In the American hymn, Bring flowers of the rarest, the refrain to Our Lady has always puzzled me. Why does ‘May’ have the definite article, ‘the’? It goes like this:

O Mary! We crown thee with blossoms today

Queen of the Angels, Queen of the May

Why ‘the’ May? I suspect we need to ask Mrs. Walsh, the hymn writer, but it reminded me of an old Yorkshire proverb: “Ne’er cast a clout ‘til May be out” (translation: ‘Never remove your overcoat until May is out’). Most British people think “May” refers to the month. But it (probably) doesn’t. It more likely refers to the native Hawthorn, Crataegus monogyna, a member of the rose family whose variants are also native in the USA.

Hawthorn begins to bloom in May, with blush-white and headily-scented flowers. A treat for bees and other pollinators, its coming into bloom signals the end of Jack Frost’s icy grip. Another more ancient name for the Hawthorn is…the Mayflower. Indeed, the eponymous vessel was undoubtedly named after Crataegus monogyna – we can see in God’s Providence the ties that bind our Constitution to the Divine. We will be learning more about the Hawthorn as time presses on. Its theological significance runs deeper than its showy blooms, and its importance to our country is, perhaps, not well understood. But that’s what the Guild is for.

Thus the link between our candy-sweet hymn and the old English adage is the humble Mayflower, whose name is bound up in our history by the happy accident of a tired, old ship bringing tired, not-so-old, pilgrims to the New World. Our Lady as Queen of the May weaves a happy chain between the superabundance of the natural world, represented by the resurgent Hawthorn – and the Blessed Mother’s queenship over this Land and her people. It’s almost like a secret code.

On this Mother’s Day – and the day of Our Lady’s Crowning – let’s ‘decipher’ a part of this code as we go on Procession to honor the Blessed Mother’s presidency over God’s new Creation. And to make the link complete, let’s sing a treasured hymn, Hail, holy Queen enthroned above, as we walk – you can find it at no. 376 in the blue Glory & Praise hymnal. There’s a surprise for the moms afterwards too…