For centuries Catholics have kept May as the month of Mary, with daily prayers, the Rosary, flowers before her image and, in parishes and schools, a crowning: a child or a member of the community places a wreath of flowers on the head of a statue of Our Lady while the people sing. The Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy commends the May devotions while asking that they be kept in harmony with the Easter season, which most of May belongs to, and Paul VI's Marialis Cultus lays down the principles of all sound Marian devotion: rooted in Scripture and the liturgy, and always leading to Christ. The parish May crowning is a popular devotion, distinct from the solemn liturgical Order of Crowning an Image of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which is normally celebrated by the bishop for images of particular veneration; the family or parish version needs only a statue, flowers, and people who love her.

What you need

• A statue or image of Our Lady, on a stand at a height a child can reach, or with a step
• A crown or wreath of fresh flowers, and flowers for the people to bring
• Hymns the congregation knows — 'Immaculate Mary', 'Hail Holy Queen Enthroned Above', 'Bring Flowers of the Rarest'
• The Litany of Loreto and a rosary, and a printed order of service if a group is large

When to pray it

Any day in May; parishes often choose the first Sunday, the last Sunday, or a weekday evening, and schools a weekday afternoon. Because most of May falls in Eastertide, the Regina Caeli is prayed in place of the Angelus and the Easter alleluias belong in the hymns.

Steps

1. 1

   Step 1: Keep the month of May

   Begin the month by placing an image of Our Lady in a place of honour — in the church, the classroom, the prayer corner at home — with fresh flowers before it. Each day of May, pray something to her: the Rosary is the fullest form, but a single decade, the Salve Regina▾, or the Regina Caeli▾ at noon is enough to keep the month. Paul VI wrote in Marialis Cultus that devotion to Mary must be Trinitarian, Christological, biblical and liturgical: praise her for what God has done in her, and let every prayer to her end in her Son. The crowning is the month's high point, not its whole content.

Tips

• Keep it in the Easter key: choose hymns with alleluias, pray the Regina Caeli, and let the readings speak of the Risen Christ and his Mother.
• Let the children do the crowning and bring the flowers; the May crowning is one of the ways a parish teaches its youngest members to love Our Lady.
• Do not compete with the liturgy. If the crowning follows Mass, hold it after the dismissal, as a devotion in its own right rather than an addition to the Eucharist.
• At home, a single flower placed before a statue each evening in May, with a Hail Mary, is the whole devotion in miniature.

Related devotions

• The Holy Rosary
• Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary