Crowning of Mary, Our Queen and Mother
May is Here!
May has arrived. Fruit trees blossom, flowers bloom, the grass turns green, and the start of new season begins. It’s a beautiful month full of beauty and new life. What better time to celebrate the Blessed Mother and crown her as Queen of Heaven and Earth. The month of Mary and May Crowning.
What is May crowning and how did it start?
May Crowning is honoring our Blessed Mother with a crown of flowers. It honors her as the Queen of Heaven and Earth. Fr. Latomia instituted the practice of dedicating the month of May to our dear Mother Mary in the 18th Century.
My Experiences and Memories of May Crowning
As a child, our Catholic school held a fantastic May Crowning. I vividly remember the fragrance of lilacs mixed with the odor of the other flowers. We often times had a new dress specifically made for the occasion. We students would congregate outside and start a procession holding flowers from our gardens, groves, ditches, and pastures. A young girl whose name began with Mary or had Mary as a middle name led the procession with two boys following who held her cape. The music was lovely as we processed up the church aisle laying the flowers at our Blessed Mother’s feet. Both young and old honored Our Dear Mother with flowers and processed into the pews. The church was full not only from people but with the aroma of the flowers which filled the air while the music bellowed triumphantly. It was glorious.
When I became a mother, my sisters and I wanted our children to have a fond memory of May Crowning as we do. We have had beautiful May Crownings and hopefully they remember them throughout their lives and instills in them the importance Mary Our Mother plays in each of our lives. She was his first tabernacle. In honoring Mary, we show our love to God. This honor doesn’t distract one from Jesus, it draws us closer to Him.
Now our children are in their teenage years and twenties, but May Crowning is still a part of our lives. Our parish crowns Mary with the school children processing with flowers. To make it more special, we process and crown our Mary Statue in our front yard. One of the beauties in crowning our Blessed Mother is finding flowers. They could be dandelions, wildflowers, garden flowers, or even alfalfa. Mary isn’t picky. It isn’t as extravagant as the ones I experienced as a child, but there is always a joy, blessing, and loveliness in every May Crowning.
Mary Queen of all Saints, pray for us.