May Magnificat
Poem by Fr Gerard Manley Hopkins SJ (1844-1889)
May is Mary’s month and I Muse at that and wonder why: Her feasts follow reason, Dated due to season – Candlemas, Lady Day But the Lady Month, May, Why fasten that upon her, With a feasting in her honour? Is it only its being brighter Than the most are must delight her? Is it opportunist And flowers finds soonest? Ask of her, the mighty mother: Her reply puts this other Question: What is Spring? – Growth in every thing – Flesh and fleece, fur and feather, Grass and greenworld all together, Star-eyed strawberry-breasted Throstle above her nested Cluster of bugle blue eggs thin Forms and warms the life within, And bird and blossom swell In sod or sheath or shell. All things rising, all things sizing Mary sees, sympathizing With that world of good, Nature’s motherhood. Their magnifying of each its kind With delight calls to mind How she did in her stored Magnify the Lord. Well but there was more than this: Spring’s universal bliss Much, had much to say To offering Mary May. When drop-of-blood-and-foam-dapple Bloom lights the orchard-apple And thicket and thorp are merry With silver-surfed cherry And azuring-over greybell makes Wood banks and brakes wash wet like lakes And magic cuckoocall Caps, clears, and clinches all – This ecstasy all through mothering earth Tells Mary her mirth till Christ’s birth To remember and exultation In God who was her salvation. (May Devotion)
This weekend we will begin the month of May, which is dedicated to Our Blessed Mother. It is a time for us to remember how important Mary is to Our Lord in the midst of the Easter celebration. Upon the Cross, He placed Mary in the care of the Beloved Disciple, John, and likewise placed John (and each of us) into Mary’s care. From His birth until the Cross, Jesus honored His Mother as a holy child should. Even in Heaven, Mary was crowned Queen of Heaven and Earth for the magnificent role God had given to her. How can we not do the same with both our own earthly mother and our heavenly Mother in the month that shines forth new life in the season of spring awakening? Let us renew in our hearts a love for Mary and find ways to honor her.
Consider the resource at this link (https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/resource/240688/month-of-mary-may-devotions) with its daily short reading and simple call to action to honor Our Blessed Mother each day of May. Also, remember that in most apparitions of Our Blessed Mother, she has asked us to pray the Rosary, especially for sinners. So let us begin or renew praying the Rosary daily to present Mary with a crown of roses from our faithful meditation of the Rosary.
Pray for us, O holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
References:
May Devotion poem retrieved from https://anastpaul.com/2019/05/01/thought-for-the-day-1-may-devotion-for-may-the-month-of-mary/
Author: Laura Stephens, FF Sacrament Preparation Catechist
