I remember as a child, my mother placing fresh flowers each day before the little statue of Mary she kept on her bedroom dresser. Whether they be forsythia, tree blossoms, irises or lily of the valley (all of which grew in our yard), Mary always had fresh flowers during the month of May. Why do we honor Mary with flowers during May? Many of our Christian customs have roots in pre-Christian celebrations. As the Christian faith was taught to peoples of different cultures, missionaries often took their local customs and connected them to Christian belief. In ancient Greece and Rome, the goddesses of fertility and blossoms were honored during the month of May as springtime brought fertility and new life. Early Christians saw in Mary, source of the life of Jesus our Savior and the one who gave birth to the Church, a Christian translation of their former pagan beliefs. Instead of adorning images of Artemis the Greek goddess of fertility or Flora, the Roman goddess of blossoms, with garlands and wreaths of flowers, the custom developed to honor Mary with flowers. May devotions to Mary became more formalized by St. Philip Neri in the 16th century who began the custom of decorating church statues of the Virgin with spring flowers. Annibale Dionisi, an Italian Jesuit proposed that the entire month be dedicated to devotion to Mary. May processions and the crowning of Mary soon became very popular among the faithful, as well as setting up a May altar in churches and even in homes to honor the Blessed Mother. In 1945, Pope Pius XII solidified May as a Marian month after establishing the feast of the Queenship of Mary on May 31st. After the Second Vatican Council, this feast was moved to August 22, while May 31st became the feast of the Visitation of Mary. Even Mother’s Day, which only began in this last century and is now primarily a secular holiday, owes its place in May to the custom of honoring the motherhood of Mary during this month. Like October, the month of the Holy Rosary, May is a very appropriate time to show special honor to Mary, whom Jesus gave to the Church as our mother when he entrusted Mary to the care of John, the beloved disciple, at the foot of the cross and in turn entrusted John to Mary (Jn. 19:26-27). Perhaps you might consider creating a small prayer space in your home with an image or statue of Mary as a focal point during May. Then take time to pray the rosary or other Marian devotions during this month dedicated to our Blessed Mother. The ancient prayer of the Church for Easter, the Regina Caeli, is also most appropriate to pray during this Easter season, which overlaps the month of May this year: Queen of heaven, rejoice! Alleluia! He whom you did merit to bear, alleluia! Has risen as he said, alleluia! Pray for us to God, alleluia!