MONTH OF MAY, MONTH OF MARY, MONTH OF FLOWERS.

 The month of May is the month of flowers and the month of Mary. The veneration consists in offering to Mary the flowers of this beautiful season in representation of her virtues. To present flowers to Mary is to commit ourselves to practice the virtues the flowers represent. “Let us, then, enter into ourselves: our soul is a garden. And since the 30 bouquets of flowers symbolize different virtue, one for each day, we would have on the 31st day a complete work, crowning our mother”. {Fr.Francisco Palau} The tradition of dedicating the month of May to Mary came about in the 13th century. The actual reason is the fact that this month is the time when spring is at the height of its beauty. Spring is also connected with nature renewing itself. In her way, Mary gave new life to the world when she gave birth to our savior Jesus Christ. Devotion to Mary is an important part of the Catholic identity. As our mother, she is an example of a committed “Yes” to the will of God. Because of the devotion to her many people ask her for help in the most difficult moments of their life as any child does with his mother. For a Carmelite, she is a mother and sister. As we experience her maternal care and protection, in turn may we deepen our love for her. 

On 1st of May we celebrate the feast of St. Joseph the worker. We know St. Joseph was a carpenter, not one of the powerful men in town, as some were shocked when they witnessed Jesus’ teachings in the temple and said, “Is this not the carpenter’s son?” (Matthew 13:55). This shows that Joseph was an ordinary man who lived a simple life. St. Joseph was an honest worker and therefore known to be the ‘Patron Saint of Workers’ The feast of St. Joseph the Worker was established by Pope Pius XII in 1955 in order to Christianize the concept of labor and give to all workmen a model and a protector. “May Day” has long been dedicated to labor and the working men. Pope Pius XII expressed the hope that this feast would accentuate the dignity of labor and would bring a spiritual dimension to labor unions. Let us entrust to Mary’s maternal care, the entire suffering humanity, in a particular way the suffering people of Ukraine and Russia that they all may feel the loving protection of Mother Mary and the Peace of the Risen Lord. May St. Joseph, the worker intercede for all the workers. St. Joseph the worker pray for all the workers