Making a May altar for Our Lady at home or in school

Dedicating the month of May to Our Lady is a long-standing Catholic custom. It grew up over centuries and was encouraged by many popes; Pope St Paul VI wrote in his encyclical Mense Maio, in 1965, that May is the month in which the piety of the faithful has especially dedicated itself to Mary. Spring flowers, longer evenings and the season of Easter all made it a natural time to honour her.

In Ireland the May altar has been a fixture in schools, homes and parishes for generations, with the May procession and the crowning of Our Lady’s statue often falling around the time of First Holy Communion. The feasts in May help too: St Joseph the Worker on 1 May, Our Lady of Fatima on 13 May, and the Visitation on 31 May.

A May crowning is the custom of placing a crown of flowers on a statue of Our Lady, usually with a procession and a hymn. In a parish it is often a child in First Communion clothes who places the crown; at home it can be the youngest child.

Make a small wreath of fresh flowers on florist’s wire, sized to sit on the statue’s head without forcing it — or, if the statue is small, lay the crown at her feet. Process to the altar with the family or class, sing a hymn such as “Bring Flowers of the Rarest” or “Hail Queen of Heaven”, place the crown, and pray a decade of the Rosary. On a painted resin statue, make sure no wet stems touch the paint.

Many Irish primary schools still keep a May altar in each classroom. It is a good way of teaching children to pray, and an easy way into the story of Our Lady. A light resin statue is the practical choice for a classroom: easy to move, safe with young hands, and coloured, which children love. Give each class a turn to bring the flowers or lead the prayer.

For the whole school, a larger statue in the front hall or the school’s prayer room gives the May procession somewhere to go. See statues for schools for sizes and ideas.