May Crowning of the Blessed Virgin Mary

May Crowning at the Shrine of Our Lady of La Leche

May is the month of Mary. Many parishes throughout the U.S. have May crownings in their churches and schools. Recently I heard one woman remark that she had not seen a May crowning for many years. While it is true this devotion is not as common as it used to be. It nevertheless does take place in many parishes and also in family homes. 

The picture to the left was taken on May 13 at the Shrine of Our Lady of La Leche after the young girl in her first communicant dress crowned the statue of Our Lady of Fatima. It was a lovely outdoor ceremony attended by fifty people, some home schoolers and their parents, attendees from noon Mass, and some of the Shrine staff with Fr. Erlin. The Litany of the Blessed Virgin was prayed first and then the crowning. Later Fr. Erlin and Sheila brought the statue of Our Lady of Fatima into the church where Adoration was taking place. The statue was placed so the adorers could venerate Our Lady of Fatima on her feast day, May 13, while they adored Our Lord in the Monstrance.

Fr. Erlin with Sheila, Docent at Shrine Museum

A few years ago, Fr. William Saunders of the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, replied to a question regarding the history of the May Crowning. Here is the link to his informative answer. I think you will find it helpful. background on May Crowning

The May Crowning is a tribute to Our Blessed Mother that we should work to promote and/or support in our parishes when we have the opportunity. Devotional traditions such as the May Crowning of Mary are rooted in deep truths about our faith and make present the truth in a concrete and appealing manner. For example we honor the Blessed Virgin in song, prayers, and gestures such as crowning a statue of her with flowers, and in turn we are uplifted by the knowledge that Mary recognizes and appreciates our loving efforts from her home in heaven and showers us with many graces.

We can have a May Crowning in our homes, too. It can be very simple with a homemade crown, a song, and a short prayer or a longer one if you wish. The Memorare Memorare or Hail Mary Hail Mary are two short prayers to Mary that might be prayed. A longer prayer but a very beautiful one is the Litany of the Virgin Mary. Litany of the Virgin Mary    

Here is a very simple crown I made for the grandchildren to use to crown our statue of Mary.

It is a very short ceremony we have in our home. I love the song Bring Flowers of the Rarest. We play the song on Youtube and all join in singing it. Below is a picture of Vivian crowning Our Lady a few years ago. Last year Maddie crowned her here in St. Augustine. This year, we will do our home May Crowning in June when Patrick and Becca's family visits. 

These are the wired roses you can get from the craft stores that carry fabric and other decorative materials. You can see how the crown is made up of roses twisted together and then a few ribbons are added to flow down the back of the crown. After we crown the statue, I keep the crown on until the next year, removing it just before our next May Crowning! 

Bring Flowers of the Rarest

On This Day O Beautiful Mother

Vivian crowning the Blessed Virgin.  Woodbridge, VA

While there are only a few days left of May, let us join together honoring the Blessed Mother and praying for her help in the many situations that face our world these days.

  Mary conceived without sin, Pray for

    us who have recourse to thee.

May Saints: St. Damien of Molokai, May 10 - A Saint of Heroic Proportions

 In Honolulu in front of the state capitol building is a statue of Joseph de Veuster, better known as St. Damien of Molokai. At the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. in Statuary Hall along the Hall of Columns stands another statue of the same man. Belgian born, Fr. Damien spent half of his life serving in the Hawaiian islands. In Rome on October 11, 2009, he was canonized by the Catholic Church for having lived a life of heroic virtue.

Fr. Damien's life is a standout by anyone's measure. He is known for his work with the lepers on Molokai, an island in the Hawaiian chain. A work he began at age thirty-three and which ended at his death from leprosy in 1889 at the age of forty-nine. 

John Farrow's Damien the Leper reissued in 1998 is an engaging biography of the Belgian missionary in Hawaii. Farrow who is known for Thomas More and the Pageant of Popes was a Hollywood screenwriter and director. His biography excels due to his talent for writing and ability to tell a story well. Farrows early life was adventurous taking him to the Hawaiian Islands as a young sailor. It was there that he heard the remarkable accounts of Fr. Damien the Leper Priest. Intrigued by what he heard and having received a copy of Robert Louis Stevenson's defense of Fr. Damien - a response to the slanderous accusations of the Rev. Dr. Hyde - he proceeded to Belgium and France to research his early life. Returning to the Pacific, he continued the research and then wrote a lively and inspiring book. It first appeared in March of 1937. Damien the Leper

Who would imagine when you look at the leprous face of Fr. Damien today that he was once a  handsome youth physically fit from working on his father’s farm? His Hawaiian parishioners from Puno and later Kohala on the island of Hawaii would. He served these parishes between ages twenty-four and thirty-three. They had never seen anyone with a work ethic like Fr. Damien. Farrow details what he was up against in terms of the Hawaiian terrain, relaxed work ethic, and pagan traditions. His parishioners responded to him with love and generosity. Many Hawaiians embraced the faith. His superior, Msgr. Maigret, was well-pleased when he visited the young priest during these years.

When Msgr. Maigret called for priests to serve the lepers on Molokai Fr. Damien was one of four to volunteer. The good monsignor could not bring himself to insist any of his priests serve there since he knew it was a certain death sentence. Instead he asked for volunteers. Damien was chosen because of his record of success in the parishes of Puno and Kohala. The term he was to serve was described by Msgr. Maigret as “You may stay as long as your devotion dictates.”

Fr. Damien said of his calling “Divine Providence will assist me in this work, because it is solely for the good God that I work…” In his characteristic style he threw himself completely and passionately into his work with the leper colony. He lived, ate, breathed and worshiped with the lepers. He exhausted himself building and furnishing the church, erecting huts, establishing choirs, altar, and funeral societies, offering Mass, teaching the children, administering the sacraments, admonishing those guilty of immoral behavior,  begging state officials for basic necessities, in every way spending himself completely for his beloved lepers. Mahatma Gandhi said of him “ It was from Fr. Damien that I drew my social principles.”

 His life with the lepers became known far and wide, not through any publicity he initiated but through those who saw and wrote about what he did. His life through his letters to his family and religious congregation, and from those who wrote of his work give us a good view of this saintly man. There are many saints who we know little about, but St. Damien like St. Therese of Lisieux’s  life is available for our inspection, edification and imitation. I have included the Kindle version of Fr. Damien and his brother, Fr. Pamphile letters below.

                                               Prayer of Fr. Damien, Apostle of Molokai   

"Were it not for the constant presence of our divine Master in our humble chapel, I would not have found it possible to persevere in sharing the lot of the afflicted in Molokai...The Eucharist is the bread that gives strength...It is at once the most eloquent proof of His love and the most powerful means of fostering His love in us. He gives Himself every day so that our hearts as burning coals may set afire the hearts of the faithful."    

St. Damien, Pray that our hearts may be set on fire for the love of Jesus and the afflicted!

      Children's Books    

          Damien of Molokai: Builder of Community

          by Barbara Yoffie, Liguori, 2013, ages 4 - 9

          Saint Damien of Molokai

          by Virginia Helen Richards, FSP. Pauline Books & Media, 2009

           Father Damien and the Bells                                               

           by Leonard Everett Fisher and Elizabeth Odell Sheehan, A Vision Book, 2004

     Adult Reading - Here are two books

    Holy Man: Father Damien of Molokai   

    by Gavan Daws, April 1, 1984

     Saint Damien of Molokai: Apostle of the Exiled

      by Margaret Bunson and Matthew Bunson, Sept. 2009

      Life and Letters of Father Damien, Apostle to the Lepers

      Kindle edition Amazon.com 

   

      Father Damien, an Open Letter to the Reverend Dr. Hyde of

      Honolulu, by Robert Lewis Stevenson, Kindle edition, Free

      

To learn more about the inspiring work St. Damien and St. Marianne Cope did on Molokai, visit this link:

Damien and Marianne Education Center

The stars below are not related to any book, article, or mochi ice cream. They inadvertently were put on this blog post, and I can not figure out how to remove them. Please disregard them or have a chuckle on me!

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If you are looking for a treat to celebrate St. Damien's feast day, I recommend mochi ice cream. If it is made with rice flour which mochi ice cream often is then it is gluten-free. Mochi ice cream is a popular treat in Hawaii. It is available in most supermarkets in the freezer case.

Mochi Ice Cream comes in many flavors

Enjoy!