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May Day
May Day is a name for various holidays celebrated on May 1 (or in the beginning of May).
MarianMay is the traditional month honoring Mary. Traditional celebrations include crowning a statue of Mary with flowers at your local parish or in your home. Make a crown out of chicken wire, fix this crown on Mary's head and invite all children to take turns placing flowers to make the crown using the following;
Let us adore the infinite love of God, sent to us in his beloved Son. Your mercy, 0 Lord, reaches to heaven, your faithfulness touches the clouds and the tiny blade of grass. Your righteousness fills the earth, your justice is more profound than the depths of the sea; you have brought us salvation. How precious, 0 Lord, is your grace; your children find refuge in the shadow of your wings. You are the source of life; in you we find truth and the light. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit All: As it was in the beginning ... Amen. Deacon: Mary is our model. She said yes to you, Lord. You made yourself dependent on her free and loving yes. She said yes from the moment of your conception, and never took back her yes at any time. We know well that her yes led her to experience everything that is bitter on life’s journey; nevertheless, because you were with her the bitter journey was transformed to a journey of joy. All: Mary, we believe that in our baptism our destiny may one day reflect your destiny. The great things that the Lord has done for you, he is ready to do for us if we do what he commands. Help us cooperate with the grace that he wishes to bestow on us. Deacon: The crown symbolizes all the dignity and beauty that God himself has bestowed upon you! The crown also symbolizes your right to act as a queen and leader, as a mother and educator in and for the kingdom of God on earth. All: We wish to crown you because of our personal helplessness in facing the deep distress of our times. Take our flowers for your crown. Let them represent our wish to encircle you with a wreath of joy and thanksgiving for the coming era. Let us work with you, our sister in faith, to make the coming millennium a Christ-centered age in which our people will do what he tells us! Be our queen! Teach us what immense dignity there is our Christian calling. Grant peace and joy to our hearts grant peace and joy to our families, grant peace and joy to our parish. Lead our nation to follow paths of justice, and assist each of us to be worthy to wear the crown of our calling that the Lord has prepared for us at the end of our journey. First Communion Class Crowns Mary
to top All Sing: Immaculate Mary, your praises we sing. You reign now in heaven with Jesus our King. Ave, Ave, Ave Maria! Ave, Ave, Maria! In heaven the blessed your glory proclaim; On earth we your children invoke your fair name. Ave, Ave, Ave Maria! Ave, Ave, Maria! We pray for our mother, the Church upon earth, And bless, Holy Mary, the land of our birth. Ave, Ave, Ave Maria! Ave, Ave, Maria! Proceed Outside, Down Ramp. Everyone Crowns Mary All Sing: Bring flowers of the fairest, bring flowers of the rarest, From garden and woodland and hillside and vale; Our full hearts are swelling, our glad voices telling The praise of the loveliest Rose of the vale. O Mary, we crown thee with blossoms today, Queen of the Angels, Queen of the May. O Mary, we crown thee with blossoms today, Queen of the Angels, Queen of the May. Our voices ascending, in harmony blending, 0h, thus may our hearts turn, dear Mother, to thee. 0h, thus shall we prove thee how truly we love thee; How dark without Mary life’s journey would be. Procession continues to front of church. Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Society Crowns Mary. Procession continues around church, back up the ramps and inside. Closing Prayer: Hail Mary All Sing: Hail, Holy Queen enthroned above, O Maria Hail, Mother of mercy and of love, O Maria Triumph, all ye cherubim; Sing with us, ye seraphim! Heaven and earth resound the hymn; Salve, salve, salve Regina! Our Life, our sweetness here below, O Maria! Our hope in sorrow and in woe, O Maria! back to home page
Labour associationThe holiday is most often associated with the commemoration of the social and economic achievements of the labor movement. The May 1st date is used because in 1884 the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions demanded an eight-hour workday in the United States, to come in effect as of May 1, 1886. This resulted in the general strike and the U.S. Haymarket Riot of 1886, but eventually also in the official sanction of the eight-hour workday. May Day is designated International Workers Day. It is indeed a thoroughly international holiday; and the United States is one of the few countries in the world where pressure from local working classes has not led to an official holiday. In the 20th century, the holiday received the official endorsement of the Soviet Union; celebrations in communist countries during the Cold War era often consisted of large military parades and shows of common people in support of the government. There is some suggestion that Labor Day in the United States was created specifically to avoid commemoration of May Day. The adoption of May Day by communists and socialists as their primary holiday cements official resistance to Labor Day and similar non-May Day celebrations, which they view as being controlled by the ruling class. Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands also celebrate Labour Day on different dates; that has to do with how the holiday originated in those countries. May Day has long been a focal point for demonstrations by various communist, socialist, and anarchist groups. In a separate attempt to co-opt May Day, the Roman Catholic Church added another Saint Joseph's Day in 1955 that Christianized this holiday as the day of "Saint Joseph, the Worker". Germany Berlin, Germany traditionally has yearly demonstrations on May Day. In 1929, the social democratic SPD government prohibited the annual May Day workers' demonstrations in Berlin. The communist party KPD, which was the strongest party in Berlin, called demonstrations nonetheless. By the end of the day, 32 demonstrators, workers and bystanders had been killed by the police, at least 80 were seriously injured. The Berlin police, under control of a social democratic government, had fired a total of 11,000 rounds of live ammunition. This incident, remembered as Blutmai (ger.) (blood may) deepened the split between the workers' parties KPD and SPD. This was an advantage for the Nazis, which became Germany's governing party in 1933 and adapted May Day to their purposes, calling it "day of work". Today, this is still the official name for this public holiday. In today's Germany, Walpurgisnacht celebrations of pagan origin are traditionally held on the night before May Day, including bonfires and young people using this opportunity to party, while the day itself is used by many families to get some fresh air, wurst and beer. While Germany's economic prosperity during the last decades led to a decline of the workers' movement and of the political importance of May Day, since 1987 it has become known for heavy rioting by radical leftists, including the punk rock scene, Autonome and others, but also "regular" youths not fond of the police. In recent years, this has somewhat declined, while neo-nazis like the NPD try to make use of the day again with public demonstrations, which frequently lead to clashes with left-wing protesters. English tradition
ElsewhereMay Day also marks springtime celebrations such as:
These holidays were also respected by some early European settlers of the American continent. |
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