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As are all flowers, the month of May is
dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, whom we more formally celebrate
as Queen of Heaven on the last day
of
this month. Early in May, a statue of the Virgin at church is crowned
with a wreath of roses, and roses are laid at her feet. Little girls
and boys dress up in their best, often in blue or in their First Communion clothes;
one child carries the
crown on a cushion to the statue and another child is chosen to crown
the statue. The selection process varies -- sometimes a boy is chosen
to bear the wreath, but always a girl is chosen to crown the statue
(usually the oldest girl). The flowers remain throughout the month.
Hymns are sung, too, and especially favored is the Victorian "Bring
Flowers of the Rarest" (lyrics and
melody here).
Catholics honor Mary at home, too, crowning the true "May
Queen's" statue with flowers at their family altars, and leaving roses
(especially red and/or white ones) at her feet, for the entire month of
May.
If you don't have a statue of Our Lady, you can place flowers around a
picture of her. 1 To accompany
the crowning, most any Marian devotion would serve well (e.g., the Rosary, the Little
Crown of the Blessed Virgin, the Litany of
Loreto, etc.)
A communal element of May 1 celebrations is the Maypole -- the erection
of a very tall wooden pole from which hang flowers and, often, great
colored ribbons. If ribbons are present, they are taken in hand by
dancers who dance around the pole such that the ribbons become wrapped
around it. Sometimes the Maypole will be painted in various colors
important to the area in which it is raised, or carved with symbols of
local industry.
In some places, little baskets -- "May baskets" -- are filled with
flowers, fruits, baked goods, or candies and left on friends' and
neighbors' doorsteps.
Finally, there is a beautiful astronomical coincidence for this time of
year.
In the Northern hemisphere, if you go outside early in May, face East,
and look directly up
overhead, you will see a relatively faint "L" in the sky (assuming the
sky is clear enough). This is the constellation Coma Berenices 2 -- a constellation that was named
after a Queen (actually, a Queen's hair, but
that's another story). Anyway, the second brightest star in this
constellation is called "Diadem" -- crown of royalty. So take your
children outside, point out the star Diadem to them, and think of Our
Lady, crowned in Heaven -- our Queen Mother who wants nothing more than
for us to love her Son...
Footnotes:
1 Tip for keeping cut
flowers fresh: re-cut stems, and put an aspirin, a penny, some sugar,
and a 1/2 capful of bleach into their water. Change water every day and
repeat the above. Keep them in a cool place -- in the fridge at night,
if possible. Doing these things really will keep them fresh a lot
longer!
2
"Coma Berenices" is pronounced "Coe-mah Bair-eh-nee'-chayz." To read
more about the stars, especially the stars of the Zodiac and the stars
as signs, see the Zodiac sub-section of this
site.
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