May is the Month of Mary
Message from Fr. Keith: May the Month of Mary
May is a special month when we think about Our Lady and her unique role in our salvation. God could have saved us in any way he wanted, but he chose to become one of us human beings by being born of a human mother. That means that Mary is specially close to Jesus, who also gave her to us as our Mother when he was dying on the Cross. We can pray to her when we are happy, to thank her for looking after us, and when we are sad or don’t know what to do. She is a very wise mother who has all sorts of tricks up her sleeve if only we go to her with complete trust!
May, the Month of Mary
May is a very special month for the Church as we remember Mary, the Mother of Jesus and Mother of us all.
A full month is given over to Mary and during this month we are asked to think about Mary, say special prayers to her, have May altars, and sing hymns to Mary to tell her how much we love her and to ask her to help us stay close to her son Jesus and to try to live as Jesus shows us.
May is seen as the beginning of new life and the start of summer, which makes this a logical time for the celebrations of Mary. Throughout the month, we will share some ideas of how we can honour the Blessed Virgin Mary in a special way and allow her to conquer our hearts.
Praying Together
During these strange and uncertain times, we turn to Mary to help us. Pope Francis shared the following prayer, asking Mary to protect the world during this Coronavirus pandemic:
O Mary,
you always shine on our path
as a sign of salvation and of hope.
We entrust ourselves to you, Health of the Sick,
who at the cross took part in Jesus’ pain, keeping your faith firm.
You, Salvation of the Roman People,
know what we need,
and we are sure you will provide
so that, as in Cana of Galilee,
we may return to joy and to feasting
after this time of trial.
Help us, Mother of Divine Love,
to conform to the will of the Father
and to do as we are told by Jesus,
who has taken upon himself our sufferings
and carried our sorrows
to lead us, through the cross,
to the joy of the resurrection. Amen.
Under your protection, we seek refuge, Holy Mother of God.
Do not disdain the entreaties of we who are in trial,
but deliver us from every danger, O glorious and blessed Virgin.
Celebrating Mary
As May is the month of Mary, we all calling all members of the St Mary of the Angels family to submit their own Marian creations.
You could:
- Paint or draw a Mary picture.
- Design a crown or flower for Mary.
- Create a prayer space.
- Create your own Rosary.
- Create a stain glass window.
- Learn the many different names for Mary and create art based on this.
- Hold a May procession.
- Learn a song about Mary, such as Ave Maria, As I Kneel Before You or Queen of the May.
Attached below are some more ways you can celebrate Mary in May, alongside some extra craft suggestions.
Don't forget to send your special creations to office@stmaryangels.co.uk so we can share our celebration of Mary together.
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Ways to Celebrate Mary in May | [pdf 69KB] |
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Marian Craft Activities | [pdf 55KB] |
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Titles of Mary
Did you know that Mary is known by many different titles? Some relate to her virtues or events that happened in her life.
Throughout the month of May, we will be learning about some of those different titles.
This week, we will learn why one title given to Mary is 'Mary, Gate of Heaven'.
Jesus told us that we can only get to the Father through the Son, but Jesus had to get to us through his Mother, Mary. Therefore, Blessed John Henry Newman explains she is called the “Gate of Heaven” because she delivered Jesus to us.
Praying the Rosary
What is The Rosary?
The Rosary is a set of prayers to God, Our Lady and the Holy Spirit. As we repeat the familiar words, we allow our minds to think about a wonderful part of Jesus’ life here on earth - a mystery.
The Mysteries
There are four parts to the rosary, known as “mysteries”:
- The Joyful Mysteries
- The Sorrowful Mysteries
- The Glorious Mysteries
- The Luminous Mysteries
Each set of mysteries is divided into five elements (known as 'a decade') which allow for reflection on different passages from Scripture. A decade is a set of prayers including the Our Father, ten Hail Marys and a Glory Be.
Decide for yourself how many times to say the prayers each day, for example:
- Option 1: 1 x Our Father, 10 x Hail Marys, 1 x Glory Be (this is ‘a decade’)
- Option 2: 1 x Our Father, 3 x Hail Marys, 1 x Glory Be
- Option 3: 1 x Our Father, 1 x Hail Mary, 1 x Glory Be
This week, we will be inviting you to take part in the Joyful Mysteries.
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The Joyful Mysteries | [pptx 16MB] |
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