The Month of Mary
The other day ,while Terry was golfing, the weather was just perfect to go exploring too so I decided to take advantage of the day and took an hour drive east by myself to the small town of Vegreville.
I chose that town because there was a specific photo I was looking for and unfortunately I couldn’t find it. (I’ll let you know when I do someday).
But on my way out of town I noticed a beautiful shrine dedicated to “Our Lady of the Highway”. It is the only one of its kind in Canada and erected by the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic Charity Group.
I pulled around and noticed the gorgeous grounds...just perfect for a picnic or a rest stop.
Then I got to thinking about this month being ‘the month of Mary”. For centuries the Catholic Church has set aside a whole month to honour the mother of God. May has always been associated with finally expelling winter and also with the celebration of flora and fauna. In Medieval times “the tradition of Tricesimum, or “Thirty-Day Devotion to Mary” began and still continues to this day.” (The National Catholic Register)
In our church during the month of May we sing songs that honour Mary and I miss singing at mass so much. The pandemic put a kibosh on singing and now we are back to only being allowed to gather to a maximum of 15 people at mass. Scary times. Mary is a good person to turn to when you feel you need a spiritual mother. Currently at 30 Marian shrines around the world people are praying the rosary daily( the Pope’s initiative) for an end to this dreaded plague.
I read that there have been 386 apparitions of the Virgin Mary in the twentieth century. I was born on May 13th, the same date that back in 1917 she appeared in Fatima, Portugal to three young children. Perhaps because of me being born on that special date I have always had a heart for Mary and feel very close to her. And I will never forget the most wonderful gift I received from my husband when he flew me to Fatima for my ‘big’ birthday one year. Sigh. Will we ever travel again?
There are many ways that people devote their month to Mary, probably the most common yet important way is to pray the rosary. A Woman without sin. A young girl whose simple ‘yes’ allowed our Lord to become human in order to save us.”Dying he destroyed our death.Rising he restored our life.” He honours his mother and we should too.
And so I sat by “Our Lady of the Highway” and prayed for safe travelling home. I thought about my spiritual mother on Mother’s Day( as well as my own mother,Mary, and my sister, Mary) a couple of days ago and in two days it will be my birthday, another chance to think about Mary.
Our Lady has many monikers but the one I like best is “Mother”.
I can only wish that I could be as selfless a mother as Mary but I am so happy and honoured to be a mother to my own four children.