Mary calls Catholics to greater devotion

By Ambria Hammel, The Catholic Sun
May 3, 2007

For Catholics, there’s something about Mary that inspires reverent year-round devotion. Oftentimes, it’s her sinless ways and role as mother of all God’s children.

Regardless of the reason, reverence intensifies during May, a month filled with liturgical feasts and sacred devotions honoring the Blessed Mother.

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prior to becoming pope, connected the devotion to the mood of springtime. He said it informs the Church’s spiritual life in a world that is renewing itself.

“Veneration of Mary has its place in this very particular atmosphere,” Cardinal Ratzinger said in his 1986 book “Seek That Which is Above.”

“In her we see the Christian life set forth as a youthfulness of the heart, as beauty and a waiting readiness for what is to come,” he said.

Individual and parish devotions vary, but the Marian month typically begins with a crowning ceremony May 1 or shortly thereafter. Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted said these ceremonies are ways of showing love for the Queen of Peace and trusting in her intercession.

Students at St. Mary-Basha Catholic School in Chandler traditionally hold a crowning ceremony during an all-school Mass. As on other Marian feast days, the Mass features prayers, songs and readings centered on the Mother of God.

The crowning ceremony begins after the homily with five eighth-grade girls coming forward, one of whom is deemed the May Queen. Fr. Daniel McBride, pastor of St. Mary’s, blesses two crowns made of flowers: one for the May Queen and another for the young queen to place on a Marian statue.

“May is dedicated to the Blessed Mother and this is a way of giving honor and glory and recognition to Mary as our Queen,” said Sr. Mary Norbert Long, SC, the school’s principal.

She added that much of the school’s prayer throughout May will center on Mary and is confident that classes will find additional ways to honor the mother of God. The students made rosaries last month.

‘Model of holiness’

In the Philippines, students are on summer break during May, so the Church invites them to pray the rosary, celebrate Mass, offer flowers to Mary and sing songs every Wednesday and Saturday, explained Fr. Rudolfo Ante, a Filipino native and associate pastor at St. Mary Parish in Chandler.

He said praying the rosary and novenas help Catholics express their devotion to Mary and see her role in salvation.

“It is a way to ask for Mary’s intercessions for almost anything in our life, particularly in our struggle against sin,” Fr. Ante said. He added that Mary guides Catholics in their attempt to emulate her “model of holiness.”

Filipino Catholics offer novenas in the nine days preceding the Santacruzan, or Festival of the Holy Cross. The novena concludes with a Mass and May crowning.

“We choose 10 to 12 girls and each one represents a title of Mary,” Fr. Ante said.

The girls also star in the festival parade alongside other queens representing the theological virtues of faith, hope and charity. The festival celebrates St. Helena’s finding of the cross in Jerusalem and is typically hosted by parish teens. A dance party follows.

Although the festival is not as widely celebrated in the United States, “we remember how the Church continued the mission of the risen Christ on Earth after His resurrection,” Bishop Olmsted said of Marian devotions during the Eastertide. The Easter season usually extends throughout most of May.

He added that the season also reminds Catholics that Mary remained with the Church, praying among the baptized and supporting their fidelity to Christ.

As mother of the Church, Catholics also honor her on Mother’s Day. The bishop said churchgoers ask Mary “to pray for all mothers in their vocation and mission in the world.”

To wrap up the month, Catholics celebrate the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary May 31. This feast recalls the journey of Mary, who was carrying the Christ Child in her womb, to visit her cousin, Elizabeth. The bishop said it highlights Mary’s role in salvation.