We are now in the month of May and for Catholics, May is most well-known as “Mary’s Month” where special devotions are performed in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary -- the recitation of the holy rosary, the crowning of her image, offering of flowers and many others.

We may wonder why the month of May is associated with the Blessed Virgin Mary. Well, it was in Rome towards the end of the eighteenth century, one fine evening in May, when a child of the poor gathered his companions around him and led them to a statue of Mary, before which a lamp was burning, as is the custom in that holy city. There, these fresh young voices sang the Litany of our Lady. The next day, the little group, followed by other children, again gathered at the feet of the Mother of God. Next came their mothers to join the little assembly. Soon, other groups were formed and the devotion rapidly became popular. Holy souls, troubled by the disorderly conduct which always increases and becomes graver at the return of the pleasant springtime, saw in these growing practices the hand of God, and they cooperated with the designs of Providence by approving and promoting this new devotion as a public and solemn act of reparation. Since then the Month of Mary was founded in May. (Cf. A Carthusian, A Month with Mary, London: Burns and Oates, 1950.)

This Sunday we also have a group of children with their parents, not only to honor our Blessed Virgin Mary, but also to receive the Body and Blood of Christ for the first time in Holy Communion. They are the second grade students of our Religious Education Program who have been receiving catechetical instruction and faith formation for the past year. Following are the nineteen students:

Emma Beach                        Chloe Liti
Sophia Crawford                  Collin Michael
Leah Cromer                         Azelyn Michelini
Brandon Davis                      Grayson Miller
Madison Harmon                 David Snyder
Isabella James                     Alaina Ursiak
Emma Jenkins                      Elizabeth Wesolosky
Emily Koharchik                    Dylan Whitlinger
Alyssa Lasko                         Monica Zollinger
Zachary Lasko

We congratulate them as they receive the Sacrament of First Holy Communion!