1st May - - "Bring flowers of the fairest...O Mary we crown thee Queen of the May"

Bring flowers of the rarest
Bring blossoms the fairest,
From garden and woodland and hillside and dale;
Our full hearts are swelling,
Our glad voices telling...
The praise of the loveliest flower of the vale!

 

O Mary we crown thee with blossoms today!
Queen of the Angels and Queen of the May.
O Mary we crown thee with blossoms today,
Queen of the Angels and Queen of the May. 

 

There are many and varied hymns and songs to Mary and last year we posted a short series of some of your favourites. You will find them under the tag Songs for Mary

By tradition, May is the month dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary - Theotokas. The month of May is the "month which the piety of the faithful has especially dedicated to Our Blessed Lady," and it is the occasion for a "moving tribute of faith and love which Catholics in every part of the world [pay] to the Queen of Heaven. During this month Christians, both in church and in the privacy of the home, offer up to Mary from their hearts an especially fervent and loving homage of prayer and veneration. In this month, too, the benefits of God's mercy come down to us from her throne in greater abundance" (Paul VI: Encyclical on the Month of May, no. 1).

Read more about the devotion from Catholic Culture here including traditional prayers, litanies and devotions.

A previous programme on devotion to Mary in the Catholic tradition was broadcast on 24th May 2014.