May is a very special month for the Church as we remember Mary, the Mother of Jesus and Mother of us all. 

A full month is given over to Mary and during this month we are asked to think about Mary, say special prayers to her, have May altars, and sing hymns to Mary to tell her how much we love her and to ask her to help us stay close to her son Jesus and to try to live as Jesus shows us. 

During these strange and uncertain times, we turn to Mary to help us. Pope Francis shared the following prayer, asking Mary to protect the world during this Coronavirus pandemic:

O Mary,
you always shine on our path
as a sign of salvation and of hope.
We entrust ourselves to you, Health of the Sick,
who at the cross took part in Jesus’ pain, keeping your faith firm.
You, Salvation of the Roman People,
know what we need,
and we are sure you will provide
so that, as in Cana of Galilee,
we may return to joy and to feasting
after this time of trial.
Help us, Mother of Divine Love,
to conform to the will of the Father
and to do as we are told by Jesus,
who has taken upon himself our sufferings
and carried our sorrows
to lead us, through the cross,
to the joy of the resurrection. Amen.

Under your protection, we seek refuge, Holy Mother of God.

Do not disdain the entreaties of we who are in trial,

but deliver us from every danger, O glorious and blessed Virgin.

The ideas and resources below are to help you as a family at home to celebrate May as the month of Mary, our Mother. 

Ways to Celebrate Mary in May

• Set up a May Altar in your house. 

• Have a family May procession inside or outside your house in the garden or yard. 

• Pray to Mary Each Day 

        Write a prayer to Mary asking for her help during the Coronavirus pandemic.

• Draw your own picture of Mary and place it in your window.

• Say the Rosary together as a family. 

• Make your own Rosary beads or create an outdoor rosary. 

• Try some crafts, there are lots of ideas online! 

        (Make sure you have an adult with you whenever you are searching online!)

• Find hymns which are about Mary and sing them with your family! Maybe you could even create your own hymn about Mary?

• Look at stories of Mary in the Bible. Choose your favourite one and retell it in words and pictures. 

• In many countries, there are special places where people visit to pray to Mary. Find out about:

        Our Lady of Knock, Ireland

        Our Lady of Lourdes, France

        Our Lady of Fatima, Portugal

• In March, England was re-dedicated as the Dowry of Mary. Find out more about this on the link below:

If you do complete any of the activities above, please email a picture of your work to: 

amckeon@sphoward.herts.sch.uk

and we will post them here on the 'RE at Home' page. 

Alternatively, you could post about them on your blogs!

We would love to hear from you!

Well done to the Smalley family who created this lovely May Altar at home.

The roses on the table came from their own garden! Great job!

Well done to Emma in Year 3 for sending in her picture of her May Altar.

It looks lovely!