Monthly Devotion: 'Tis the Month of our Mother

May, that blessed month in which we are encouraged to show our love and affection for our tender Mother in special ways, is here again. A certain attitude of excitement fills the convent. We love our Mother dearly as she is the surest path to Jesus her Son and so we rejoice at the opportunity to offer her little signs of affection. Many of the devotional practices that we individually and communally offer in her honor are very simple but given with love.

 St. Alphonsus Ligorui, in his meditations on the titles of Our Lady, has this to say about calling on Mary:

"Sancta Maria. Holy Mary. The name of Mary is a name of salvation. This name came not of earth, but from heaven.... Therefore it is that, after the name of Jesus, the name of Mary is above every other name; for God has filled it with grace and sweetness, that every blessing may be obtained by him who names it."

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Our May shrine

Hail, O Lady, holy Queen,
Mary, holy Mother of God:
You are the Virgin made Church,
and the one chosen by the most holy Father in heaven
whom He consecrated with his most holy beloved Son
and with the Holy Spirit the Paraclete,
in whom there was and is
all the fullness of grace and every good.
Hail, his Palace!
Hail, his Tabernacle!
Hail, his Home!
Hail, his Robe!
Hail, his Servant!
Hail, his Mother! 
And hail all you holy virtues
which through the grace and light of the Holy Spirit
are poured into the hearts of the faithful
so that from their faithless state
you may make them faithful to God.
~ St. Francis of Assisi