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

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   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.

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   Step 2: Prepare the image and the crown

   Choose the statue or image to be crowned and set it where the people can see it and a child can reach the head — on a stand with a small step, or brought forward on a table decorated with white and blue cloth. Make or order a crown of fresh flowers sized to the statue, and gather a bouquet or a basket of loose flowers; roses, lilies and whatever is blooming locally are traditional. Choose who will crown: in parishes usually a First Communion child or a confirmand, in schools a chosen pupil, at home the youngest who can manage it. Print or announce the order of service and the hymns, and rehearse the crowning with the child so that the moment is unhurried.

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   Step 3: Process to the image

   Gather at the back of the church or outside, and process to the image singing a Marian hymn — 'Immaculate Mary' is the classic — with the children carrying flowers and the crown-bearer last, or immediately before the priest if he presides. A cross and candles may lead the procession as at any liturgical procession. Arriving at the image, the children lay their flowers at its foot one by one while the hymn continues. The procession is simple catechesis: we go to Mary together, bringing what is beautiful, because she brought Christ to us.

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   Step 4: Pray the Rosary or a decade, and sing

   Before the crowning, pray at least a decade of the Rosary; a full five decades is customary when time allows, using the Glorious Mysteries in Eastertide and giving special attention to the fourth and fifth, the Assumption and the Coronation of Mary. A reading from Scripture may be added — the Annunciation (Luke 1:26-38), the Visitation with the Magnificat▾ (Luke 1:39-56), or the Wedding at Cana (John 2:1-11) — followed by a short word from the priest, deacon or teacher on why we honour Mary. Between the prayers, sing: the singing is what people remember, and it is how the honour given to Mary becomes joy.

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   Step 5: Crown the image

   The crown-bearer comes forward, is handed the crown, and places it on the head of the statue while the congregation sings — 'Bring Flowers of the Rarest', with its refrain 'O Mary, we crown thee with blossoms today, Queen of the Angels and Queen of the May', is the traditional hymn for this moment. The one presiding may introduce it with a sentence: 'We crown the image of Mary, Mother of God and our Mother, as a sign of the honour we give her and of her Son's kingship, which she shares.' Then all pray together the Regina Caeli▾, which is the Easter prayer to Mary: 'Queen of heaven, rejoice, alleluia. For he whom you did merit to bear, alleluia, has risen, as he said, alleluia. Pray for us to God, alleluia. V. Rejoice and be glad, O Virgin Mary, alleluia. R. For the Lord has truly risen, alleluia.'

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   Step 6: Pray the Litany of Loreto

   After the crowning, pray the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary▾ — the Litany of Loreto▾ — with a leader giving the invocations and all answering 'pray for us'; sung, it is one of the loveliest things a parish does all year. It ends with the versicle 'Pray for us, O holy Mother of God,' the response 'That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ,' and the closing prayer. The Litany gathers up the whole of the Church's praise of Mary — Mother of the Church, Virgin most prudent, Mirror of justice, Queen assumed into heaven — and is the natural theology of the crown just placed on her head. The guide 'How to Pray a Litany' explains the form for anyone leading for the first time.

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   Step 7: Consecrate the family or community to Mary

   Close by entrusting those present to Our Lady. The priest or the leader reads an act of consecration or entrustment — many parishes use an act of consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary — and all answer 'Amen'; families may make it at home in their own words: 'Mary, our Mother, we give you our family; keep us close to your Son.' Sing the Magnificat▾ or the Salve Regina▾ as the final hymn, and if the priest presides he gives the blessing. Then, as the flowers fade over the following days, keep the month: the crowning was a promise to honour Mary, and the remaining evenings of May, with their decade and their single flower, are where it is kept.

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.