Mary Most Holy with flowers, to sing her praises as Queen of Love, and to offer acts of mortification and small sacrifices in her honor.

The tradition of the Rosary recited in May originated in the Middle Ages and began with the custom of adorning statues of the Madonna with garlands of flowers, especially roses, the flower traditionally associated with the month of May. “Just as garlands of roses are offered to the beloved, garlands of Hail Marys are given to the Madonna,” reads a medieval verse. The Rosary thus became the quintessential prayer dedicated to Mary. An interesting in-depth account of the origins and history of the Rosary can be found in the book “Pray the Holy Rosary every day, pray together”.

The designation of May as Mary's month

However, we owe the definition of May as a Marian month to the Jesuit Father Hannibal Dionisi. Born in Verona in 1679, he published in 1725, under the pseudonym Mariano Partenio, “The Month of Mary, or the Month of May Consecrated to Mary through the Practice of Various Flowers of Virtue Proposed to Her True Devotees.” Among the text’s innovations was the invitation to live and practice Marian devotion not necessarily in church, but in the setting where one lives each day, “to sanctify that place and regulate our actions as though they were performed under the purest eyes of the Most Holy Virgin.” Father Dionisi’s proposed format is simple: prayer (preferably the Rosary) before an image of the Virgin, meditation on the eternal mysteries, a spiritual offering or act of homage, and an aspiration.
In 1785, another Jesuit, Father Alfonso Muzzarelli, published “The Month of Mary, or May.”
Almost a century later, Marian devotion received new impetus from Pope Pius IX’s proclamation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception on December 8, 1854.

Devotion also grew and developed through the love for the Virgin shown by saints such as John Bosco, who in 1858 published “The Month of May Consecrated to Mary Most Holy Immaculate for the Use of the People.” In his text, Don Bosco wrote down a daily meditation for each day of the month of May.
We should also remember Saint Louis Mary Grignion de Montfort and his “Treatise on True Devotion to Mary,” which is based on the principle “to Jesus through Mary”, showing how wise it is to live the month of May as the best spiritual preparation for the month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

“Mense Maio”: the encyclical of Saint Paul VI

Moving ahead, we come to April 29, 1965, when Pope Paul VI officially dedicated this month to Mary with the encyclical “Mense Maio.” The document states that during this month, “in churches and within the walls of their homes, the homage of their prayer and veneration rises more fervently and lovingly from the hearts of Christians to Mary. It is also the month in which the gifts of divine mercy flow to us more abundantly and generously from her throne.”
Also in the encyclical, the Pope states: “This pious practice of the month of May, so honoring to the Virgin and so rich in spiritual fruits for the Christian people, is therefore exceedingly pleasing and consoling to us. For Mary is always the path that leads to Christ. Every encounter with her cannot fail to become an encounter with Christ himself. And what else does our continual recourse to Mary mean, if not seeking, in her arms, in her and through her and with her, Christ our Savior, to whom people, amid the confusion and dangers of this world, have the duty and feel the constant need to turn, as to a harbor of salvation and a transcendent source of life?”

How to live the month of May with Mary’s heart

There are many prayers for the month dedicated to Mary, precisely because devotion to the Mother of Jesus is especially rich during this special month. Naturally, the finest expression of devotion that can be practiced in May is the Rosary. First of all, let us remember that Pope Francis stated in a handwritten text: “The Rosary is the prayer of my heart.”
 This is an important message from the Holy Father, whom we know has a very strong devotion to Mary. Among all the Church’s prayers, the Rosary is probably the most familiar and dear to everyone, as well as “the prayer of ordinary people and saints,” as the Pope further reminded us. The Rosary is a prayer that allows us to reflect and meditate on the life of the Lord and Mary’s presence in the various mysteries. At the same time, it is a prayer we can also say when we are tired, offering the Lord our petitions for particular intentions.
A good way to contemplate and pray to Mary during the month of May is to let ourselves be guided by a saint who was in love with Mary, Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori: in the book “The Month of May with the Glories of Mary,” we have the opportunity to meditate and pray every day of the month under his guidance!

How can we talk to young children about May as a month dedicated to Our Lady?

First of all, we need to explain to them that the month of May is dedicated to Mary, the mother of Jesus, because it is the month of flowers, when nature awakens to new life after winter. And Mary is the most beautiful of all flowers, the first to blossom after Christ’s Resurrection, thanks to his promise of salvation for all people.

We can then explain to children how the prayer of the Rosary came about and tell them that children like them used to place crowns of roses on statues of the Virgin Mary. Each rose symbolized a prayer, and the beads of the Rosary originated from those roses. We should also remind younger children in particular that Our Lady is not only Jesus’ mother, but the mother of us all: the most beautiful, gentle, and loving mother, constantly reaching out to all her children to protect them, comfort them, and care for them, even in the most difficult moments.