Given Our Lady’s role in the redemptive mission of Her Son and the honour the Trinity gives her now as Queen of Heaven, it is hardly possible for us to shower Mary with enough laurels. Whom we love, we celebrate. The Blessed Virgin crowns them all.

May is by tradition annually dedicated to devotions and praise of the Mother of God. There are many Marian feasts in May, on both the universal and local calendars. Just a sampling: Our Lady of Oviedo – 2 May (Spain), of Jasna Gora – 3 (Poland), of Aparecida – 11 (Brazil), of Fatima – 13, and so on through nearly every day of the month, somewhere in the world, to May 31 in the traditional calendar, Queenship of Mary.

It is not by chance that we refer to Mary as “Queen” in our beloved traditional prayers. When the announcing Archangel Gabriel came to the annunciate Virgin, he told her that the Son she would bear would have the throne of David and that His kingdom would have no end (Lk 1:32-33). In ancient Israel, the mothers of the kings, not their wives, were crowned and wielded great influence. They sat by the thrones of their royal sons and were addressed as Gebirah, “Great Lady”. Therefore, we happily sing, “Hail Holy Queen!” and, in the Easter season, “Queen of Heaven, Rejoice! Alleluia!” In the Litany of Loreto, in many places recited continuously with the Most Holy Rosary, she is invoked under 13 regal titles: Queen of Angels, of Patriarchs, of Prophets, of Apostles, of Martyrs, of Confessors, of Virgins, of All Saints, Conceived without Original Sin, Assumed into Heaven, of the Holy Rosary, of families, of peace.

If we address Our Queen and Mother with confident petitions, perhaps we ought to listen to what Her Majesty has to say to us. For example, in her apparitions to the three children at Fatima, which began in May, Mary called for people to pray the Rosary and offer acts of reparation for sins commit- ted against Her Immaculate Heart. Her message at Akita, Japan, was to make reparation and to pray for bishops and priests. At Lourdes, Mary said, “Penance! Penance! Penance!”

No matter what you have faced or now face in life, you have a Mother in Heaven who loves you and who desires you to be in heaven with her and her Son. Your way may not be easy, but it doesn’t have to be compli- cated. It may not be without suffering, but you don’t have to do it alone. In her 1859 appearance at Champion, Wisconsin, Mary made requests and then ended by saying: “Go and fear nothing, I will help you.”

The post The liturgical month appeared first on Catholic Herald.