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Views from the Choir Loft

Parish May Crownings

Fr. David Friel · May 4, 2014

RE YOU INVOLVED in your parish May Crowning? Planning for such festivities falls to a variety of people in different parishes and institutions. In some places, the event is planned directly by the local clergy, while in other places it is the purview of a liturgy planner, youth group, volunteer parent, or music director.

Many devotions fell out of favor for a time—Forty Hours, the rosary, novenas, etc. Mercifully, many of these devotions, including the May Crowning, have made and continue to make a strong resurgence. The May Crowning is a beautiful yearly opportunity to renew our love for Mary and to enlist her prayers. A strong devotional life in the parish church will naturally support and strengthen its liturgical vitality.

In most situations, preparations for this beloved annual tradition probably begin with a familiar question: What did we do last year? Since the May Crowning is a devotion with no specific, mandated form, that question is a fair place to begin. Some elements are widely incorporated: the presentation of a crown of roses by a selected lady, May poles, prayers seeking Mary’s protection, and hymns sung in honor of the Blessed Virgin. Inasmuch as a May Crowning is not a liturgical occasion, there is great freedom concerning what might constitute the ceremony. There can be songs, flowers, processions, a children’s choir, a litany, a sermon, and other celebratory components.

The National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) published a special volume in 1987, entitled, Order of Crowning an Image of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The title of this document can be misleading. Its purpose is not actually to provide a script for the May Crowning devotion, but rather to furnish a ritual for the one-time coronation of a special Marian statue with a bejeweled gold or silver crown. Ideally, the document envisions that this rite would be carried out by the diocesan bishop, or at least by another deputed bishop or priest.

Although the Order of Crowning an Image of the Blessed Virgin Mary does not specifically apply to the annual May Crowning ceremony, it may still serve as a useful resource in planning the yearly parish celebration of Mary. The structure of the rite, and even some of the prayers, readings, & intercessions provided, can serve as a starting point for formulating a parish May Crowning ceremony.

Not least among the many aspects of a good May Crowning is the musical dimension. The Order of Crowning suggests the singing of antiphons and hymns, including several Marian chants: Salve Regina, Sub Tuum Praesidium, Ave, Regina Caelorum, Alma Redemptoris Mater, Regina Caeli. American Catholics have a notably strong tradition of vernacular Marian hymns, too, which might well accompany the annual celebration.

Building up devotional celebrations and celebrating them well is an easy way for the parish church to foster greater love among its parishioners for Jesus, Mary, the Eucharist, and the Church universal.

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Catholic Youth Choirs, USCCB Secretariat of Divine Worship Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Fr. David Friel

Ordained in 2011, Father Friel served as Parochial Vicar at Saint Anselm Church in Northeast Philly before earning a doctorate in liturgical theology at The Catholic University of America. He presently serves as Vocation Director for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and teaches liturgy at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary.—(Read full biography).

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Quick Thoughts

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    The organ accompaniment booklet (24 pages) which I created for the 4th Sunday of Lent (“Lætare Sunday”) may now be downloaded, for those who desire such a thing.
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    Vespers Booklet, 3rd Sunday of Lent
    The organ accompaniment I created for the 3rd Sunday of Lent (“Extraordinary Form”) may now be downloaded, if anyone is interested in this.
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    Listening to this Easter Alleluia—an SATB arrangement I made twenty years ago based on the work of Monsignor Jules Van Nuffel—one of our readers left this comment: “I get tears in my eyes each time I sing to this hymn.” I hope this person is weeping for joy!
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Random Quote

“Naturally the accompaniment of the organ is merely tolerated during the office of the dead, but in fact, in nearly every parish this toleration has become a habit.”

— Henri Potiron, 1958

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