Reflective Moments with Angela May 2021

By Sister Marietta Wethington

May is traditionally a month dedicated to Mary. Mary brought new life to the world when she consented to being the Mother of Jesus.

May is also a month when we see a lot of new life in nature. The grass that has often been brown and dead-looking from the winter turns green and the trees have lovely shades of green after being bare for so many months. We see a lot of flowering shrubs and trees.

A tradition in our home when I was growing up was to have a May altar. I would use a statue or a picture of Mary which I placed on a small table and flowers that I picked from our yard or from along the roadside. At night, our family would pray the rosary kneeling in front of the May altar. 

Saint Angela Merici’s biographers tell us she had a great devotion to Mary. Her rosary beads were used so frequently that they were almost worn out.

What about you – do you have any special traditions for the month of May from your childhood? Perhaps you would like to go with Angela to the feet of Jesus and reflect on them. If you don’t have any traditions, would you like to start some now?

Comments

  1. Jean Mills Carrico

    The May Procession was always a big highlight. We would march around the church and sing the traditional May hymns. The little girls who were still close to their First Communion Day would wear their white dresses and veils. The special treat was to be the one who crowned the Blessed Virgin…Oh Mary We Crown Thee With Blossoms Today. Regrettably, that was never me.
    We also had a May altar at home and would sing the traditional May hymns, then re-enact the crowning of the Blessed Virgin.
    Such good memories.

  2. Sister Ruth Gehres

    This is beautiful, Marietta! We always had May altars at school . . . including when I was teaching. This morning I made a sort of May altar in our hall on 5th floor . . . the Madonna enjoying some sweet-scented peonies framed with white dogwood blossoms. When I see these, I will remember my childhood May altars.

  3. Pamela Knudson

    I haven’t started a tradition for Honoring the Blessed Mother in May, except to watch the May crowing of the Blessed Mother at Church. Creating an Altar and putting wild flowers around the statue we have of Mary seems apropos. I will start this now. Thanks for sharing your May honor of the Blessed Mother and telling us about how Angela Merici prayed to her.

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