Marian Month – Honoring the Virgin Mary

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The month of May is the month designated by the Holy Church to honor the Virgin Mary, and it has been called the Marian month.

The Month of Roses and Prayers

The month of May is the month of roses, beauty, life, and renewal. Just as the roses in the month of May fill the world with perfume and beauty, so does the Virgin Mary smell from her the perfume of her holiness and intercession in the sky of the Holy Church and the whole world.

In this month, the believers show their filial affection for the Virgin Mary. She, in turn, shows the affection of motherhood to everyone who takes her as an intercessor and takes refuge in her shroud, for she is the refuge of all.

In the month of May and every evening, the Church invites the faithful to meet the Virgin, the mother of the Faithful. They sing to her the hymns of joy, the Rosary, the Virgin’s supplications, and the readings dedicated to the month of the Virgin Mary.

Honoring the Virgin Mary in the Marian month of May is a Western tradition and then moving to the East. Some historians attribute its origin to Blessed Henry (+1365). However, the practice of the month of May, as the world knows it today, originated in Italy in 1784 by the priest Louis Riccioli. And then spread the practice of the Marian month in all countries of Europe and America and the world at large.

Marian Month - Honoring the Virgin Mary — Marian Month – Honoring the Virgin Mary

The liturgy and the Eastern Fathers praise the holiness of the Virgin

Eastern churches since ancient times have honored the Virgin Mary in church rites and prayers. Saint Ephrem the Syrian (+373) says that the Virgin Mary is the sacred ark, the woman who crushed the head of Satan, the pure one alone in soul and body, and perfect in holiness.

Contrasting her with Eve, he says they are both innocent, and both have been made alike in every respect, but one of them became afterward the cause of our death and the other the cause of our life.

And he says in another place: ‘Actually, you, O Lord, and your mother are beautiful alone in every aspect and on every level, for there is no stain on you, O Lord, and there is no defilement in your mother at all.’

And Saint John of Damascene (+749) declares that Mary is a saint of pure evangelization ‘for she was keen on the purity of the soul and body, as befits the one who was prepared to receive God in her womb.’ And her adherence to holiness enabled her to become a wonderful holy temple worthy of the Highest God.” And Mary is pure from the time she was conceived: ‘

Oh, Your Beatitude Joachim, who sowed a pure seed! How great is Anna, in whose womb little by little grew a perfect daughter.’ And he asserts that “the enemy’s fiery arrows were not able to penetrate it,” and “nor did lust find a way to it.”

The Second Vatican Council urges the faithful to pay special homage to the Virgin Mary, explaining the nature and basis of this honor, and the essential difference between this honor and the worship of God, saying: “Mary has been raised by the grace of God, but without her Son, above all the angels and all human beings as the Mother of God The totality of holiness present in the mysteries of Christ. That is why the Church rightly honors her with special rites. Indeed, since the most distant times, the Blessed Virgin has been honored with the title ‘Mother of God’.

The believer resorts to her protection, praying to her in all their dangers and needs. The people of God’s veneration of Mary has increased miraculously, especially since the Council of Ephesus, with all kinds of reverence, love, supplications, and imitation of her, realizing her prophetic words: “For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.” (Luke 1:48).

And this honor, as it has always been found in the Church, is absolutely unique. However, it differs fundamentally from the worship in which the Incarnate Word is worshiped by the Father and the Holy Spirit, and it is very worthy of being strengthened: the various formulas of piety towards the Mother of God, which remain within the limits of sound Orthodox teaching, and approved by the Church.

Taking into account the circumstances of time and place, the moods and geniuses of the believing peoples, make that the Son for whose sake all things were found (Colossians 1:15-16), and in whom the Eternal Father consented to dwell in all the fullness” (Colossians 1:19), to be known, loved, glorified and obeyed in his commandments through honoring his mother: Marian Month – Honoring the Virgin Mary

Reflections from the Book of the Marian Month

St. Bernards said, just as the sun surpasses all the stars in the heavens in light and brightness. So you, Mary, after Jesus, your son, exalt all creatures in splendor, knowledge, and virtue, for Mary is in fact holiness in itself. Holiness means not sinning, obtaining grace, and practicing virtues.

Thus, the Virgin Mary, who is innocent of sin and even actual sin, says the Council of Trent explaining this (the Virgin Mary never committed an actual sin), and Saint Augustine cries out, saying, “If the search for sin is, I do not want the words to be about the Virgin Mary.

There is no doubt that our Virgin Mother was absolved of all impurities, even minor ones, because her soul was purer than snow, as St. Gregory the Miraculous says, who also considers her the sister of angels in righteousness, innocence, and purity, and Mary’s inner beauty is the beauty of grace that is a ray of God’s light. This grace, since its inception by the Holy Spirit, has endowed it with the treasures of grace to an extent or measure that our minds cannot comprehend.

That is why we see the angel saluting her, saying: O full of grace, and St. Jerome and St. Epiphanius compare Mary to a lush garden in which all kinds of flowers compete, and she flaunts her beauty and grace. Let our virgin mother be an example for us to imitate. I wish our honorable mother Mary would be for us, as Saint John of Damascus said (a treasure of holiness that enriches our souls and increases it with God’s approval and acceptance).

” And it came to pass, as he is spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bares thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked. But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it. (Luke 11:27-28).

Yes, what you did when you took it upon yourself to live a holy life. But you should know that what should create in you tranquility is not holiness that should accompany this biography, but rather your vigilance and accuracy in completing its duties. Holiness in the Virgin Mother is not only a disgrace from evil and its servitude, but rather it is the fullness of grace and the abundance of the Holy Spirit.

That is why humans call it full of grace. Be honest in what you say, and be modest in your dress. Put a watch on your mouth. Do not flatter, do not lie, and do not participate in gossip. Your mother, the Virgin, calls you to holiness.

Beloveds

Let us approach the Virgin Mary, Mother of Aid, with confidence and without hesitation, asking her for intercession and help. And to ask our Lord Jesus, to protect our families, our children, our youth, and our elders, have mercy on our dead. Protect our monasteries and churches, and grant everyone the grace of perseverance and faith. Amen

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