The month of May is dedicated to Our Blessed Mother – Mary.
Mary Queen of Heaven – Lourdes, France
Lets involve our children in dedicating this month to Mary. Celebrating the faith involves children and gives them a better understanding and appreciation of our faith. Moreover, it shows that we as parents are leading by example.
Learning is fun
Let the children speak
Ask your children ‘how would they like to dedicate this month of May to Our Blessed Mother’.
Let them decide how they would like to celebrate Mary. I know we as parents may have our own ideas, but likewise parents can also dedicate this month to Mary in their own special way too.
For example:-
Honour Mary as the Queen of Heaven and Mother of God by making flower art to lay at a statue of Mary.
Buy some freshly cut flowers or pick some from your garden and lay them at the feet of a statue of Mary.
Let your child dedicate their bed time prayers to Mary, similarly my child has decided to say a special prayer to Mary every bedtime during this month.
Our local Catholic primary school, have honoured Mary by crowning their statue of Mary as the Queen of Heaven. Likewise ask if something similar could also be done at your child’s school.
Teach your children the ‘Hail Mary’ prayer if they don’t already know it.
‘Hail Mary full of Grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art Thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death; Amen.
Primary school crowning statue of Mary, flowers brought in by the children.
These are just a few illustrations. But, In addition to these, I’m sure there are many more creative ways we can honour our Mother.
It’d be wonderful to see your ideas, by all means feel free to send them in the contact form. I will also share them with readers of this blog so we can become a community that truly loves and honours Our Mother!!
To try and sum up my love and adoration for the Blessed Virgin Mary in one blog post, would truly not be justified. Mary, Mother most pure is the main inspiration for the creation of my blog. I have been blessed with two wonderful Mothers. My earthly Mother and Mary my spiritual Mother. This post is to share with you one of the ways Mary draws us in closer union with her Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ.
33-day Consecration to Jesus through Mary
Those who consecrate themselves are slaves of Love to Our Lord Jesus Christ, through the hands of Mary… they shield themselves to continue to live in this world.
Today I started my 33-day Consecration to Jesus through Mary. A book inspired by St Louis de Montfort. I’ve been so excited for this day to come. I decided I wanted to commit to this consecration way back in December, but it’s recommended the devotion finishes on a Marian Feast Day, therefore, before you start it’s advised you check the calendar – there’s one available at the back of the devotional book – it provides a list of possible consecration dates for the best day to begin. As I had just missed the 31st of December start date, I had to wait a couple weeks for the next feast day which started today the 9th of January.
A statue of Mary in Lourdes, South of France
It’s funny how my desire for this devotion was re-ignited.
I first started this devotional in 2022, my best intention was to continue it every year. However, life and death happen. In 2023 my mother sadly passed. Such a wonderful Mother and Wife – from whom I learnt so much about the faith and till this day I follow her example as to how to be a good Mother and Wife. I’ll be writing a post on the importance of faith-filled Mothers and how my mother and faith-filled Mothers shape the life of their children. My Mother had a large part to play in the mother and Wife I am today. ‘So, Father in Heaven, thank you for my mother and Father’
In the same year we moved from London to the Northwest of the country. With so much going on, continuing this devotion totally slipped my mind.
So, just before Christmas I came across a YouTube Channel Heralds of the Gospel (I’ll be doing a post on my favourite Catholic YouTube channels), what piqued my interest was their Podcast entitled 5 things Catholic Homes should NOT have. During the podcast the 33-day Consecration to Jesus through Mary was mentioned and talked about at some length, this caused me not only to remember this devotion, but I also decided it’d once again re-commit to praying this devotion at least once a year. Beginning the devotion at the start of the New Year just seemed to me a great place to start.
As I write this, I’m on day 3 of the 33-day consecration to Jesus through Mary. I’m trying to build this into my everyday routine. I more often than not start the day (6am alarm clock) with reciting the rosary, or a couple, depending on what’s going on in my life at the time. I’m currently praying two rosaries, one for each of my boys. I’ve been doing that for a good few months now. Sometimes, if I get up slightly later than usual, I’ll just pray for whichever child needs it most at the time. Or ill pray a rosary for both my boys. After my rosary recitals I’ll then say a few morning prayers, after this, I’ll begin my 33-day Consecration to Jesus through Mary. I have to say, it’s been a great addition to my ‘Mornings spent with God’. Not only does it help in providing some structure and focus to my prayer time but once I’ve said this devotion I always feel well equipped to face the rest of the day. You may have noticed I didn’t say well prepared, but instead well equipped, and I do feel that this devotion equips me (Paul says in Ephesians 6:14) with the Armour of God.
Below is the link to where this precious link book can be purchased
