The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1911-04-29
THE MONTH OF MARY.

1t is with no small degree of
spiritual anticipation that the de-
vout clients Of the Blessed Virgin
look forward to the month of May
which the Catholic Church sets
apart for special devotion in honor
Of the Mother of God. Apart from
the worship of God in the Blessed
Sacrament of the altar, there is no
devotion which appeals more
strongly to the Catholic heart and
none more prolific Of grace than
that which has for object the I'm
maculate Virgin Mary.
Since the day on which the hum,
BILE maiden of Judea declared to
her cousin, St. Elizabeth, from
henceforth all generations shall
call me blessed there never was
a time in the history Of Christian
ity when that prophetic utterance
was barren of fulfllment. She who
spoke these words was conscious of
their abiding truth; for had she
not, a short time previously, given
her consent to become the Mother
of the Son Of God? That one fact
establishes their truth forever and
furnishes the fundamental reason
for the Church s deep-seated ven
Grafton for the Blessed Virgin.
Once, we admit, as all who read
the Sacred Scriptures with an eye
to their true meaning must admit,
that Mary was chosen for the ex-
allied dignity Of Divine Mother
hood by God Himself, what right
has one to assert that any honor
which the Church can show her is
too great, or that the loving hon.
age pledged by Catholic hearts is
any detraction from the worship
which they owe to God Himself!
The Catholic Church has always
placed the Blessed Virgin next to
Jesus as the special object Of ven
GRAFTON and love. From the begin
ming she has enshrined the name of
Mary in her petitions for divine
favors and insisted upon the eff
cacy of such prayers on the part of
the faithful.
It is not to be wondered at,
therefore, that the Church sets
apart one month Of the Christian
year to testify in a special manner
her reliance upon the powerful in
tercession of the Mother of God.
During it she bids her children
honor one whose soul was adorned
with all the virtues that should
characterize the true Christian.
She weaves garlands for Mary and
entwines them around her statues );
she decks her affairs with the fair
est flowers; and bids the sweet in
cense Of prayer arise from hearts
that delight to honor their Queen.
She exhorts all the faithful to
initiate the virtues Of their heaven
ly Mother-her humility, which
laid the foundation for the great
honor Of which she was the re-
cipient; her faith, which "stag-
gered not by distrust" when the
stupendous import of the angel s
words dawned upon her {; her purity,
which made her as worthy as hui
man being could be of the trans
cendent dignity with which she
was clothed; her charity, which
united her to God in the golden
bonds of the deepest love of which
creature is capable; her renun-
citation, which hade her offering of
self most acceptable to her Divine
Spouse. No better exemplar of
Christian virtue could the Church
hold up for the imitation of man
kind than that Blessed Mother
who, bound to us by the ties of a
common nature, in itself frail and
weak, nevertheless, shows to what
heights of perfection it can be ele-
waited by correspondence with
grace.
During the coming month, there
fore, let our Churches ring with
her praises; let our hearts throb
with her love; let our lives be in
stinct with her virtues.