May is the Month of Mary, Mother of God

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SALT LAKE CITY — Mary, the Mother of God, holds an exalted place in the Catholic Church. She is “endowed with the high office and dignity of being the Mother of the Son of God, by which account she is also the beloved daughter of the Father and the temple of the Holy Spirit,” Lumen Gentium states.

The month of May has been dedicated to Mary since the 13th century. According to Pope Paul VI’s 1965 encyclical Mense Maio, during May “Christians, in their churches and their homes, offer the Virgin Mother more fervent and loving acts of homage and veneration; and it is the month in which a greater abundance of God’s merciful gifts comes down to us from our Mother’s throne.”

May crownings are a common practice to honor Mary. Other practices recommended by the Magisterium of the Church include reciting the Regina Coeli, the rosary and litanies of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The Catholic Church traditionally has celebrated the feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary on May 31; the optional Our Lady of Fatima memorial is May 13. In addition, the feast of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which is celebrated nine days after the feast of Corpus Christi, often falls in May.

This year, Pope Francis added to the universal Church calendar the feast of Mary, Mother of the Church, which is to be celebrated the day after Pentecost. This year, that date is May 21.

Pope Francis is promoting this devotion to “encourage the growth of the maternal sense of the Church in the pastors, religious and faithful, as well as a growth of genuine Marian piety,” according to Vatican News.

Previously, the Church celebrated a votive Mass in honor of Mary, Mother of the Church, but Pope Francis’ decree sets a fixed day for the celebration.

The Virgin Mary “is both the Mother of Christ and Mother of the Church,” states the Decree on the Celebration of the Blessed Virgin Mary Mother of the Church.

The decree notes that Mary was intimately united with the work of the Redeemer, and that work culminated at His death on the cross.

“Indeed, the Mother standing beneath the cross (cf. Jn 19:25), accepted her Son’s testament of love and welcomed all people in the person of the beloved disciple as sons and daughters to be reborn unto life eternal;” thus, Mary became the Mother of the Church that Christ begot on the cross, the decree states. In turn, Christ entrusted his mother to his disciples “so that they might welcome her with filial affection,” according to the decree.

“This celebration will help us to remember that growth in the Christian life must be anchored to the Mystery of the Cross, to the oblation of Christ in the Eucharistic Banquet and to the Mother of the Redeemer and Mother of the Redeemed, the Virgin who makes her offering to God,” the decree states.