Why is May a Marian Month?

Traditionally, May is the "month which the piety of the faithful has especially dedicated to Our Blessed Lady." (Paul VI: Encyclical on the Month of May, no. 1). This practice began in the 13th Century and was particularly popular with the Jesuits. Because of the far reach of the order’s schools, the devotion spread and by the 1700’s it began to spread throughout the Church.

We are not required by Church teaching to maintain any particular devotion to Mary, but we would be remiss not to. As Christ was dying on the cross He shared His mother with us - "behold your mother" (John 19:27). I figure if she was good enough for Jesus, she's good enough for us.

Mini-Marian Pilgrimage
As the month of May comes to a close, consider taking a mini-Marian pilgrimage. St. Josemaria would gather a group and walk to a another town that had a Marian shrine. Today, we could carpool with a group, pray the rosary on the trip and spend some time praying at the chapel locally at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Downtown Dallas or go out to Denton and pray in the Marian garden at Immaculate Conception.

Books to Read
Hail, Holy Queen, Scott Hahn 

 St. Louis De Montfort's True Devotion to Mary

St.Damien: The Leper Priest

Tom Jaconette made this month's Saint Talk presentation on St. Damien of Molokai. St. Damien, known as the Leper Priest and Hero of Molokai, is the patron saint of those afflicted with leprosy, AIDS and HIV patients and those who care for them.  His feast day is celebrated on May 10.

Father Damien was born in Belgium in 1840.  He joined the order known as the Sacred Heart Fathers in 1860. He was born Joseph and received the name Damien as part of his religious life. 

Damien was assigned to work the missions on the big island of Hawaii where he was eventually ordained. In 1873, he was volunteered to serve  the leper colony on the island of Molokai. There he served the sick, help build hospitals, clinics and churches.

Father Damien decided to stay on the island working with sick, effectively guaranteeing he would contract the disease and die away from his home. He did.  He contracted leprosy in 1885 and eventually died on April 15, 1889.  He was beatified by Pope John Paul II in June of 1995 and canonized by Pope Benedict XVI in February 2009.

Tom summarized St. Damien's work as a message of hope.

More Reading:

American Catholic

EWTN

Acts of the Apostles - A Model for Today's Christian

Illustration by Vicki Schuck

Lindon Leners led our Catholic Toolbox discussion this morning. He reflected on the Acts of the Apostles. During the Easter Season - between Easter Vigil until Pentecost - the first reading is taken from the Acts instead of from the Old Testament.

The Book of Acts demonstrates the early Church and how the early Christians provided for each other.  This is a model that may seem impossible to achieve today, a utopia.  St. Padre Pio once said that if Christians everywhere would actually live their lives to the fullest as the early Christians did, there would be no need for government services. Nevertheless, while we may not be able to transform all of society we can transform our little spheres of influence. I contend when the Knights of Columbus repair a parishioner's fence or build a wheel chair ramp, they are living as the apostles did.

Living the lives of the apostles requires more than simply performing acts of charity, it also means evangelizing.  Most of us are not called to be priests or to the religious life.  Instead, most of us are called to be ordinary people (yes, Joe Catholics) working and living in secular society. It is there that we are called to evangelize by our example.  As the hymn goes, "they will no we are Christians by our love." They will know and want to be like you because they see a positive change in you because of the Lord's work in you, because you have become Christ to others.  It means living and sharing your faith precisely where you have been planted in life.

Lindon's Handout

I also recommend reading the first few chapters of Scott Hahn's book Ordinary Work, Extraordinary Grace.