Answered by Legionary of
Christ Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy at
the Regina Apostolorum university.
Q: In the back of "The Rites of the Catholic Church"
there is an Order of Crowning of the Blessed Virgin
Mary. My concern is regarding organizing a May crowning
of the Blessed Mother. In the introduction to this rite
(No. 8) it lists the bishop, or a priest entrusted by
him, as the minister. Can this rite be used for
crownings that are repeated yearly? Can this rite be
used by a group of laypeople wishing to honor the
Blessed Mother with a crown for May? Is there a separate
rite (even a semiofficial one) for May crownings?
— M.S., Cleveland Ohio
A: Actually, we are speaking of two different things.
The order of crowning found in the rites is that of
placing a precious bejeweled gold or silver crown upon a
particularly venerated image of Our Lady. This is
obviously done only once or at least rarely.
If the image is found in a diocesan sanctuary, then it
is performed by the bishop or his delegate, either
another bishop or a priest such as the rector of the
Marian sanctuary.
Some images of national or international renown are
occasionally crowned in the name of the pope as a sign
of special veneration. In this case the Holy Father
issues a special decree giving directives regarding the
mode of crowning.
The May crowning is an act of popular devotion in honor
of our Blessed Mother that is repeated every year. As
the name indicates, it is usually done during the month
of May, but in some countries, especially in the
Southern Hemisphere, it is performed in other months
especially in November.
The custom of the May crowning fell out of favor in many
places during the 1970s and '80s. Recently it has made a
comeback along with Eucharistic adoration, the rosary,
and many other traditional Catholic practices that serve
to nurture the faith and devotion of the faithful.
There is a lot of flexibility regarding the rite, and it
can be adapted to many different circumstances and
situations depending on whether the crowning is done in
a parish, a school or classroom, or even in the family.
If the statue of Mary to be crowned is not already in a
fixed place, an image may be set up on some suitable
support.
The area may already be decorated with flowers, but
those participating in the crowning may also process to
the image carrying flowers and singing appropriate
Marian hymns before placing their bouquets at Mary's
feet.
The rite may consist of hymns, prayers, and maybe an act
of consecration to Our Lady.
The climax of the celebration is the moment when the one
of those present places a crown of flowers on Mary's
head accompanied by a traditional hymn to the Blessed
Mother.
After the crowning, the person leading the event
concludes with a suitable prayer. If he is a priest or
deacon, he may impart a blessing.
Regarding the harmony that should reign between the
demands of the liturgy and the celebration of May, the
Holy See's Directory of Popular Piety says the following
in No. 191:
"In many cases, the solution for such problems would
seem to lie in harmonizing the content of the 'Marian
months' with the concomitant season of the Liturgical
Year. For example, since the month of May largely
corresponds with the fifty days of Easter, the pious
exercises practiced at this time could emphasize Our
Lady's participation in the Paschal mystery (cf. John
19, 25-27), and the Pentecost event (cf. Acts 1, 14)
with which the Church begins: Our Lady journeys with the
Church having shared in the novum of the Resurrection,
under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The fifty days
are also a time for the celebration of the sacraments of
Christian initiation and of the mystagogy. The pious
exercises connected with the month of May could easily
highlight the earthly role played by the glorified Queen
of Heaven, here and now, in the celebration of the
Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Holy Eucharist."
* * *
Follow-up: May Crownings of Mary
[5-20-2008]
Related to our comments on May crownings (see May 6), a
reader from the state of Washington asked:
“Regarding the crowning of Mary during the month of May,
is this something that is normally included during holy
Mass? I ask this because the time-honored tradition here
in our cathedral is that the Blessed Mother is crowned
inside the church either during or after holy Mass and
on a special day other than Mother's Day. Last year the
new priest moved it all outside on Mother's Day, a
secular holiday.
"Normally this would not seem so important, yet all of
the Church's holidays or seasons are being changed to
celebrate the seasons, which I am told is a pagan
tradition. Advent is now become 'Harvest Festival.' Lent
is now become 'the Miracle of Spring.' Easter is now
'Happy Resurrection Day,' and so on. And it appears that
now our Blessed Mother is gradually being moved out of
the Church.”
As mentioned in our previous column, there is no
official rite for a May crowning.
Unlike the solemn crowning of an image by the bishop, it
would not be liturgically correct to perform the popular
devotion of May crowning within Mass. It may be done,
however, immediately before or after.
There is nothing that would impede the May crowning of a
statue of Our Lady that is within a church if this is
the custom. It is sometimes more practical, however, to
crown an outside statue.
From what our reader commented, I surmise that the new
priest has acted in good faith out of practical and
pastoral concerns. After all, he has transferred, not
abolished, the practice of a May crowning.
It is quite possible that the new setting allows for a
more spontaneous and festive tribute to Our Lady than
within the church.
While we all lament the secularization of Christian
feasts, I think that the choice of Mother’s Day is not
incongruent. After all, Mary is our Blessed Mother and
this action is a way of filially honoring her as both
our mother and our queen.
Perhaps the priest has been influenced by the practice
in some Latin American countries which celebrate
Mother’s Day on May 10. It is not infrequent in these
countries to have special devotions to Mary on this day.
Certainly a new pastor should always move with prudence
and consultation before changing legitimate and
long-established parish customs. In the end, however, he
must decide on what he believes is in the best interest
for the good of the souls entrusted to him.