The Lovely Month of May

A familiar thought comes back to me:

The most beautiful month is the month of Mary

And the only way up for our humble prayers

Is by the same way that God came down to us.

An olden thought comes back to me:

The sprightliest month is the month of Mary

When winter has rolled away the irksome cold

To reveal the springtime of a rejuvenated world.

Another thought comes to me:

The newest month is the month of Mary

When life is reborn with the scent of spring

Giving back to mankind what was robbed by Eve.

Then a decisive and final thought comes to me:

Prayer follows the path of grace;

There is no prideful soul or bleeding heart

That the Virgin cannot brighten with her gentle light.

There is no hollow or dark lonesome hole

That the Blessed Virgin cannot change into

A joyous flower-filled clearing

In the lovely month of May.

Father Guillaume de Menthière is a priest for the diocese of Paris. He teaches theology at the Paris Cathedral School and at the Collège des Bernardins. (Translated and adapted by the Marie de Nazareth Team)