May is known as the Month of Mary because of a Jesuit devotion and a pope.
The month got joined with Mary when Father Latomia of the Roman College of the Society of Jesus, to counteract infidelity and immorality among the students, made a vow at the end of the eighteenth century to devote the month of May to Mary, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia.
Also, in the early Church, a major feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary was celebrated on May 15 each year and there existed a prior tradition of devoting 30 days to Mary called Tricesimum, which was also known as “Lady Month.”
The Month of May and Mary
Devotions to Mary quickly became widespread. The Raccolta, a publication of prayers published in the mid-19th century states:
It is a well-known devotion, to consecrate to the most holy Mary the month of May, as the most beautiful and florescent month of the whole year. This devotion has long prevailed throughout Christendom; and it is common here in Rome, not only in private families, but as a public devotion in very many churches. Pope Pius VII, in order to animate all Christian people to the practice of a devotion so tender and agreeable to the most blessed Virgin, and calculated to be of such great spiritual benefit to themselves, granted … on March 21, 1815 to all the faithful of the Catholic world, who either in public or in private should honour the Blessed Virgin with some special homage or devout prayers, or other virtuous practices.
Other Marian Decrees for May
In 1945, Pope Pius XII established the feast of the Queenship of Mary on May 31st. After the Second Vatican Council, this feast was moved to August 22, while May 31st became the feast of the Visitation of Mary.
These decrees led to Marian processions and May Crowning’s across the world to help us honor the Blessed Virgin Mary.
