The month of May has always been seen by us as the month of Mary. Its verdant colours, its beauty in the greens, the colour of the lilies, the bluebells, the mayflower, the lily of the valley, all colours which remind us of the purity of Our Lady.

Such has been this devotion since early mediaeval times that May figures in so much poetry and song. We also know that May was also a month when Summer blossomed and for many it was a time of revels, dancing round the maypole, reminding us of earlier pagan times, and the revels of Bealtaine, honouring Baal the pagan god.

Who now remembers the May altar in houses, jam jars filled with bluebells, lilac and early cottage roses. The Maybush was also a feature of those days, especially in rural Ireland, when people would decorate a shrub or bush outside their house, probably harking back to earlier times. Perhaps it was an earlier form of superstition which then became a symbol of a welcome for May and the Virgin, with the growth of the Christian message.

Today, the May ceremonies and older traditions are but a memory, lost to only the few.

On May 1^st, Liveline did feature people reminiscing about these old traditions and in line with tradition the hymn, “Bring flowers of the rarest” was played on Radio One.

In this busy world it is hard to remind ourselves of May as the month of Mary, but each year, thank God, we still hear the beautiful song so linked to Mary and this beautiful month sung by our Church choir.
Do join our choir by clicking on the video to hear that beautiful hymn, dedicated to our Lady, The Queen of the May, as we echo the poets words,
‘Their voices sound to show their pride
In Mary, Queen of all that’s fair
In May’.