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Doesn’t May represent, at least in our countries in the Northern Hemisphere, the smile of nature after a harsh winter? If May gradually became "the" month of Mary, it is because of its flowers. Men like the Dominican Henry Suso or Saint Philip Neri invited children to bring bouquets of flowers to the Virgin in May.
Isn’t Mary the "Mystical Rose," the flower that announces the fruit who is Jesus himself? Originally a headdress of plaited flowers, the word "rosary" is self-explanatory. In Lourdes, Our Lady appeared with a golden rose on each foot…
By a happy modification of the liturgical calendar, the month of Mary ends with the feast of the Visitation. This feast is the celebration par excellence of evangelization, of “Mary the Church” rushing to visit her cousin who was expecting John the Baptist.
The Virgin Mary should not be separated from Saint Joseph. So we begin this joyous month with the feast of Joseph the Worker. If anyone on earth enjoyed Mary’s smile, it must have been him!
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