As has been appropriate for Mays immemorial, we have crowned Our Lady on this first Sunday of May so as to open this month in which we hold her most dear to us. Bl John Henry Newman, in his devotions for the month of May, relates how Our Lady is most fittingly honored during this month. Newman writes: “May, therefore, is the time in which there are such frequent Alleluias, because Christ has risen from the grave, Christ has ascended on high, and God the Holy Ghost has come down to take His place. Here then we have a reason why May is dedicated to the Blessed Mary. She is the first of creatures, the most acceptable child of God, the dearest and nearest to Him. It is fitting then that this month should be hers, in which we especially glory and rejoice in His great Providence to us, in our redemption and sanctification in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost.” Indeed, we should glory and rejoice in her through whom salvation has come and in whom the Church remains sanctified and united to her divine Bridegroom.
Our Lady deserves our praise not only because of every good gift, every perfect gift she has received, but because of their source and their purpose. Their source is the Father of lights, who is the best of all givers. For indeed, God gives more than grace unto each Christian; He gives that which is most dear to Him: His own Son. And this relates the source of her gifts to their purpose. Their purpose is for the salvation of souls; in fact, the salvation of the whole world. God made her so perfect and pure so that she would be worthy to carry the insitum verbum, the Word grafted unto her flesh, and through her, grafted unto the flesh of all humanity.
Let us rejoice, indeed, that God has chosen His lowly handmaid to be the Mother of His Son. Let us give her the praise that is due to her, singing the new song foretold by the psalmist in our introit, the song praising the marvels the Lord has done through her and with her. Let us echo the praises of the Church throughout the centuries in honoring who is most blessed among all women. Yet our praises cannot be enough for her who is such a good and perfect gift to us.
Just as promises are worthless if they are not reinforced by action, so too our praises are worthless if they do not lead us towards the goal of all the gifts we praise in her and from her. Our Lady certainly receives our praise and gratitude with joy, but she desires to give more than that to her Son, to her King. She desires to pass on and present more perfectly our entire being as a good gift to return to Him who has given everything for us. In union with the Paraclete, the divine Spouse who brought her the gift of her Son, she desires to love us completely and to aid us in the ultimate goal which God has in mind for each of us: our sanctification.
The Virgin Queen loves us most when we love her in every part of our lives. Let us do our part to make each moment of our existence ordered towards a greater love of our Queen, and, with her and through her, our eternal King. Let us order our lives as Saint James instructs us: casting away all uncleanness and abundance of malice, being swift to hear the Word implanted in us by her and being slow to speak and slow to anger. Above all, we must act in charity towards God, towards Our Lady, and towards our neighbor.
Let us imitate the example of the Blessed Virgin in our lives, orienting ourselves towards the Word implanted in us by the Holy Spirit, whose descent Our Lord foretells in our Gospel. Let us hear the truth about which we should be more convinced every day: the sinfulness of disbelief even within the Church and within our hearts when we fail to live up to His commands; the justice of Christ reigning from His heavenly throne, to which He will ascend so very soon; and the judgment of God which is already cast upon this generation. Let us not be afraid to beseech God through Our Lady for every good gift, every perfect gift necessary for us to grow in sanctity through the Word implanted within us at baptism and upon whom we are regrafted each time we worthily receive the Holy Eucharist. Let us strive to praise Our Lady not only in our hymns and in our prayers, but also in our words and our actions, so that we may merit at the end of our days to enter into the unchangeable and unalterable joy of the Father of lights.
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