Happy Feast of St. Joseph the Worker!
Happy May Day! Happy Lei Day!
Today we begin the month dedicated to our blessed Mother Mary.
There are many ways to honor the Most Blessed Mother of God:
1. Bring flowers to the fairest. If you give the mother an offering of flowers, even the most humblest of them will be greatly appreciated by her. Think of your own dear children who lovingly pick and give you dandelions as a gift.
2. Pray the Holy Rosary with your family. Or, if you are not accustomed to praying the rosary, start off by at least one decade well prayed. Pray each Hail Mary slowly and from the the heart.
3. Attend a May Crowning. If you cannot have one at your church, have one at your home, invite your friends and family.
4. Teach your children traditional Marian Hymns:
- Mother Dearest, Mother Fairest
- Mother Dear, O Pray for Me
- On this Day O Beautiful Mother
- Bring Flowers of the Rarest
- Immaculate Mary
- Ave Maria
- Salve Regina
- O Sanctisimma
- Sing of Mary
5. Create a Mary's Garden. You can plant even a small one if you don't have much room.
Some of the traditional flowers that are included in this garden, are also dedicated or named after Our Lady:
- Marigolds - Mary's Gold
- Fuschia - Our Lady's Eardrops
- Zinnia - Little Mary
- Blue Morning Glory - Our Lady's Blue Mantle
- Calceolaria -Our Lady's Slipper
- Sunflower - Marigold of Peru
- Yucca - Tower of Ivory
- Roses
The flower symbols of Mary's spiritual life and mysteries include: the white "Madonna Lily" of her immaculate purity, "Mary's Rose" of spiritual love, the pansy of "Our Lady's Delight" in the Trinity, first revealed to Mary, the "Lily-of-the-Valley" of her humility, the violet of "Our Lady's Modesty", "Mary's Tulip" of spiritual openness, the strawberry—"Fruitful Virgin"—of her virginal motherhood (in flower and fruit at the same time), "Our Lady's Bedstraw" of the manger, "Christmas Rose", "Star of Bethlehem", several "Mary's Milkdrops" plants, and the "Mother Love" Impatiens, named from its constancy of bloom.To read more about the history of the Mary's Garden, visit EWTN.com
6. Learn or teach your children to make rosaries. They do not have to be the elaborate beaded kind. You can learn to make simple knotted or corded rosaries.
7. Read spiritual books on the life of Mary or on specific approved apparitions:
- Our Lady of Kibeho by Immaculee Illigabiza
- The Admirable Heart of Mary by St. John Eudes
- Fatima for Today by Father Andrew Apostoli
- The Virgin Mary and Theology of the Body by Father Donald Calloway
These are just a few of the many wonderful books we can read to learn and appreciate our Blessed Mother.
8. Wear baby blue on her specific feast days or the entire month of May!
9. Practice our lady's virtues.
The "Ten Evangelical Virtues" are as follows:
Most Pure (Mt 1:18, 20, 23; Lk 1:24,34)10. Have your family prepare themselves to Total Consecration to Mary by St. Louis de Montfort.
Most Prudent (Lk 2:19; 51)
Most Humble (Lk 1:48)
Most Faithful ( Lk 1:45; Jn 2:5)
Most Devout (Lk 1:46-47; Acts 1:14)
Most Obedient (Lk 1:38; 2:21-22; 27)
Most Poor (Lk 2:7)
Most Patient (Jn 19:25)
Most Merciful (Lk 1:39, 56)
Most Sorrowful (Lk 2:35)
11. Have a priest enroll your family in the Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.
12. Become a member of the Militia Immaculata.
13. Join Mary's Blue Army by taking the World Apostolate of Fatima pledge.
14. Prepare and altar for Mary and pray for her intercession there as a family.
15. Pray a Hail Mary daily for the conversion of a family member who has fallen away from the Church.
