Goodbye and Hello Rainy Sunshine

Hello month of love and wedding! Goodbye May sunshine and summer season.

I don' know about you but time is not only flying when I am having fun! It's also levitating and invigorating...

But soon enough the kids will be at school; fun season is over since summer is over and rainy season is around the corner. Ask the kids how that goes. Yes, here we are halfway through this beautiful year landing smack in the middle of a very lovable month. Poetry month is over, summer sky is fading but we should also embrace the fulfillment of the promise made by months gone by; the promise of love and fruitful weddings bursting all over the country. Let's enjoy the song that Junes sings to itself, it will likely be a beautiful music to our ears...

Aah, it's really over, first half of the year has come and my unfolding projects and plans still rolling along. Much love and lots of thanks to all those who supports me for this project.

I hope that you had a beautiful sunny summer drenched in lots and lots of love. And let's all welcome the wet season with much gratitude in our heart for rain is a blessing as much as the sunshine...

May Altar

Source: May Poetry (F.H.W. - Columbia Journal. May 1954.)

In May

(F. Sackett - Robert, Cyril. Mary Immaculate: God's Mother and Mine. New York: Marist Press, 1946.)

Source: May Poetry 

Galilean May

M. Thérèse - Robert, Cyril. Mary Immaculate: God's Mother and Mine. New York: Marist Press, 1946.
Source: May Poetry

The May Queen

Marie Fischer - Robert, Cyril. Our Lady's Praise in Poetry. New York: Marist Press, 1944.

Source: May Poetry

My Angel in May

A few years back, the same date as today, God sent me an angel and named him Francis. That was my happiest day; the day my son saw the light in this world. Being given the responsibility to be a vessel of creating another life is the most wonderful miracle that happened to me. The beauty of being a mother made me a complete woman. Today, my son is 15 years old; time passes by so quickly, I missed a lot of time away from him. But looking back and feeling sorry for all the moments away from him will not make our life any better, but cherishing our time together and spending it as best as we can is better. I am so grateful to God for all the blessings in our life especially for keeping my son safe and healthy, for giving me a wonderful son that every mother can dream of. Happy birthday, sweetheart, you're our Angel in May and all the days since you were given to us. 

Springtime is a universal growth, a season to celebrate motherhood; a reason May is dedicated to Mary, Our Blessed Mother who willingly accepts the role of motherhood to humanity. I am happy as wife and mother; like Mary, I willingly accepts and fulfill my responsibility of being a mother.

Here's another poem in honor to Our Lady of May:

THE MAY MAGNIFICAT

May is Mary's month, and I 

Muse at that and wonder why: 

Her feasts follow reason, 

Dated due to season-

Candlemas, Lady Day: 

But the Lady Month, May, 

Why fasten that upon her, 

With a feasting in her honor? 

Ask of her, the mighty mother: 

Her reply puts this other 

Question: What is Spring? 

Growth in every thing-

All things rising, all things sizing 

Mary sees, sympathizing 

With that world of good, 

Nature's motherhood.

Well but there was more than this: 

Spring's universal bliss 

Much, had much to say 

To offering Mary May.

Poem source: The Magnificat

THE MONTH OF OUR LADY

THE MONTH OF OUR LADY

The daffodils dance at the dawning, 

The may bells make clamor and sing; 

What, then, is this season, good mother, 

When flowers such loveliness bring? 

It is the sweet month of Our Lady, 

Whose Son is our Savior and King.

The violets waft their faint incense, 

In glory the gill blooms blow; 

What, then, is this season, dear mother, 

That lilies are sisters of snow? 

It is the rich month of Our Lady, 

When beauty and loveliness flow.

The south wind's a song of love's triumph, 

Twined round a child's laugh in the lane; 

What, then, is this season, O mother! 

When fragrance grows vocal in rain? 

It is the lush month of Our Lady, 

Madonna of bliss and of pain.

Like cordons of honor, the poplars, 

That stand, rigged in green, in the night, 

Let us form, then, for Mary, O mother! 

Our own little pageant of white. 

It is the glad month of Our Lady, 

Earth's fairest, and Heaven's delight!

Beautiful Mary: Our Lady of the Flowers

There are many ways in honoring Our Blessed Mother; one way to honor Mary this month is by recalling flowers and herbs named after her. The attributes of Mary called out by flowers can serve as starting points for prayer and meditation about Mary and her life.

May, really is a fanfare of nature coming to life as I mentioned here a few days ago. Celebrations honoring new life became associated with Mary since the Middle Ages.

Here's another poem in honor to Our Lady of the Flowers:

The faithful saw Mary's attributes in the herbs and flowers growing around them and named many plants after her. Legends about the flowers developed as people sought to connect them with events from Mary's life.

Mary was associated with this passage from the Song of Songs:
"I am the Rose of Sharon, the lily of the valleys."

The rose is regarded as the "queen of flowers", and often symbolizes Mary, the Queen of Heaven. Rose is also an almost universal symbol of perfect love, its color, perfection of form, and fragrance, as well as its thorns which signifies Mary's role in salvation history as the Mother of Jesus Christ Our Savior who was crowned with thorns and shed His blood on the Cross for love of mankind. The rose, arising from a thorny bush, also signifies Mary, the Mystical Rose, "our fallen Nature's solitary boast", who alone of the human race was conceived without sin. It also may contain a parallel with the fiery thorn bush from which God spoke to Moses: Mary, immaculately conceived, was the means through which God became Man, The Word made flesh.

Rose legends proliferated, reaching their peak in the twelfth century. The Rosa Alba turned pink when Mary blushed at the angel's Annunciation, the Christmas Rose sprang up to provide flowers for the poor shepherd girl who had no gift for the Infant Jesus, the Rose of Jericho marked the spot where the Holy Family rested during their flight into Egypt, and the Rose Campion saved the life of a lord who prayed "Our Lady's Psalter." 

In the fourteenth century the poet Dante called Mary "the Rose, in which the divine Word became flesh...." Many artists of the fifteenth century painted Mary with roses, often in a rose garden. 

Tradition tells us that the Amazon lily was the Star of Bethlehem guiding the Magi to Jesus. Other lilies were associated with Mary. The red lily was Mary's lily, and the Martagon or turban lily was called Our Lady's Tears. Hosta or plantain lily was the Assumption lily. Easter or Madonna lilies and lilies-of-the-valley-- white color and sweet fragrance symbolize Mary's purity, humility, loving obedience to God's will. Jesus is also called Lily of the Valley.The Iris;old-fashioned names were "flag" or "sword lily": the deep-blue color symbolizes Mary's fidelity, and the blade-shaped foliage denotes the sorrows that "pierce her heart". The iris flower is the "fleur-de-lis" of France. This symbol of the Blessed Virgin is also the symbol of the cities of Florence and of Saint Louis.

Click to read more about Mary's Flowers

Source/Reference: Mary's Flowers and its meaning

May: The Most Beautiful Month of the Year

The month of May is the merriest and the most beautiful month of the year. It’s also the month when rain begins to pour after a long dry spell, flowers magically bloom overnight. First rain drops of this beautiful month happened this afternoon while my husband and I were exploring our town on our motorcycle. We got wet but we enjoyed our ride. It was a fun and refreshing afternoon getting wet under the rain.

Since the month of May is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, I will offer each day of this month an honor for our Blessed Mother. Every day for 31 days of May, I will share a poem or prayer in praise and honor for Our Lady.

Here's the second poem this month in honor for Our Blessed Mother who brings glory to the month of May.

Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound also in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed also in heaven. St. Matthew 18:18

May: The Month of Mary

The month of May is a fanfare of nature coming to life, revived by warm sunny days. Though the seasons are changing with global warming, I still think of May as it was in my childhood a time when Santacruzan Festival or Flores de Mayo was celebrated to the full.

Santacruzan is a popular religious festival held in many towns and cities and even small villages  throughout the Philippines during the month of May. It is usually celebrated with a parade of decorated floats and elaborately dressed characters, representing various aspects of the Virgin Mary and other figures. The festival was introduced to the country during the Spanish period and continues to be celebrated by Filipinos all over the world. 

Since May is traditionally celebrated as "The Month of Blessed Virgin Mary"; here's a beautiful poem dedicated to her.

If seven times in the day your brother sins against you, and seven times in the day turns back to you, saying, "I repent," forgive him. St. Luke 17:4

Despite today's changing seasons, the birds still nest and incubate their families to the echoing call of the early cuckoo.

Modern May fairs settle on the traditional villages, with blasting sirens and music in a swirl of flashing coloured lights

.
Things change, it's a part of life but from past to present, May is my month and the first of May, the start of many delightful months to come.

What I mean is the same with the lyrics of the song "First of May" by the Bee Gees, though the Time Lapse musical video I made is from the album Best Audiophile Voices performed by Angela.

When I was small, and Christmas trees were small 

We used to love while others used to play.

Don't ask me why, but time has passed us by,

Someone else moved in from far away.....

Hope you enjoyed the video!