By Lauren Considine
“To succeed in your intentions, entrust yourselves to the Blessed Virgin Mary always, but especially in moments of difficulty and darkness. ‘From Mary we learn to surrender to God’s will in things. From Mary we learn to trust even when all hope seems gone. From Mary we learn to love Christ, her Son and the Son of God…Learn from her to be always faithful, to trust that God’s Word to you will be fulfilled, and that nothing is impossible with God.’”
- St. John Paul II
I honestly believe that celebrating Mary and Mothers Day in May is no coincidence. There is always such a huge focus to use God and Jesus as our role models when making choices and I’m sure you’re all familiar with the phrase “what would Jesus do?” But, what about Mary? Why don’t we include her into the conversation? She also has a wealth of wisdom, compassion and courage for us to draw upon. We should also be praying to Mary for guidance, not just to God.
So why May and Mary? Well to answer it we have to travel back in time. In ancient Greece, May was dedicated to Artemis, and in Ancient Rome, May was dedicated to Flora. As time went on May became a 30 day devotion to Mary through the Rosary of which we still use as ritual today.
During May, it is not uncommon for churches around the world to celebrate Mary through daily praying of the Rosary.
Pope Francis encourages us to spend our prayer life in May as a family expressing “love and devotion for the Blessed Virgin Mary.” While the church doors remain closed due to the Pandemic across the world, Pope Francis is asking all families to help build spiritual life, through daily Rosary. His Holiness has also presented two prayers (one listed below) to be prayed at the end of the Rosary.
O Mary,
You shine continuously on our journey
as a sign of salvation and hope.
We entrust ourselves to you, Health of the Sick,
who, at the foot of the cross,
were united with Jesus’ suffering,
and persevered in your faith.
“Protectress of the Roman people”,
you know our needs,
and we know that you will provide,
so that, as at Cana in Galilee,
joy and celebration may return
after this time of trial.
Help us, Mother of Divine Love,
to conform ourselves to the will of the Father
and to do what Jesus tells us.
For he took upon himself our suffering,
and burdened himself with our sorrows
to bring us, through the cross,
to the joy of the Resurrection.
Amen.
In light of Pope Francis’ Prayer I invite you to discuss Mary with your families in three ways over the Month. In this way, you are able to give children an understanding for why Pope Francis wrote the prayers and how we can gain hope in uncertainty.
Mary as the mother of Jesus
One of the most well known bible passages for our children is the Nativity story where Mary first became Jesus’ Mother. When using this passage to discuss Mary as a mother it in important to keep her, not Jesus in focus of the discussion. Talk to your children about what kind of Mother Mary might have been? How would she have made Jesus feel? How can we turn to her for help?
Mary as the first Disciple
While Mary first truly became Jesus’ first disciple when she said ‘yes’ to God at the Annunciation, that concept is hard for children to grasp. So instead we will refer to the scripture of the Wedding at Cana, where Jesus turned water into wine, as His first miracle. Mary encouraged others to believe in Jesus. Her trust showed belief as a true follower even before miracles had taken place. Discuss with your children what it is like to be a good disciple. What do you have to do? How do you act? How is Mary a good disciple?
Mary as loving and Compassionate.
It is no surprise that we are going to the cross when discussing Mary’s love and compassion for us all. With Easter just passed, this passage is still fresh in all of our minds. But instead of reading the passion of the Lord again, instead, I ask you to take some time looking at my favourite depiction of Mary’s love for us all- the Pieta from Micheal Angelo in St Peter’s Basilica.
I have been blessed enough to see this real sculpture at St Peter’s and feel it depicts Mary’s love for Jesus and us all perfectly. Find an image online and talk to children about how Jesus and Mary are depicted in the image. How would they both be feeling? How would you feel if you were in Mary’s arms?
Lastly, if you haven’t already during these uncertain times I encourage you to find a space in your home to share prayer. It is important for us all, but especially children to have concrete materials to help orientate them to a task. Take a classroom for example, teachers fill the space with work, colour and posters that inspire our children to learn. Churches and Prayer Spaces work in the same way. They orientate us to a time dedicated to prayer. This month, create a prayer space- if you haven't already and add some items that are related to Mary which allow focus on her. Maybe some rosary beads, a statue, image or special prayer, even something blue. Let us tilt our focus this May and build our prayer life with some time dedicated to Mary. Pray to our Mother for her to help to guide and protect us. After all, we can never have too many mothers looking after us!
Lauren Considine is the Religious Education Leader at Holy Family Primary School, and along with our Principal and all our teachers are currently doing a wonderful job supporting our students during this time of home learning.