Liturgical Living at Home
May 2026
May is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, it's often called the Month of Mary
For centuries, the Catholic Church has set aside the entire month of Mary to honor Mary, Mother of God. Not just a day in May, but the entire month.
May 1 was considered the start of new growth. The idea of a month dedicated specifically to Mary can be traced back to baroque times. Although it wasn’t always held during May, Mary Month included thirty daily spiritual exercises honoring Mary. The tradition of Tricesimum, or “Thirty-Day Devotion to Mary,” came into being. Also called, “Lady Month,” the event was held from August 15-September 14 and is still observed in some areas. Eventually Mary’s Month and May were combined. This custom became especially widespread during the nineteenth century and continues today. The ways Mary is honored is as varied as the people who honor her. It’s a long-standing tradition to crown the statue of Mary during May – a custom known as May Crowning. Often, the crown is made of beautiful blossoms representing Mary’s beauty and virtue. It’s also a reminder to the faithful to strive to imitate our Blessed Mother’s virtue in our own lives. May Crowning, in some areas, is a huge celebration and is usually done outside of Mass, although Mass may be celebrated before or after the actual crowning.
For May, give Mary a special spot in your prayer corner. It can be a statue or picture, but place there some representation of our Blessed Mother. Make it appealing and a real tribute to her beauty and virtue.
May 1: St. Joseph the Worker
Twelve Months of Monastery Salads: 200 Divine Recipes for All Seasons by Brother Victor-Antoine d'Avila-Latourrette is an inspiring cookbook for salads. This salad is simple and delicious.
Brother Victor explains why this salad is named after St. Joseph: The monastic calendar, like the secular one, is repeated year after year. It waits for no one and always arrives on time. It is based on the seasons of the liturgy and provides us daily occasion to remember God's friends and our intercessors, the saints. No one should be surprised, then, that so many recipes bear a saint's name. This is completely natural to me, for each day I think of and pray to the saint whose memory is kept on that date. I keep continual company with the Mother of God and the saints, and I am inspired by their words and examples.
Someone once asked me if there was a special mystical meaning in my recipes that bear the names of saints. The person thought the recipe was the creation of the saint for whom it was inscribed. She was later mystified, and almost disappointed, by my simple response. I told her that there were many ways of honoring the saints and keeping their memories alive. One of my ways was to name recipes after them, so that others might think of and remember their legacies.
St. Joseph Salad (makes 6 servings)
Salad
1/2 pound baby spinach
1 small head radicchio, shredded
18 cherry tomatoes
6 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and cut into wedges
2 shallots, finely chopped
Vinaigrette
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 Tablespoons tarragon vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Salt and pepper to taste
1. To assemble the salads, in a large salad bowl, toss together the spinach and radicchio until well combined and divide equally among 6 salad plates. Arrange the cherry tomatoes and egg wedges attractively on top. Sprinkle the shallots over everything.
2. Whisk the vinaigrette ingredients together in a measuring cup or small bowl until thickened and pour evenly over each of the salads. Serve immediately.
May 13: Our Lady of Fatima
A beautiful way to celebrate Our Lady of Fatima is to recite the Litany of Loreto as a family:
Lord have mercy.
Christ have mercy.
Lord have mercy.
Christ hear us.
Christ graciously hear us.
God, the Father of heaven,
have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world,
God the Holy Spirit,
Holy Trinity, one God,
Holy Mary,
pray for us.
Holy Mother of God,
Holy Virgin of virgins,
Mother of Christ,
Mother of the Church,
Mother of Mercy,
Mother of divine grace,
Mother of Hope,
Mother most pure,
Mother most chaste,
Mother inviolate,
Mother undefiled,
Mother most amiable,
Mother most admirable,
Mother of good counsel,
Mother of our Creator,
Mother of our Saviour,
Virgin most prudent,
Virgin most venerable,
Virgin most renowned,
Virgin most powerful,
Virgin most merciful,
Virgin most faithful,
Mirror of justice,
Seat of wisdom,
Cause of our joy,
Spiritual vessel,
Vessel of honour,
Singular vessel of devotion,
Mystical rose,
Tower of David,
Tower of ivory,
House of gold,
Ark of the covenant,
Gate of heaven,
Morning star,
Health of the sick,
Refuge of sinners,
Solace of Migrants,
Comfort of the afflicted,
Help of Christians,
Queen of Angels,
Queen of Patriarchs,
Queen of Prophets,
Queen of Apostles,
Queen of Martyrs,
Queen of Confessors,
Queen of Virgins,
Queen of all Saints,
Queen conceived without original sin,
Queen assumed into heaven,
Queen of the most holy Rosary,
Queen of families,
Queen of peace.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world,
spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world,
graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world,
have mercy on us.
Pray for us, O holy Mother of God.
That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let us pray.
Grant, we beseech thee,
O Lord God,
that we, your servants,
may enjoy perpetual health of mind and body;
and by the glorious intercession of the Blessed Mary, ever Virgin,
may be delivered from present sorrow,
and obtain eternal joy.
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
May 18: St. John Paul II's Birthday
Back in 1999, during a visit to his old home town of Wadowice, Pope John Paul II mentioned that he was very fond of the cream cake (or kremówka) that, as a child, he and his friends in school would buy from one of the bakers in the town's market after putting their money together. The next day the entire town was arriving with kremówka, suddenly renamed Kremówka Papieska, the "Papal Cream Cake.
Polish Papal Cream Cake (Source: About.com)
2 sheets (1.1-pound package) frozen puff pastry dough, thawed
1 recipe Easy Pastry Cream (see below)
Confectioners' sugar
Preparation: Heat oven to 400 degrees. Roll out each piece of puff pastry slightly to blend the seam lines. Without cutting all the way through, lightly score each pastry sheet into 9 sections. Sandwich each puff pastry sheet between two pieces of parchment paper and two cooling racks. This will keep the pastry flat but still flaky. Bake 15 minutes, remove top rack and top sheet of parchment paper. Replace rack and continue to bake until golden and crispy throughout, about 15 more minutes. Cool completely.
If you like a thick layer of filling, make a double batch of Easy Pastry Cream.
Using a 13x9-inch pan as a mold, place one layer of cooked puff pastry in the bottom of the pan. Pour hot pastry cream over it, and place second layer of cooked puff pastry on top. Refrigerate until set. When ready to serve, using the prescored marks as guides, cut into 9 pieces. Dust each piece with confectioners' sugar. Refrigerate leftovers.
Easy Pastry Cream (to go with the cake!)
Easy Pastry Cream
2 cups milk
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
Pinch salt
5 tablespoons cornstarch
6 large egg yolks (See these leftover egg white recipes.)
Preparation: In a medium saucepan, bring milk, sugar, vanilla, salt, cornstarch and egg yolks to a boil, stirring constantly with a wire whisk. Reduce heat slightly and continue to boil 1 minute, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon to get in the corners. Take the pan off the heat and plunge it into an ice-water bath or, if you have lumps, strain it through a sieve into a pan or heatproof bowl set in ice water.
If not using the pastry cream hot as in Polish Kremówka Papieska, place a sheet of plastic wrap on the surface of the pastry cream which is cooling in the ice-water bath, and top the plastic-wrapped surface with a layer of ice cubes. Leave the ice cubes in place until the cream cools. Cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days.
May 24: Happy Birthday to the Church!
Pentecost is always 50 days after Easter. This year it is on May 24 and it’s the BIRTHDAY of the church. Come Holy Ghost, fill the hearts of Your faithful and kindle in them the fire of Your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth.
As this year our parish has adopted St. Augustine, it may be extra appropriate to pray his prayer to the Holy Spirit this Pentecost: Breathe in me, O Holy Spirit, that my thoughts may all be holy. Act in me, O Holy Spirit, that my work, too, may be holy. Draw my heart, O Holy Spirit, that I love but what is holy. Strengthen me, O Holy Spirit, to defend all that is holy. Guard me, then, O Holy Spirit, that I always may be holy. Amen.
Pentecost is the Birthday of the Church, you may like to celebrate with a birthday cake! Pentecost is also known as Whitsunday (or White Sunday). The large candle in center represents Christ our Light, who promised to send the Holy Spirit, and the 12 smaller white candles represent the 12 Apostle and the tongues of fire. The 7 red hearts represent the 7 gifts of the Holy Spirit, and the 12 strawberries, placed around the cake, represent the 12 fruits of the Holy Spirit.
After singing Happy Birthday to the Church, your family can blow out the candles with a "mighty wind."
If you don’t have time to bake you can pick up a white Cheesecake from the grocery store, along with some Strawberries, which is quick and easy! Red Velvet cake is also a nice option.
In addition to dessert there are all sorts of other recipes that you could make for Pentecost like a Twelve Fruit Salad as suggested at www.catholiccuisine.blogspot.com:
Twelve Fruit Salad
In honor of the twelve fruits of the Holy Spirit (bonus points if you can name all 12).
Suggested fruits: Kiwi, Red Raspberries, Black Raspberries, Strawberries, Watermelon, Red Grapes, Green Grapes, Cantaloupe, Pineapple, Peaches, Nectarines, and Apricots.
Have you tried a new liturgical tradition in your family?
Snap a photo and send it our way so we can show others how much fun you're having! There's so much to celebrate and enjoy this month as Christmas is wrapping up and we are back to Ordinary time for a short bit.
The Buchan family took their palms home on Palm Sunday and were able to fold Palm Crosses!