May, the Month of the Blessed Virgin Mary is the subject of the following reflection by Spanish Fr. Rafael Mosteyrín.
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Many years ago, I heard the story of Mrs. Antonia’s gold nuggets. Since she was very small, she had the habit of praying always three Hail Marys to the Most Holy Virgin, as she knew that the Virgin liked that expression of affection very much. The day of Antonia’s death arrived and she went to Heaven, in fact on the birthday of the Most Holy Virgin. There was a great celebration in Heaven for our Mother, who was next to the Most Holy Trinity. Saint Joseph had given Her a beautiful blue dress. Saint Peter gave her a gold crown, so all the Saints and Angels celebrated our Mother. Among the different Guardian Angels present there, Antonia was able to know who hers was, who at that moment was approaching the Virgin Mary. He gave Her as a present a large coffer, full of gold nuggets. Antonia was overjoyed when she learned that each of the gold nuggets was in fact one of her gifts. They were all the Hail Mary’s she had prayed every night of her life.
To pray a Hail Mary to the Virgin is an expression of affection. To pray three Hail Marys every night is a habit that lasts but a minute, but its constancy shows how much we love our Mother, and She is very grateful. It is an idea with which to gift Her in this month of May, and throughout our life.
Every year we celebrate the fact that May is the Virgin Mary’s month. It’s not just a one-day celebration, as is Her birthday, but 31 consecutive days of celebration. Moreover, this year is an especially good year, as we are dedicating it to Saint Joseph, a reason of great joy also for the Virgin.
We have the challenge of loving the Virgin Mary even more during the coming month. We will give Her very great gifts. Pope Francis also reminds us of the greatness of our generosity. He has asked us to take part, in the month of May, in a prayer marathon for an end to the pandemic. And, of course, the Virgin’s favorite prayer is the Holy Rosary. In this prayer, we pray to our Mother no more and no less than 50 Hail Marys and express to Her a lot of compliments and congratulations, which summarize how much She loves us and how much She protects us. In recent apparitions of the Virgin, such as Lourdes and Fatima, She has asked us to pray the Rosary for our good and as a way to solve the world’s problems. The Rosary has enormous force and can solve all the world’s problems. In every Hail Mary, we ask the Virgin what is most important for each one of us. And we congratulate Her, reminding Her of what we need, She who is the person closest to God and no less than His Mother. Now, with all the more reason, we can pray to Her to congratulate Her and to ask Her for an end to the pandemic.
And, of course, the greatest gift will be for us to draw near to Her Son, through Confession. Confession in which we are forgiven everything always, and, once cleansed, to receive Him in Holy Communion, the more often the better, but at least once a week, on Sundays. After all, it’s one hour a week, 0.59% of the 168 hours of every week. I truly believe that none of us can say that we don’t have the time to pray to the Virgin Mary or to go to Mass on Sunday.
