May — Consecration to the Month of Mary

The month of May is the Marian month par excellence of the Catholic Church. The tradition of consecrating this month to the Blessed Virgin Mary spread from the 18th century in Italy and Poland, especially through the works of the Jesuit Fr Annibale Dionisi (Mese di Maria, 1726) and Blessed Bartolomeo Dal Monte (18th c.). The devotion was commended by Pius VII in 1815, indulgenced by Pius IX (decree of 21 November 1815, confirmed on 18 June 1822), and expressly promoted in the encyclical Mense Maio of Pope St Paul VI, of 29 April 1965, in which the Pontiff asked all the faithful for particular Marian prayers during this month for peace in the world. In every Catholic parish, throughout May, the Crowning of the Virgin is celebrated, flowers are offered at her altar, and the devotions of the month of May are organised.

O Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God and our Mother, in this month of May dedicated to your glory, I, your unworthy child, come to consecrate to you my days, my works, my joys and my sorrows. Receive me as your own, and teach me to live as a child of your Immaculate Conception; obtain for me from your Son the grace of a solid faith, a firm hope and a burning charity; deliver me from the perils of soul and body; and above all, lead me, at the end of my earthly life, to the eternal morning of Paradise where you reign with Christ the King for ever and ever.

Amen.

Our Father. Hail Mary. Glory be.