In the month of May the spring season is enjoyed. May climate encourages us to undertake interesting walks and excursions around the countryside. In May we joyfully celebrate the Easter Season, Pentecost
and, yes, remember with special affection the Virgin Mary, our Mother.
At the beginning of his encyclical which talks about prayers during May for preservation of peace, “Mense Maio”, Pope Paul VI wrote that May is “a month which the piety of the faithful has long dedicated to Mary, the Mother of God. Our heart rejoices at the thought of the moving tribute of faith and love which [is] … paid to the Queen of Heaven in every corner of the earth. For this is the month during which Christians, in their churches and their homes, offer the Virgin Mother more fervent and loving acts of homage and veneration; and it is the month in which a greater abundance of God's merciful gifts comes down to us from our Mother's throne” (§ 1).
The Christian habit of dedicating the month of May to Mary started towards the end of the 13th century. Thus, the Church managed to Christianize the secular feasts which, according to the custom of the time, used to occur at that epoch. The 16th century offered many books which ardently promoted this Marian devotion.
This custom became increasingly popular among the Jesuit Order members. In fact, by 1700, it became a predominant tradition among their students at the Roman College whereas a bit later it was openly
practiced in the Gesu Church in Rome. It gradually spread from the Eternal City to the entire Church.
Through his encyclical “Mense Maio”, Pope Paul VI strongly encouraged the faithful to use the practice of Marian devotion, which is both delightful and consoling, to their greatest advantage. But why do we
have to turn to Mary to help us? Why all this fuss about this favourite, popular and long-standing tradition of devotion to the Mother of Jesus? Why countless number of parishes and families keep making the month of Mary a Marian month? What is the main purpose of so many devout liturgical, catechetical and pastoral initiatives which take place during this graced month?
Pope Paul VI gives us the answer in “Mense Maio”. “Since Mary is rightly to be regarded as the way by which we are led to Christ, the person who encounters Mary cannot help but encounter Christ likewise.
For what other reason do we continually turn to Mary except to seek the Christ in her arms, to seek our Savior in her, through her, and with her? To Him men are to turn amid the anxieties and perils of this
world, urged on by duty and driven by the compelling needs of their heart, to find a haven of salvation, a transcendent fountain of life” (§ 2).
Mary is the ideal teacher and faithful companion who leads us surely and safely to her Son Jesus. The 14th chapter of John’s gospel offers a magnificent faith portrait of Mary. There Jesus explicates what does it mean to be his true disciples. “If a man loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him” (John 14:23). As Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI explained, “Mary in fact observed first and fully the word of her Son, thus demonstrating that she loved him not only as his mother, but first still as humble and obedient handmaid; because of this God the Father loved her and the Most Holy Trinity made its dwelling in her”.
Do I pray to Mary, particularly by the Rosary, to help me love her Son as she does?
Fr Mario Attard OFM Cap