The Month Of May Dedicated To Our Blessed Mother

By TOM DENNEHY

Mary has a unique and privileged place in history. Because she answered yes to becoming the Mother of God, she is our first model of discipleship and our model of grace and trust in God.

For those who practise our Catholic faith, May is most well known as “Mary’s Month,” a specific month of the year when special devotions are performed in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

May is one of the most beautiful months of the year when hedges are in full bloom. God’s creation is showing off its greatest beauty and splendour so it is fitting that we dedicate this month to Mary. It affords us the opportunity to give her thanks for her great love and protection.

For centuries, the Catholic Church has set aside the entire month of May to honour Mary, Mother of God. Not just a day but the entire month.

She was the one who said Yes to God’s plan for the salvation of the entire world. Her Yes gave birth to God’s son, Jesus who was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit. This enabled Him to come down from Heaven to become one of us. He suffered the same pain and rejection that we experience . He taught us about the love of His Heavenly father and showed us how to love and forgive ourselves and others.

Mary, as Mother of Sorrows, understands all our pain and suffering. She loves us all dearly. She loves each of us individually and uniquely as if she had given birth to each one of us. She has told us in Medjugorje , “ If you knew how much I love you, you would cry with joy.”

She is our protector from all evil influences. When we recite the litany of the rosary, we honour her with fifty different titles. She is our Mediatrix of all graces – the dispenser of all graces from on high. One of Her titles is “Mother of Divine Grace.”

She is constantly interceding for us before the throne of God.

Mary has appeared more than two thousand times all over the world. Many of these are private apparitions. We are familiar with Lourdes, Fatima, and Medjugorje, all places of Pilgrimage and miraculous healings. Her appearance at Knock at a very difficult time in our history gives us great hope. Knock is a very significant apparition site as it depicts the Holy Mass and is a Eucharistic Shrine. Appearing with Our Lady in Knock were Saint John the Evangelist, Saint Joseph, and Jesus as the Lamb of God being sacrificed on the altar. The angels were hovering overhead.

Praying the Rosary.

Our Lady asks us especially to pray the rosary. She tells us it is our greatest weapon to bring about peace in our world ravaged very much by war at this time.

She implores us to help her to overcome the battle against evil. She tells us in Medjugorje that Satan wants evil, hatred, and war, but by our unceasing prayer, we can win the battle against evil and she has promised, “In the end My Immaculate Heart will triumph.”

By praying the rosary, Mary as Queen of Heaven and Earth will intercede for us. We give our prayer to her for our intentions, She will make them perfect and give our prayers to Jesus who will work miracles with them. St.Louis De Montfort, in his teachings on Mary, tells us that without Mary, our actions and intentions are of little value, but if we go to Jesus through Mary, our work will be Mary’s work and consequently will be “Most worthy of God.”

There are fifteen specific promises attached to the rosary given by Our Lady to Saint Dominic. We meditate on the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus and the part Our Lady played in our salvation.

So for the month of May, let us make a special effort to make our Lady present in our lives by praying to her for protection and for her intercession. Let us make a May altar with flowers and a statue of Mary in our homes and in our schools. Visit a grotto or shrine dedicated to Our Lady and sing songs in her honour.

Why not make a special effort to pray the rosary(even if you begin with one decade) while out for a walk or driving along in your car.

Our Lady tells us nothing is impossible if we pray the rosary.

Mary is our Queen of Peace and she is the only one who can bring great peace into our lives.