Sister MAGDALENE KABAT (Principal, St. Mary of Czestochowa School, Chicago): Mary's role in the Catholic faith is that she is the mother of the Catholic Church. She was the mother of Jesus, who was God. And we believe that she spends her heaven still taking us as her children.The May crowning teaches the children that Mary is very special in their life. I point to that beautiful stained-glass window, and I tell them that's what we're going to do in our church -- we're going to crown Mary as our queen.
The first thing that we do to begin our ceremony is to walk in procession from the school. And then our pastor will greet the congregation. And then we go into what we call the liturgy of the Word.Our children's choir sings.
After that, one child from every class will take up a potted flower to be placed in front of the statue. The May crowning takes place in May because May is a beautiful time of the year -- the flowers are in bloom, Mother's Day takes place.The May Queen is the one that crowns the virgin. She crowns the statue as if it were Mary on earth, making her the queen of our parish.
After that, the students will form what we call a living rosary. The rosary is a prayer that we say on beads. Each student represents a bead. Each child has a candle and, as the prayers are being said, the May Queen walks around and she lights their candle.
We do not worship Mary. We do venerate her, but we do not take her as a god. We believe that through her intercession, many graces come upon our people.
