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May is when the Church turns her attention in a special way to Mary, Mother of God, a season marked by prayer, trust, and the quiet hope that comes from encountering Christ “in her.” 

And as Mother’s Day arrives in the same month of tender Marian devotion, it gives us a providential opportunity. It is a time to honor mothers with gratitude, and also a moment to look to Mary, our Mother and Queen, as the perfect model of how motherhood is meant to lead hearts back to Jesus. 

May: The month of homage, prayer, and mercy

In his 1965 encyclical Mense Maio Saint Pope Paul VI described May devotion as a spiritual rhythm the Church has long kept: “the piety of the faithful has long dedicated [May] to Mary, the Mother of God.” 

He adds that in May Christians offer “more fervent and loving acts of homage and veneration,” and that in this time “a greater abundance of God’s merciful gifts comes down to us from our Mother’s throne.” 

There is also a practical point. May is not only about tradition or feelings. Paul VI says that “Mary is rightly to be regarded as the way by which we are led to Christ,” so “the person who encounters Mary cannot help but encounter Christ likewise.” 

So when we honor Mary in May, we are not detouring away from Jesus. We are being drawn closer to Him.

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