According to a long and venerable tradition the entire month of May is dedicated to the Mother of God. The practice of honouring Mary in this month especially grew in the nineteenth century, partly encouraged by a renewed Marian devotion stimulated by the visions to St Bernadette in Lourdes in 1858. Among the most widely-known May devotions to the Holy Virgin are those written also in that century by our own St John Henry Newman, Meditations on the Litany of Loreto, an outstanding part of Newman’s spiritual legacy. In this month we are especially attentive to the praying of the Holy Rosary, to Saturday, the day devoted to our Holy Mother, and to the other prayers and devotions that characterise our rich Catholic tradition.
On April 29th 1965 Pope St Paul VI issued his Encylical Mense Maio which invited Christians to a deeper devotion to the Blessed Virgin in her month of May. It was a document issued in the context of both the Second Vatican Council, which was still in progress at that time, but also of contemporary threats to world peace. The Pope wrote: “May [Mary] graciously lend an ear to the devout pleas of those all over the world who beg her for peace. May she enlighten the minds of those who rule nations. And finally, may she prevail on God, who rules the winds and storms, to calm the tempests in men’s warring hearts and grant us peace in our day.” Click here to read the full text.
To mark the start of this month we observe the Solemn crowning of Mary, which will take place in our church after the 8.30am Mass this Saturday 2nd May. Do join us on Saturday as Mary is honoured as Queen and her intercession invoked for the needs of our Oratory, parish and city.
