Today is the first of May; otherwise known as May Day. In pre-Christian times it was celebrated with the festival of Flora, the Roman goddess of flowers. Secular versions of this day observed in Europe and America may be best known for dancing around the beribboned maypole. It is the celebration of spring. On May 1, 1561 King Charles IX of France received a lily of the valley as a lucky charm and he decided to offer one each year after that to the ladies of the court. It became customary to give a sprig of lily of the valley, a symbol of springtime, on May 1. For Christians (Catholics, Orthodox and Anglicans), May is known as the month of Mary, the mother of our Lord. She is known as the Queen of May and it is the occasion for a moving tribute of faith and love in which Christians in every part of the world pray to her, the Queen of Heaven. This is Mary’s month. Two Marian liturgical celebrations are commemorated in May. When the Ascension of our Lord (into heaven) falls in May, the Saturday after is traditionally celebrated as The Feast of Our Lady, Queen of the Apostles. Liturgy commemorates the period of time after the Ascension when the apostles were gathered in prayer with Mary and the women in the Upper Room. On May 31 in the U.S. we celebrate the Commemoration of the Visitation. When Mary heard that her elderly relative Elizabeth was expecting a child she hurried to help. May is considered the beginning of the season of new life.
“May, queen of blossoms, and fulfilling flowers, With what pretty music Shall we charm the hours? Wilt thou have pipe and reed, Blown in the open mead? Or to the lute give heed In the green bowers.” ~ British lawyer Lord Edward Thurlow
It is no surprise to me that in France the Lily of the Valley will be everywhere today. Lilies and roses are the flowers of the Ever Blessed Virgin Mother Mary. I came across this picture of us at a renaissance festival in May several years ago called Scarborough Fair just outside of Dallas. I still have my wreath of roses and the necklace my little one was touching was made just before my husband took the picture. I customized the design and it was created by pounding the images into the metal after having an enormous rock dropped on top of it. On one side is the wolf and the other, the fleur-de-lis. This month celebrates the beauty of the flowers in the fields; the hardy dandelions that still manage to spring up in this cement world. Celebrate the women in your life. Mother’s Day is just one week from today — May 8 … yet another connection with mothers and flowers this month. I would say it hits the mother lode on May Day.
