Queen of the May

I was honoured to be invited to preach today at the annual May Devotion to Our Lady at the Manchester Oratory (St Chad’s, Cheetham Hill Road). The above photos show Our Lady of Walsingham on her brancard, and the permanent statue of Our Lady and Child which graces the entrance to the Lady Chapel. The Mass setting (Gloria, Sanctus-Benedictus, and Agnus Dei) was the Missa O Soberana Luz by the Portuguese composer Felipe de Magalhães (1571-1652), and the Offertory motet was the Ave Maria by Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971). Two traditional Marian hymns were sung, Bring flow'rs of the rarest and I’ll sing a hymn to Mary, as the outdoor procession moved to the gardens of the church and the final decade of the glorious mysteries of the Holy Rosary was recited, with the Regina Caeli concluding the Devotion. Later in the week the children of the parish school will participate in the traditional May crowning of the Image. 

Bring flow’rs of the rarest, bring blossoms the fairest,
From garden and woodland and hillside and dale;
Our full hearts are swelling, our glad voices telling
The praise of the loveliest flow’r of the vale!

O Mary we crown thee with blossoms today!
Queen of the Angels and Queen of the May.
O Mary we crown thee with blossoms today,
Queen of the Angels and Queen of the May.

Their Lady they name thee, their Mistress proclaim thee,
O grant that thy children on earth be as true
As long as the bowers are radiant with flowers,
As long as the azure shall keep its bright hue.

O Mary we crown thee… 
 
Sing gaily in chorus, the bright angels o’er us
Re-echo the strains we begin upon earth;
Their harps are repeating the notes of our greeting,
For Mary herself is the cause of our mirth.

O Mary we crown thee…