May Crowning- Preparations

We are planning our May Crowning and I just wanted to share some of our ideas (so that I don't forget anything).

So far, we plan to sing a Marian hymn and say the Litany of Loreto during our Coffee, Tea and Thee time. There are cookies waiting to be dressed up in their frosted, floral best and I am thinking about a fun beverage. Maybe a pretty blue punch?

We have 3 Mary statues that we will crown which means that the three older children will each get a turn. Of course Bigboy won't be left out. I made one of these little May Day baskets that Alice inspired to be placed on the hand of our largest Mary. My idea is to use some of Our Lady's titles to inspire prayers for some person or group of people that might seek the Blessed Virgin's intercession under that title. After our May crowning this Sunday, there will be 25 days left in the month. Husband and I chose 25 of Our Lady's titles from the litany. We will ask the Blessed Virgin to intercede for, protect and guide these people under her patronage:

• Mirror of Justice - lawyers & judges
• Seat of Wisdom - lawmakers & elected officials
• Cause of our joy - entertainers
• Mystical Rose - florists, gardeners, conservationists
• Tower of David - construction workers
• Tower of Ivory - professors and teachers (this one might be stretching it! : )
• House of Gold - bankers
• Ark of the covenant - vets & animal shelter workers
• Gate of Heaven - soldiers (also talk about Blessed Andre and St. Faustina as porters)
• Morning Star - astronomers
• Health of the sick - doctors and scientists
• Refuge of sinners - people who are homeless & shelter workers (not that they are more sinful than anyone else...we are all sinners, but we thought about the "refuge" part and this is what we came up with)
• Comforter of the afflicted - hospice workers and those in their care
• Queen of Angels - policemen & firemen (they act as guardian angels sometimes and they are under the patronage of St. Michael)
• Queen of Patriarchs - the Holy Father
• Queen of Prophets - theologians & apologists
• Queen of Confessors - the Fathers of Mercy, all priests and our personal confessors (I know that is not actually what the word confessor means in this case, but the kids don't yet.)
• Queen of Virgins - religious sisters & consecrated virgins
• Queen of All Saints - the Church Militant (since we are all striving to be saints)

Since we combined the "vessel" titles into one we added:

• Mother most amiable - people who are hard to get along with & people suffering from depression
• Mother of good Counsel - counselors and therapists

Updated 5/09 to add:

• Mother Most Chaste ~ religious brothers and priests
• Spiritual Vessel ~ sailors and member of the Navy
• Singular Vessel of Devotion ~ those who keep Holy Hours especially in the middle of the night.
• Queen of Peace ~ those living in war torn countries
  

The order will be mixed up to honor a few very special days. Sunshine's birthday is on May 24th which is also the feast of Our Lady Help of Christians. We plan to honor Our Lady under the title "Help of Christians" that day and ask for her protection and guidance for our little miss Sunshine and for all Christians especially our separated brethren...and then...we celebrate BigBoy's birthday on the 25th so we are saving "Queen of Martyrs" for him (since his name saint is a martyr) with a special prayer for all who are persecuted for the Faith.

Yep, you read that right! We have back to back birthday celebrations. Double the cake, double the shopping, double the decorations. I really feel for mothers of multiples! My May babies are separated by 5 years and different genders so there really is no chance of a joint party right now. I don't think I'd do that anyway. Now you see why God gave me the cake gene?

I am printing out little forget-me-not flowers and we will deposit one each night into the basket and say a Memorare for that special intention. I am hoping that this will make bedtime prayers a little more interesting and maybe prompt some thoughtful discussions.

And we are also dressing up our Mary Altar, but since I am still tossing ideas around, take a look at Dawn's and Meredith's. Aren't they lovely?

Pictures to come.