Since the 13th century, May has traditionally been considered the month of Mary **. This photograph of a Mary statue is from Monasette.com, and was taken at the Quin Friary in Clare (click to enlarge). They love bright, garish colors in Ireland, probably to cheer them up from all the gray skies. Lots of Mary statues and shrines can be found across Ireland.
Lots of Mary statues in cities in Massachusetts too, especially in ethnic neighborhoods (Italian, Portugese, Irish, Dominican). It's easy to find a "Mary in the Bathtub" statue in a Somerville backyard. Across the line in Cambridge, though, you're more likely to see a Buddha or Ganesh statue. Mary statues are considered kitschy by the educated, liberal folk. Buddha, however, is considered cool. Funny how that is.....
One of my favorite prayers is the "Hail Holy Queen," the perfect plea for help at those times in your life when you are feeling desperate and hopeless:
Hail Holy Queen, Mother of mercy, our life, our sweetness, and our hope. To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve, to thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears. Turn then most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy on us and after this our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Oh clement, o loving, oh sweet Virgin Mary.
What a cadence! Oh clement, oh loving, oh sweet Virgin Mary. You have to hand it to Catholicism, this religion respects and embraces sorrow and pain, which find us all sooner or later. Not for us the New Age/happy face/positive affirmation approach to life.
Another beautiful prayer is the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary, composed in the Middle Ages, with its simple "pray for us" refrain repeated after many invocations to Mary. Unfortunately, like so many beautiful and powerful traditions of the Church, it's not really practiced or available to us regular lay people. Perhap Pope Benedict can bring back some of our traditions, our rich heritage is being kept away from us!
** I'll be blogging about the BVM each Saturday in May.
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