Each year, we look forward to a May Altar festooned with flowers, candles, crafts, and holy water gracing our family room. Our tradition for many years has been to gather round the altar each night, allowing the littlest children to process in and leave the day's craft projects around Our Lady as we join in a favorite hymn. "O Mary We Crown Thee," "Immaculate Mary," "Hail Holy Queen," "Lady of Knock," "Oh Most Holy One," "Salve Regina," and "Mother of God, Star of the Sea" are all part of our repertoire which keeps growing each year as the children learn new songs. We bless ourselves with Holy Water and say the Rosary, before trooping off to bed for the night. Sometimes we may sit down to read a Marian book as well. The children look forward to this prayerful time almost as much as our nightly "Advent Festivities" in December, and they are never glad to see the altar dismantled and Our Lady put back in her usual place on the mantel when the blessed month finally draws to a close.
As you can see from the photograph above, this year's altar is still a bit sparse. It needs to be moved outdoors for our homeschooling group's May Crowning this week, but, afterwards, we will begin to decorate it little by little, and I hope to share photos as we beautify it for Our Lady.
The title of this post, "A Murmuration of May Altars," was inspired by a recent piece by the always eloquent Karen Edmisten on poetic plurals. I liked the term "murmuration" because it made me think of prayers and hymns lifted from our hearts to the Blessed Mother. The use of a plural seemed fitting because it occurred to me that we should consider sharing photographs of our family May Altars this month. Several mothers, including Dawn, Meredith, Cay and Amy have begun to post images of their statues and altars, and there is even a new blog devoted entirely to one family's tranquil Mary Garden. It is inspiring to see how so many families around the country are taking time to honor Our Lady and pass on a love for her to their children.
If you would like an image or post about your family's May Altar to appear here at Cottage Blessings later in May, please send a private email to [email protected] (but remove the term "NOSPAM" from the address--that's a trick I learned from Amy to block some unwanted emails) by Mother's Day, May 14th giving your name, your blog URL, the link to the post containing a photograph of your altar, and your email address. Even if you do not have a blog, please write to me privately to share a photo or family tradition. If you were not planning on erecting an altar this year, there is still plenty of time. Take out the flowers and candles this week and begin a new tradition for your family!
As promised, here are two of today's Marian Baskets. The first was packed by Margaret for her grandmother (my mom) and features a butterfly-shaped cookie, several wrapped packages of teabags and other niceties, a small statue of Our Lady, a large votive candle, sacrifice beads (created by Margaret herself on the Feast of St. Therese), a holy card, and more. Meticulous Margaret even took the time to hand paint flowers onto the weave of the basket:
Theresa's basket, prepared for a beloved Dominican sister, is a riot of ribbon and boasts a butterfly cookie, fancy tea, holy cards, a Luminous Mysteries plaque, St. Benedict cross, and medals. The good sister is going to love it, even if she does receive it a day past May 1st!
Alice, your family expresses and celebrates our Catholic faith so beautifully. I feel so blessed to learn from, and share with, you! Thank you for including me in your post. :)
Posted by: Dawn | May 02, 2006 at 03:59 AM
What a beautiful post, and a beautiful use of murmurations!
And the girls' baskets, of course, are lovely.
I have a new statue of St. Joseph on the way -- a birthday gift which should be here any day now. I can't wait to see it.
And one of these days, I'll join the 21st century and get a digital camera so that I, too, can share in the photo fun. :-)
Posted by: Karen E. | May 02, 2006 at 08:31 AM
Karen, there is still time to take a regular photo and scan it, and a St. Joseph's altar would be a most welcome addition! : ) How's that for pressure?
Posted by: Alice | May 02, 2006 at 08:41 AM
It's all so beautiful! I can't wait to see it's progress during the month.
And I love your post title! :)
Posted by: Amy | May 03, 2006 at 09:10 AM
Alice,
I don't have a scanner!! Arrgghh! I told you I don't live in this century yet! :-)
The statue arrived yesterday, by the way, and I love it!!
Posted by: Karen E. | May 03, 2006 at 09:43 AM
I love your Altar and I especially love your Lady of Fatima statue. I was wondering if you would tell me how tall it is and where you purchased it? Thank you.
Posted by: Julia | May 03, 2006 at 10:16 AM
Thank you all so much!
Julia, my statue is about three feet tall and was purchased at a local religious goods store about five years ago. At the time, I think I spent about $250 for it, but it was worth every penny. It makes a beautiful centerpiece for our family room and seems to provide a prayerful atmosphere to the whole house. (It also came with a jeweled crown.) Thank you for asking!
Posted by: Alice | May 03, 2006 at 12:42 PM
Alice,
Your photos are so inspirational! I am embarrassed to admit that I have never heard of having a Marian altar during May. We've always crowned our blessed Mother, but this year we will try something new, thanks to your inspiration.
Posted by: Karen | May 06, 2006 at 09:00 PM
Karen, that's fantastic! And when you do, please be sure to send me a photo or a link to a photo on your lovely blog so that I can include it in my post about family May Altars later this month!
Posted by: Alice | May 06, 2006 at 10:26 PM