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"A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the
sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve
stars." - Revelation 12:1
The
Crown at the End of May
May
began with a child placing a crown of flowers on Our Lady's statue. It ends
with God Himself placing a crown of twelve stars on her head.
There
is a beautiful completeness to this. A month that opened with the simplest
gesture of human devotion closes with the grandest vision of heavenly glory. We
started with wildflowers in a little girl's hands. We end with the woman
clothed with the sun, enthroned in heaven, reigning with her Son.
The
feast of the Queenship of Mary was formally established by Pope Pius XII in
1954, on the centenary of the definition of the Immaculate Conception. It was
placed on May 31 to crown Our Lady's own month. It was later moved in the
liturgical calendar to August 22, but May 31 retains its special place in the
hearts of those who have walked through this month with her.
Mary
is Queen because she is the Mother of the King. She is Queen because she is the
most perfectly redeemed of all the redeemed, the first and fullest fruit of
her Son's saving work. She is Queen because she has been assumed body and soul
into heaven and reigns there at His right hand.
But
she exercises her Queenship not with the authority of command. She exercises it
with the power of intercession, always asking on behalf of her
children. Think of Cana: she noticed the wine had run out. She said simply to
her Son: they have no wine. And He acted. She has been doing this from Cana
until this very moment. She will never stop.
Today
is also the Solemnity of the Holy Trinity. May closes with the Queen of heaven
in the presence of the God who is Love itself.
Today's
Gospel - Holy Trinity - John 3:16-18
"For
God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes
in Him might not perish but might have eternal life."
The
entire month of May has been a meditation on love. Thirty-one days, thirty-one
faces of the woman who said yes to that love with her whole being. Thirty-one
ways she has helped, appeared, wept, carried, interceded, and refused to give
up on the world the Trinity created, and the Son redeemed.
On
the last day of May, on the feast of the Holy Trinity, with the Queen of heaven
as our guide, we arrive at the beginning of everything: God so loved. That is
the origin of the May crowning and the Loreto shrine and the Black Madonna and
the spring at Caravaggio and the Cova da Iria. That love is the reason for all
of it.
God
so loved. She said yes. We are here.
A Prayer
Hail,
Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, our life, our sweetness, and our hope.
We
have walked through May with you. What a journey it has been. From the flowered
crown on May 1 to the crown of stars on May 31, you have led us across
centuries and continents, through apparitions and miracles, through ancient
shrines and modern revelations, through the prayers of fishermen and the
offerings of emperors.
In
every story, in every shrine, you were doing the same thing: pointing to your
Son, interceding for your children, refusing to give up on a world He died to
save.
As
May draws to a close, we do not leave you behind. You walk with us into June
and every remaining month. Keep walking with us. We are slow. We get lost. We
forget. But you are patient, and your love has no end.
Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, our life, our sweetness, and our hope. Amen.
Reflection
We
end where we began: a crown, a Queen, a month of love. John 3:16 says God so
loved the world. Our Lady said yes to that love on behalf of all of us.
As
the month of May closes, what has shifted in you across these thirty-one days?
What face of Our Lady has stayed with you? What prayer have you prayed that you
had not prayed before? Bring it to her today, and carry it forward with you
into June.
Rosary Man Jim 🌹
Freely given. Freely shared.
