Planning a Marian Coronation is not as hard as you might think, and a May crowing ceremony is a great way to recognize Mary as the Queen of Heaven and Earth! I’ll start with the basics. The month of May is dedicated to Mary. It’s traditional to have a May crowning on May 1 (which is also the optional Feast of St Joseph, the Worker) but you can do it any time during May.
The Essentials- A Mary Statue and a Crown
First, decide which statue of Mary you want to crown. If Junior Legion members are hosting a May Crowning in the Parish,as a parish-wide event, then pre-arrange how you will crown the church statue. If it is too tall, you may need a ladder, or you may decide to forego the big statue altogether, in favor of a smaller one brought in, such as the Statue you use for the Legion Altar, set up on a table to be used as the May Altar. It’s traditional to crown Mary with flowers of some kind. If you’re looking for ideas on crafting a crown, check this May Crowning post from apast year. Take the statue’s placement into consideration when planning. You may want to put together a simple May Altar or arrange the Legion Altar in the church to stay there for the day or even the whole week.
Bring Flowers for Mary
You can ask all the families attending the May Crowning to bring flowers for Mary. These can be hand picked, store bought, or artificial- no pressure. Alternately, you could provide flowers there and give one to each child to offer to Our Lady. These flowers will be placed at Mary’s feet. You can check out the Marian symbolism of different flowers here, but anything works, and you certainly can’t go wrong with Our Lady’s color- blue!
Plan for Procession
Usually there is a procession with the crown before it is placed on Mary’s head. You can line up all the Junior Legionaries, and have everyone sing a song while they process with the crown. (For song ideas, scroll down). The Legionaries can all carry flowers to be placed at Mary’s feet as they reach the statue. Either provide a vase for these flowers ahead of time, or just lay them individually at Mary’s feet.
Prayers for May Crowning
After you’ve crowned Mary, it would be great to say some prayers! The Hail Mary and the Hail, Holy Queen would both be good choices. Or, better still, pray a decade or more of the rosary.
May Crowning Songs- Marian Hymns
Bring Flowers of the Rarest (Queen of May) is a great beginning processional song, as also is Tis the Month of Our Mother. A good concluding hymn is Hail Holy Queen. Other good ones include Immaculate Mary (Ave Maria) and Hail Mary (Gentle Woman).
Fun Food for your May Crowning
After the May Crowning, you can invite Members and their families and guests for tea and snacks. Try these ideas for fun food you can serve for any Marian feast day! You could also try making some cute crown shaped snacks of some kind, like crown shaped cakes or these May Crowning cookies from Family at the Foot of the Cross. You could also make some fun edible rosaries!
May Crowning Dress
It’s traditional for girls to wear their First Communion or Easter dresses for the May crowning, and for the boys to wear their Easter or Sunday best as well.
Resources for a May Crowning with a Mass
If you’re looking to plan a whole May crowning Mass, Catholic Teacher Resources has a very good printable May crowning layout . Here is a May Crowning proposal from Little Flowers Girl’s Club that you can send to your priest to have a May crowning during Mass, along with plans.You can find more resources for planning your May Crowning Mass at the Catholic Toolbox, and at Catechist’s Journey.
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