May devotions to the Blessed Virgin Mary

May Devotions to the Blessed Virgin Mary refers to special Marian devotions held in the Catholic Church during the month of May honoring the Virgin Mary as "the Queen of May". These services may take place inside or outside. A "May Crowning" is a traditional Roman Catholic ritual that occurs in the month of May.

Origins

A number of traditions link the month of May to Mary. Alfonso X of Castile in the 13th century wrote in his Cantigas de Santa Maria about the special honoring of Mary during specific dates in May. Eventually, the entire month was filled with special observances and devotions to Mary.

The origin of the conventional May devotion is still relatively unknown. Herbert Thurston identifies the seventeenth century as the earliest instance of the adoption of the custom of consecrating the month of May to the Blessed Virgin by special observances.[1] It is certain that this form of Marian devotion began in Italy. Around 1739, witnesses speak of a particular form of Marian devotion in May in Grezzano near Verona. In 1747 the Archbishop of Genoa recommended the May devotion as a devotion for the home.[2] Specific prayers for them were promulgated in Rome in 1838. [3]

According to Frederick Holweck, the May devotion in its present form originated at Rome where Father Latomia of the Roman College of the Society of Jesus, to counteract infidelity and immorality among the students, made a vow at the end of the eighteenth century to devote the month of May to Mary. From Rome the practice spread to the other Jesuit colleges and thence to nearly every Catholic church of the Latin rite.[4] In Rome by 1813, May devotions were held in as many as twenty churches. From Italy, May devotions soon spread to France. In Belgium, the May devotions, at least as a private devotion, were already known by 1803. The tradition of honoring Mary in a month-long May devotion spread eventually around the Roman Catholic world in the 19th century together with a month-long devotion to Jesus in June and the Rosary in October.

May devotions

In his 1965 encyclical, Mense Maio, Pope Paul VI identified the month of May as an opportune time to incorporate special prayers for peace into traditional May devotions.[5]

There is no firm structure as to the content of a May devotion. It usually includes the singing of Marian anthems, readings from scriptures, and a sermon. Although prayers likely include the recitation of the Hail Mary, the rosary itself is not usually a part of this particular devotion. Catholics offer Mary special honor in May: pilgrimages, visits to churches dedicated to her, little sacrifices in her honor, periods of study and well-finished work offered up to her, and a more attentive recitation of the rosary.[6]

The last devotion on May 31 is often followed by a solemn procession, during which a statue or portrait of the Virgin Mary is carried back into the church. Some May devotions may take place outside in a forest or a dedicated special place.

Family Devotions

One particular practice characteristic of May devotions is the May Altar, whether in a church or as a "house altar" in the home. Marian devotions such as the rosary may take place within the family around this altar consisting of a table with a Marian picture, candles, and decorated with many May flowers The custom of the May Altar stems from southern European countries. With the development of May Altars in churches, the custom spread to set up this type of "altar" also in the home.[7]

This specific devotion has been supported be several popes including Pope Pius XII in his encyclical Ingruentium malorum:

Mary, Queen of May

Pope Pius XII,recognizing traditional precedents, proclaimed the "Queenship of Mary" through his encyclical, Ad Caeli Reginam, .[9]

While May devotions may differ in various countries, the Marian title "Queen of May" exists in several countries as manifested in Marian songs. In English speaking countries such as England, Ireland and the United States a Marian hymn uses the following text:

Hail Virgin, dearest Mary! Our lovely Queen of May! O spotless, blessed Lady, Our lovely Queen of May. Your children, humbly bending, Surround your shrine ...[10]

In German-speaking countries, the equivalent term is Maienkönigin ("May-Queen"):

Maria Maienkönigin,. wir kommen dich zu grüßen. O holde Freudenspenderin,. sieh uns zu deinen Füßen.
(Mary, Queen of May, we come to greet you. You see us at your feet.)[11]

Another similar song greets Mary, the queen of May, who is greeted by the month of May.[12]

Another well-known Marian "Queen of May" song ends with the words:

May crownings

In Eastern churches, crowning Mary was associated with adding ornamentation to an icon of Mary, sometimes as simple as adding additional gold trim. Perhaps in homage to this, Pope Clement VIII added two crowns to the icon of Salus Populi Romani in the Saint Mary Major Basilica in Rome. The crowns were eventually lost, but were replaced by Gregory XVI in 1837 in a rite that was to become the standard practice for crowning.

“Images are venerated ‘not because of a belief that these images themselves possess anything of divinity or power, but because the honor shown them is directed to the prototypes they represent’ (Council of Trent, session 25)” [BB, no. 1258]. [14]

Parishes and private groups often process and crown an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary with flowers. This often is referred to as a “May Crowning.” This rite may be done on solemnities and feasts of the Blessed Virgin Mary, or other festive days, and offers the Church a chance to reflect on Mary’s role in the history of salvation.[15] In some countries, it takes place on or about May 1, however, in many United States Catholic parishes, it takes place on Mother's Day.

The custom fell out of vogue in many places during the 1970s-80s, but has since made a comeback along with many other traditional Catholic practices.[16] An image or likeness of the Blessed Virgin Mary is ceremonially crowned to signify her as Queen of Heaven and the Mother of God.

Today, May crownings occur in many Roman Catholic parishes and homes with the crowning of a statue of Mary. There is considerable flexibility regarding the rite, and it can be adapted to many different circumstances and situations depending on whether the crowning is done in a parish, a school or classroom, or even in the family. The rite may consist of hymns, prayers, and perhaps an act of consecration to Our Lady.[16]

The climax of the celebration is the moment when the one of those present places a crown of flowers on Mary's head accompanied by a traditional hymn to the Blessed Mother.[16] The ceremony usually takes place with young girls in dresses carrying flowers (traditionally hawthorn) to adorn the statue. One of the girls (often the youngest) carries a crown of flowers or an actual golden crown on a cushion for placement by the May Queen (often the oldest girl) on the statue. The flowers are replaced throughout the month to keep them fresh.

The Coronation of the Virgin became a popular subject in art.

Flores de Mayo

Main article: Flores de Mayo

In the Philippines and other countries, Mary is fêted in May with the Flores de Mayo ("Flowers of May"), where devotees collect colourful flowers with which to decorate the parish church's altars and aisles.[17] Catholic communities often congregate in the afternoons to pray the rosary, offer flowers to an image of the Virgin Mary, and share homemade delicacies and snacks. Children and adults wearing their Sunday best, singing and dancing to welcome the rains that will water the new crops.[17]

The celebration is highlighted by the Santacruzan, a procession celebrating the Finding of the Holy Cross. Young ladies, often known as "reynas" ("queens"), are chosen to represent certain historical and biblical figures (such as Saint Helena), Marian titles taken from the Litany of Loreto (e.g. Rosa Mística), and other traditional figures (e.g. Reyna Emperatríz). The reynas, dressed in their finery, walk through the town escorted by young men or boys (with St. Helena escorted by a young Constantine), under mobile arches festooned with flowers or other decorations connoting bounty.

The Santacruzan custom in the Philippines is thus a fusion of both the May Marian devotions and celebrations surrounding Roodmas, which was once celebrated on 3 May.

Mary Gardens

Main article: Mary garden

Floral imagery from scripture and nature has been applied to Mary in the writings of the Church Fathers and in the liturgy, providing the foundation in tradition for the subsequent naming of hundreds of flowers for Mary's life, mysteries, virtues, excellences and divine prerogatives in the popular religious folk traditions of the medieval countrysides - as recorded by botanists, folklorists and lexicographers.[18]

The practice of honoring Mary with flowers originated among monasteries and convents in medieval Europe. During the Middle Ages, people saw reminders of Mary in the flowers and herbs growing around them.[19] The first reference to an actual garden dedicated to Mary is from the life of St. Fiacre, Irish patron saint of gardening, who planted and tended a garden around the oratory to Our Lady he built at his famous hospice for the poor and infirm in France in the 7th Century.

See also

References

External links

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