The Month of our Lady

 We are approaching the month of May, a month especially dedicated to honoring and venerating the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, the month of flowers for our Blessed Mother. We all need this filial devotion to Mary, and during this month of May we should honor her particularly, and ask through her intercession for the graces we need to grow in sanctity. Though our souls be dry and barren soil, the abundant graces poured forth upon us during this month of Mary can make them fruitful. “Having confidence in you, O Mother of God,” says St. John Damascene, “I shall be saved. Being under your protection, I shall fear nothing. With your help I shall give battle to my enemies and put them to flight; for devotion to you is an arm of salvation.”

“This is the month,” writes Blessed Pope Paul VI in Mense Maio, “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.”

In the short encyclical mentioned above, Blessed Paul VI writes that during this month “our petitions more readily find access to her compassionate heart”—so let us take advantage of this month of Mary to grow in our devotion to her! We must always strive to be close to our Blessed Mother, knowing that she will lead us to her Son. In fact, Blessed Paul VI attests that, “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.” May is the month in which we can offer the Blessed Virgin the most fragrant flowers from our gardens along with the “spiritual flowers” of our prayers, penance, and acts of virtues. It is a beautiful time to offer her special gifts such as pilgrimages, visits to a church dedicated to her, little sacrifices in her honor, or praying the rosary daily.