Vintage Chicago finally surfaces again! I guess I was either happily busy with my life or just busy, or just uninspired. It takes quite a nudge to get me to sit down and compose an entry and given the fact that I have been mostly going through my day to day routine, it has left me sadly, uninspired. But! "It's May, It's May...." Camelot fans sing and probably dance around to the rest of that fabulous song. As long as I have been alive and conscious of this delightful time of year, I have loved the month of May.
Starting with the fact that my birthday falls late in May, more often than not, in conjunction with Memorial weekend. How great is that, year after year, to possibly have a 3 day weekend for your birthday? Not to mention the feeling that summer is just beginning and before you are endless possibilities for fun and frivolity. Of course the younger you are, the more frivolous your dreams! And with a newly graduated daughter in the house, it is so easy to recall a summer long ago that held so much promise of friends, endless fun, and the delightful possibility of a summer romance! It won't be all fun and games for her though. She has her first summer job. Pool waitress at the country club. On second thought, what a dream job, it WILL be fun and games-with a paycheck! Working poolside with all of your high school friends, ogling the lifeguards, delivering margaritas to the moms at the kiddie pool; sounds like a Frankie and Annette movie. Modern day reference; like a scene from High School Musical 2. This week our family has four birthdays and five graduations, that's the mayhem part.
The other aspect of May that I have always loved is the traditional devotion given to the Blessed Mother throughout the month of May. May has always meant the month of Mary and the wondrous practice of the May Crowning. And of course,gorgeous Marian hymns sung at Mass each Sunday in May that you can sing word for word without even looking at the book. When you are a little Catholic girl you excitedly await the first day of May when you scour the house for pretty little bits to cobble together a devotional altar, IN YOUR VERY OWN BEDROOM! An upside down tissue box covered with a pretty hankie. The family Mary statue, or if you are lucky your very own mini Mary, probably a plastic version, that resides on a shelf somewhere in your room throughout the rest of the year. Mom's bud vase. The first spring flowers from the backyard. And if you are VERY lucky, your Mary statue is big enough for you to fashion a crown of clover buds to adorn her head. All very humble, all very awesome to a 6 year old.
Back in the day, when reverence and tradition were still in fashion, a May Crowning was a beautiful and special occasion. For as long as I live I will remember what it felt like to have a special role in a formal May Crowning ceremony. In 1964 when I was 5 years old, as luck would have it, my best friend had a sister who was a Senior at Marian Catholic High School. Chris was given the honor of crowning Mary. She would be dressed in a floor length formal gown and she would be wearing a "Marian blue" satin cape. Of course in 1964 all females wore some sort of head covering for mass. We had our crown of flowers, Chris wore a veil. She required two attendants to carry the train of her cape and one attendant to walk in front of her carrying Mary's crown on a pillow. Chris' little sister Patty, my friend, was the perfect age for the job. Patty was to carry one corner of the cape and I was to carry the other. My sister Susie, being a year older, was chosen to lead the procession carrying the crown of flowers on a satin pillow. Special dresses were chosen for us to wear, with matching shoes, white gloves and a crown of flowers for our own hair. You can't even imagine what it feels like for a little girl to be chosen and outfitted so beautifully for such an occasion. A blue organza "party dress" with matching baby blue shoes! I can still see myself opening the refrigerator several times throughout the day to sneak a peek at my flowers. As the evening ceremony approached I don't remember being nervous, (amazing for a little thing that was constantly afraid of her own shadow) only excited beyond words. When I myself was a Senior at Marian Catholic High School in May of 1977, there was no May Crowning, probably hadn't been one for years. I often wonder why such ceremonies and traditions went by the wayside. I guess they don't fit too well with guitar masses and liturgical dancing.
Well, May 2010 is almost history. I will leave you with the May 25 message from Our Lady to the visionary Marija from Medjogorje in the former Yugoslavia. Since 1982 Our Lady has been appearing with messages of prayer and conversion to bring souls to her Son and to bring peace to the hearts of all.
“Dear children! God gave you the grace to live and to defend all the good that
is in you and around you, and to inspire others to be better and holier; but
Satan, too, does not sleep and through modernism diverts you and leads you to
his way. Therefore, little children, in the love for my Immaculate Heart, love
God above everything and live His commandments. In this way, your life will have
meaning and peace will rule on earth. Thank you for having responded to my
call.”
