May is the month that we honor
all mothers on Mother's Day, but it is also the month that Catholics honor Mary, the Mother of God, the Mother of all Christians, in a special way. At the foot of the cross before Jesus died, he gave Mary to the apostle John as his mother, and John to Mary as her son. We are all called to be apostles; therefore, just like the apostle John we take Mary into the home of our hearts as our heavenly Mother, and we become her sons and daughters, asking her help in leading us closer to Christ and loving as Christ loved.
That was and is Mary's only mission: bringing Christ to the world and the world to Christ.
The school that our boys attend is a beautiful, traditional Catholic school that celebrates the month of May by crowning Mary and Jesus and laying flowers at their feet in honor of our love for them. Symbolically, we are crowning Jesus and Mary as King and Queen of our hearts. I love how the Catholic Church often uses tangible symbols and actions to represent intangible truths which help to remind our hearts of what is important, and to make the mysteries of the faith take root more deeply.
It was very touching to see all the students at the school bring a flower to lay at the feet of Jesus and Mary while we all sang the traditional hymn "Queen of the May," which dates back to the 13th century. My eyes welled up with tears; my heart overflowed with love for Mary as we sang. It made me so thankful that our children have such a wonderful school to attend where they are receiving an excellent education and having their souls fed and led toward heaven all at the same time!
Our family was blessed to be able to crown Mary a second time as we attended our monthly family prayer group called "Our Mother of the Eucharist and Grace." Our gathering was out at a horse ranch, owned by one of the families in our group, and it was such a joy to pray with so many other families and then afterwards to watch all the children feed the horses, climb on rocks, and play with barn kittens, while us adults enjoyed great fellowship with one another. I think Mary was smiling upon this gathering of Catholic families striving to live their faith in such a busy, secular world. I pray that she showered all of us with extra graces to give us the strength we need to live out God's will in our lives.
Mary has been close to my heart since I was a little girl. I loved praying the rosary and even dreamed of wearing a black and white habit so that I could pray all day long and help bring souls to Jesus like Mary has asked us to do in countless apparitions. There have been times in my life when I have almost tangibly felt Mary's presence and her mantle of peace surrounding me. One of those times was my senior year of high school during a pilgrimage to Medjugorje where the Blessed Virgin has been appearing daily since 1981. I was blessed to be present during one of her apparitions in 1997. I was in St. James Church with hundreds of other pilgrims praying the rosary, and Mary appeared to a few of the visionaries in one of the upper steeple rooms in the church. The moment she appeared, I think every single person in the church could feel a holy presence--at least I certainly could--I was covered with grace-filled goosebumps!
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St. James Church in Medjugorje
How I long to go back there someday! |
There have been other times when I have felt her motherly presence just as strongly as I did in Medjugorje, usually during times of sadness when she knew I needed a mother's embrace. One such time was earlier month. I was unable to sleep, filled with deep sadness, and needed to cry. Not wanting to wake my husband, I walked quietly downstairs to the living room, wandering in the darkness of despair and feeling consumed with my failures--even to the point that I began to worry about my salvation. In my heart I knew that Jesus is always filled with mercy, but still I didn't have the heart to turn to Him because I felt like my sadness and selfishness must terribly wound his Sacred Heart, which just made me feel even worse. So I turned instead to His mother. And she was there. I begged her to be my mediator, to be at the Gate when I die and beg for the Lord's mercy for me, and to never let me fall out of the Heavenly Father's favor. I felt like she held me and said, "Of course, I will. I am your mother, and also the Queen of Heaven. Someday I will take you to the King. Do not worry; I will always be with you." What a gift, what a treasure to have Mother Mary to comfort us like only a mother can; to shine light into our darkness with her smile, her warmth, and her tender, unconditional love. Thank you, Mary, Queen of my Heart and Queen of the May!
QUEEN OF THE MAY
Bring flowers of the fairest
Bring flowers of the rarest
From garden and woodland
And hillside and vale
Our full hearts are swelling
Our glad voices telling
The praise of the loveliest
Rose of the vale
O Mary, we crown thee with blossoms today
Queen of the Angels, Queen of the May
O Mary, we crown thee with blossoms today
Queen of the Angels, Queen of the May
Our voices ascending,
In harmony blending
Oh thus may our hearts turn
Dear Mother, to thee
Oh thus shall we prove thee
How truly we love thee
How dark without Mary
Life's journey would be
O Mary, we crown thee with blossoms today
Queen of the Angels, Queen of the May
O Mary, we crown thee with blossoms today
Queen of the Angels, Queen of the May
