Recently I got some news about the parish in which I was reared in the faith and to which all my distant Catholic memories must inevitably refer. Along with many parishes in the Archdiocese subjected to closure or to restructuring in one form or another, the parish of my youth is apparently to undergo a change of management from rule by a religious order to diocesan control. That is not necessarily a bad news, especially in light of the far more radical fate dealt to other Detroit area parishes. At least this parish, and its structures whose lineaments have been indelibly etched in my mind, will survive.

As is often said, parishes are not about buildings but about people. True, but not true enough. Just as our present personal identities and much of who we are now and how we presently think and react in various ways are conditioned by our past, so places that have been dear to us, especially in our formative years, have great significance, even long after, should it be the case, they have ceased to exist materially, surviving only mentally. Such is the memory of our first home, for example, or our earliest friendships which carry with them an enduring association of place and time.

This is a rather elongated introduction to my subject of the Marian devotions that are a feature of my school day memories of my parish church. Every classroom in our parish school (I was among the fortunate to have attended Catholic schools in their heyday) had, during the month of May, an ‘altar’ upon which was placed a crowned statue of the Virgin Mary surrounded by flowers (real flowers, you should know). I can’t say how often, for memory often fails in details, but probably daily, at the direction of “Sister,” we turned our attention towards the altar and made our devotions. These consisted not only of prayers but also of songs to “Our Lady.” It was from those experiences that many Catholics of my generation and of generations before learnt the “Hail, Holy Queen, Enthroned Above,” “On This Day, O Beautiful Mother,” and the ever popular in those days, “Bring Flowers of the Fairest” (and there were others as well which don’t come to mind at the moment). I recall the impression that this Marian ‘presence’ left in the classroom, a feeling that in some way we were specially blest during the month of May to have Her with us. We were conscious of Her being there even though none of us could have been charged with that superstition or idolatry that is sometimes leveled against Catholics. This kind of piety since those times has been often ridiculed and maligned as naive, childish, sentimental or excessive. But for those of us experiencing it, it was the natural expression of a genuine and informed Catholic faith. Drawing nearer to Jesus through Mary is not an after-the-fact rationale imposed on practices of that kind but the spontaneous demonstration of devotion that proceeded from solid doctrine.

All this brings me to the simple ceremony of the May Crowning that will take place outdoors today (or, should the weather hinder it, indoors at the side altar of the Blessed Virgin) before the noon Mass. I have wanted to preserve some of the practice of a former time when May devotions were part of the Catholic devotional commonwealth so that our young people especially (but our older folk as well) can have impressed upon their memories, to savor for a later time in their lives, a fondness for the Mother of Christ that will inevitably secure for them a closeness to Him which–bold to assert it–can’t quite be had the same without it.

On another subject. Next Sunday, May 20 our parish will host a special presentation by Dawn Eden who has authored the book “My Peace I Give You: Healing Sexual Wounds With the Help of the Saints.” The audience is limited to adults on account of the subject matter. It is not any sort of therapy session for the afflicted but an informative presentation on a subject that should be of concern to parents in particular since there are so many among the young who are being assaulted mentally as well as physically by the decline in our culture but also to anyone concerned about the spiritual warfare that threatens the moral good of everybody. Please set aside time for talk this next Sunday at 2:00 p.m. in our school lounge. You will surely find it rewarding.

Fr. Perrone