Queen of the Angels and Queen of the May

Today marks the beginning of the month of May, dedicated through the ages to Mary our gentle Queen and Mother. This month, I often recall a beautiful ceremony from my childhood: the crowning of Mary as Queen of the May.

From 1958 to 1965, I attended a small Catholic primary school in Atherstone, Warwickshire.  The 80 pupils divided into three classes. The school was immediately next to the church of St Benedict. In fact the southern and eastern walls of the church formed a boundary to the lower playground, used by the girls and the infants (the 'nippers'). Children would play hide-and-seek between the buttresses. It was here that I made my first Confession, Holy Communion and where I was confirmed. I was also enrolled as one of the altar boys, serving at the sublime Latin Mass.

During the month of May, we assisted at a ceremony which involved the crowning of Our Lady as Queen of the May. A girl was selected and she reverently placed a crown of fresh flowers on to a statue placed in front of the sanctuary, on the epistle side.



The photo shows the church as it was in the 1960's, before the liturgical devastations after the Second Vatican Council. The Sacred Heart is on the left of the altar and Our Lady's statue is to the right.

Here are three verses from a hymn we sang to accompany the coronation of Our Lady:

Bring Flowers of the Rarest

Bring flowers of the rarest
bring blossoms the fairest,
from garden and woodland and hillside and dale;
our full hearts are swelling,
our glad voices telling
the praise of the loveliest flower of the vale!

O Mary we crown thee with blossoms today!
Queen of the Angels and Queen of the May.
O Mary we crown thee with blossoms today,
Queen of the Angels and Queen of the May.

Their lady they name thee,
Their mistress proclaim thee,
Ah, grant that thy children on earth be as true
as long as the bowers
are radiant with flowers,
as long as the azure shall keep its bright hue

O Mary we crown thee with blossoms today!
Queen of the Angels and Queen of the May.
O Mary we crown thee with blossoms today,
Queen of the Angels and Queen of the May.

Sing gaily in chorus;
the bright angels o'er us
re-echo the strains we begin upon earth;
their harps are repeating
the notes of our greeting,
for Mary herself is the cause of our mirth

O Mary we crown thee with blossoms today!
Queen of the Angels and Queen of the May.
O Mary we crown thee with blossoms today,
Queen of the Angels and Queen of the May.