Happy Feast of St Joseph the Worker!

May Crowning, Month of Mary, plus continued prayers for a Holy Pope!

As are all flowers, the month of May is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, whom we more formally celebrate as Queen of Heaven on the last day of this month. Early in May, a statue of the Virgin at church is crowned with a wreath of roses, and roses are laid at her feet. Little girls and boys dress up in their best, often in blue or in their First Communion clothes; one child carries the crown on a cushion to the statue and another child is chosen to crown the statue.¹

A communal element of May 1 celebrations -- "maying" -- is the Maypole -- the erection of a very tall wooden pole from which hang flowers and, often, great colored ribbons. If ribbons are present, they are taken in hand by dancers who dance around the pole such that the ribbons become wrapped around it. Sometimes the Maypole will be painted in various colors important to the area in which it is raised, or carved with symbols of local industry (for an interesting tale of the fate of an historical Maypole in the United States, see Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story "The May-pole of Merry Mount."

Generally, this is the time to get outside, have picnics, gather flowers, and enjoy the feeling of springtime (while you're gathering flowers, get some violets to dry out and use to make Violet Wine on the Feast of St. Hildegard von Bingen)

Violet Wine

1/2 cup dried violets
2 cups white wine
1 slice galingale root (ginger root is the closest thing easily found in most places if you must substitute)
1/4 tsp powdered licorice

Mix violets and wine and simmer over low heat for about 10 minutes. Strain. Add the galingale and licorice and let sit for two hours.

In many parts of Italy, the early days of May -- Calendimaggio -- are celebrated in a big way, most especially in Assisi. There, the celebrations, which they dedicate to St. Francis of Assisi, include great medieval dramas, medieval games and competitions, troubadours, the choosing of a May Queen, parades with floats, bonfires, feasting on porchetta (roast pig), and other delights. The entire city joins in on the fun, with townspeople dressing in medieval costumes to get into the spirit of things.

In Cocullo, Abruzzo, Italy, Saint Dominic di Sora -- a Benedictine abbot who died in 1031 -- is honored by "la Festa dei Serpari" on the first of May even though his actual feast is on January 22. Just before May 1, the people of the town hunt snakes, which they take alive and bring to the village (there are four species in the area, all non-poisonous). Then, on the feast itself, Mass is offered for the many pilgrims who come in from Lazio, Campania, and Molise. Before leaving the church, people use their mouths to pull a chain that rings a bell; this is said to prevent toothaches in the coming year (note that, for hygienic reasons, most people put a cloth in their mouth before using their teeth to grab the chain). Then a statue of St. Dominic di Sora is draped in living snakes and processed through the town while the people, many dressed in their traditional ethnic clothing, sing and handle the serpents. After the celebrations, the snakes are returned to the wild whence they came.

Now, Communists made May 1 a day dedicated to the workers they wanted to turn into revolutionaries. Against that idea, in 1955 Pope Pius XII made May 1 a special day to honor workers by honoring St. Joseph the Worker -- that is, St. Joseph, the foster-father of Jesus, in his position as a man who worked hard at carpentry to care for his family. Today, like any day, is a good day to honor the man entrusted by God to care for His Son and the Blessed Virgin. As we crown the Virgin as the true Queen of May, let's remember the man who cared for her, and for the Son Who saved them both.²

Spiritual Reading, an Ancient Spiritual Practice,
and St. Francis de Sales's Prayer of Consecration to the Blessed Virgin

Finally, for spiritual reading this month, you might enjoy these two books, which can be found with many others in this site's Catholic Library:

• The Month of Mary According to the Spirit of St. Francis of Sales by Don Gaspar Gilli

Act of Consecration of St. Francis De Sales to the Most Holy Virgin

I salute you, most sweet Virgin Mary, Mother of God; you are my Mother and my Mistress; and therefore, I entreat you to accept me as your son and your servant; I wish to have no other Mother than you. I beg you, then, my good, and gracious, and most sweet Mother, to deign to console me in all my troubles and tribulations, both spiritual and corporal. Remember, most sweet Virgin Mary, that you are my Mother, and that I am your son. You all powerful, and I poor, weak and vile. Nevertheless, I beseech you, O sweetest Mother, to keep me and defend me in all my ways and in all my actions, for, alas ! I am poor and wretched, and in need of your most holy protection. Do, then, my beloved Mother, preserve and deliver my soul and body from all dangers and evils, and make me share in your blessings, your virtues, and, in par ticular, in your holy humility, your surpassing purity and your ardent charity.

Tell me not, gracious Virgin, that you cannot do so, because your Son gave you all power in heaven and on earth. Neither tell me that you ought not to hear me, for you are the common Mother of all poor mortals, and of me in particular. If you could not grant my prayer, then I should excuse you, saying: It is true that she is my Mother, and that I am her son, but she is not able to help me. If you were not my Mother, then, indeed, I should have patience, saying: She is rich enough to be able to assist me, but, alas! not being my Mother, she does not love me. But since, most sweet Virgin, you are not only my Mother, but are also powerful, how can you be excused if you do not console me, and come to my relief and assistance? You see, my Mother, that it is difficult for you to reject any request that I may make you.

Be, then, exalted in heaven and on earth, glorious Virgin and dear Mother Mary, and, for the honour and glory of your Divine Son Jesus, accept me for your son, without regard to my miseries and sins. Deliver me from all evil of soul and body, obtain for me every virtue, and first of all humility; and bestow upon me all the benefits and graces necessary to make me pleasing to the Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

The May Magnificat
by Fr. Gerard Manley Hopkins, S. J.

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 honour?

Is it only its being brighter
Than the most are must delight her?
Is it opportunist
And flowers finds soonest?

Ask of her, the mighty mother:
Her reply puts this other
Question: What is Spring?—
Growth in every thing—

Flesh and fleece, fur and feather,
Grass and greenworld all together ;
Star-eyed strawberry-breasted
Throstle above her nested

Cluster of bugle blue eggs thin
Forms and warms the life within ;
And bird and blossom swell
In sod or sheath or shell.

All things rising, all things sizing
Mary sees, sympathizing
With that world of good
Nature’s motherhood.

Their magnifying of each its kind
With delight calls to mind
How she did in her stored
Magnify the Lord.

Well but there was more than this:
Spring’s universal bliss
Much, had much to say
To offering Mary May.

When drop-of-blood-and-foam-dapple
Bloom lights the orchard-apple
And thicket and thorp are merry
With silver-surfèd cherry

And azuring-over greybell makes
Wood banks and brakes wash wet like lakes
And magic cuckoocall
Caps, clears, and clinches all—

This ecstasy all through mothering earth
Tells Mary her mirth till Christ’s birth
To remember and exultation
In God who was her salvation.

Finally, with the forthcoming conclave we invite you to join us in continuing to pray for the election of a Holy Pope³: (find the following prayer in both Latin and English)

Oratio pro eligendo Summo Pontifice

Deus Pater Omnipotens, qui in creationis initio aquas primordiales calmasti, Sancto volitante Spiritu, eundem Spiritum super Ecclesiam Tuam protinus mittere digneris Successorem Sancti Apostoli Petri elegendi caussa, ut tranquillitas, novo Romano Pontifice rite electo, foveatur atque dilatetur.

Deus Domine Iesu, cuius Corpus est Ecclesia a Te Tuum super Apostolum Petrum fundata, Cardinales, quorum eius Successorem eligere est munus, munias angelica protectione necnon multis robores gratiis, quaesumus, ut his in diebus ante et inter Conclavi conventum, dicta eorum et facta fide digno pro Ecclesiae Tuae bono ad pacem et salutem animarum consequantur.

Deus Spiritus Sancte, Paraclite, Trinitatis Divine Afflatus, omnes sedes habitaculaque Cardinalium Electorum perflare digneris, quaesumus supplicantes, ut diabolicas fraudes repellas, disceptationes veritate et caritate informes, vires exstrinsecas contundas, Ecclesiae Tuae denuo claritatem et serenitatem afferas.

Deus Sanctissima Trinitas, in infinita Tua misericordia et secundum providentiam Tuam Tua pro Ecclesia ineffabilem, inspira urge et insusurra, etiam signis supernaturalibus si opus sit, Cardinales in Conclavi ut nobis munerent bonum Papam et sapientem, mitem Pastorem sed fortem, Christi Vicarium fidelem et reverentem, precantem Petri Successorem et prudentem, amantem mores maiorum Romanum Pontificem et serventem, stabilem pium virilem et sanctum, scilicet meliorem quam mereamur. Amen.

Santa Dei Genetrix, intercede pro nobis.
Sancte Petre, intercede pro nobis.
Sante Paule, intercede pro nobis.
Omnes Sancti Papae, intercedite pro nobis.

Prayer for the Election of the Roman Pontiff

O God the Father Almighty, who at the beginning of creation calmed the primordial waters by the hovering of the Holy Spirit, deign swiftly to send the same Spirit upon Your Church for the purpose of electing the Successor of the Holy Apostle Peter, so that, the new Roman Pontiff duly elected, tranquility may be fostered and expanded.

O God, Lord Jesus, whose Body is the Church founded by You on the Apostle Peter, grant, we beg You, that you defend with angelic protection and strengthen with many graces the Cardinals whose task it is to elect his Successor, so that in these days before and during the Conclave, their words and deeds, for the true good of You Church, will result in peace and the salvation of souls.

O God the Holy Spirit, Paraclete, Divine Breath of the Trinity, deign to waft through all the locales and dwellings of the Cardinals-elect, on our knees we beg You, to repel diabolical schemes, to crush external forces, to bring clarity and serenity to Your Church.

O God, Most Holy Trinity, in Your infinite mercy and according to Your ineffable providence for the Church, inspire, guide and gently urge, if necessary even with supernatural signs, the Cardinals in the Conclave to grant us a good and wise Pope, a kindly but strong Shepherd, a faithful and reverent Vicar of Christ, a praying and prudent Successor of Peter, a Roman Pontiff who loves and preserves the customs of our forebears, a steadfast, pious, virile and holy man, namely, one better than we deserve. Amen.

Holy Mother of God, intercede for us.
Saint Peter, intercede for us.
Saint Paul, intercede for us.
All Holy Popes, intercede for us.

Today, we will be hosting our Annual Celebration of the Feast of St Joseph the Worker at Epiphany of Our Lord Church in Tampa, FL! This is a tremendous opportunity to celebrate the Easter season and the Patron of Fathers, Families, Workers, and the Universal Church.

Our presenting speaker is Joshua Charles of Eternal Christendom!

If you are not already a member, visit the link below to become one…

1. https://fisheaters.com/customseastertide5.html

2. https://fisheaters.com/customseastertide5.html

3. https://wdtprs.com/2025/04/orationes-pro-eligendo-romano-pontifice-prayers-for-the-election-of-a-roman-pontiff-fr-zs-and-card-burkes/