May is the month of gardens filled with colorful flowers, lifting our spirits with the joy of spring’s arrival. And as Catholics, we celebrate the whole month with Marian feasts. This month abounds with reminders and opportunities to honor and celebrate our Blessed Mother: from Our Lady, Queen of the May, on May 1 to the Feast of the Visitation on May 31. And of course, famously, May 13 is the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima, when the Catholic world celebrates one of the most important Marian apparitions of all time.

May 13, 1917, was the first apparition of Our Lady of Fatima to the three shepherd children — Lucia, Jacinta, and Francisco. Although there were multiple apparitions, May 13 is the feast of Our Lady of Fatima on the Church calendar. The seers were young children, playing together, when they first saw Our Lady appear, “more brilliant than the sun.” Mary exhorted them on this date to “pray, pray very much. Make sacrifices for sinners.”

Our Lady asked the three shepherd children, “Do you wish to offer yourselves to God to endure all the sufferings that He may be pleased to send you, as both an act of reparation for the sins with which He is offended and an act of supplication for the conversion of sinners? Well then, you will have much to suffer. But the grace of God will be your comfort.”

And then, Our Lady added, “Pray the Rosary every day to obtain peace for the world and the end of the war.”

And so Our Lady’s advice on how to help souls is to pray the Rosary every day, and offer up sacrifices for sinners. Do we take that opportunity every day?

Why not offer up a daily chore or little, loving sacrifices while praying the words Our Lady of Fatima taught us: “O Jesus, it is for love of Thee, for the conversion of sinners, and in reparation of the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.” The advice of Our Lady of Fatima on how to help souls is clear: “Pray the Rosary every day.”

Fatima does not just encourage devotion to the Rosary, but also the Eucharist. The children of Fatima had three encounters with the Angel of Peace who prepared them to meet Our Lady, and these meetings are filled with details that urge greater love and fidelity to the Eucharist. For example, in the final meeting, the Angel held a Host over a chalice he kept suspended in mid-air, then prostrated himself on the ground before this Eucharistic miracle, as he prayed three times: 

“Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore You profoundly. I offer You the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the world in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges, and indifference by which He is offended. And, through the infinite merits of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg of You the conversion of sinners.”

Thus, the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima is not only a day to renew our devotion to the Rosary, but also to renew our love for the Eucharist.

And get this: the feast of Our Lady of Fatima, May 13, is actually the same day as the Feast of Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament! The Feast of Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament is on May 13 because it is the day St. Peter Julian Eymard, that great saint of the Eucharist, founded the Congregation of the Most Blessed Sacrament and told his novices to pray: “Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament, pray for us who have recourse to thee.”

Mary’s womb was, after all, the tabernacle that held the Infant Christ. St. Pope Pius X said that Mary’s title, “Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament” is perhaps the most meaningful of all. St. Peter Julian Eymard once had a holy dream about the connection between Our Lady and the Eucharist. In this dream there was a naval battle against the church, which floated as a ship between two pillars which rose up and anchored the ship in safety. Those pillars were topped by a statue of Our Lady on one, and the Eucharist on the other. 

This May we should challenge ourself to pray more Rosaries and offer more Holy Hours before the Blessed Sacrament.

Here is a recommendation for a simple but profound way to inspire more devotion to Mary and to the Eucharist this month. This recommendation comes from a tradition related to another title of Mary: Our Lady of Częstochowa.

Tradition tells us that St. Helena discovered this icon in the Holy Land in the fourth century.  It was brought to Poland in the 15th century by St. Ladislaus. Legend holds the icon is painted by St. Luke on a board from the table used by the Holy Family in Nazareth. There have been many miracles associated with this image. Notably, this image of the Blessed Mother’s face and neck bears scars and scratches from when the monastery that houses the icon was attacked. Every time the image of Our Lady is repaired … the scars reappear! Her beautiful eyes reflect deep sorrow and pain and upon looking at this image of Our Lady, it is like a call to offer consolation to her. 

There is a widespread tradition in Poland that is known as the “Call of Jasna Gora,” which consists of the faithful pausing at 9:00 p.m. to call out with love and devotion to Our Lady of Czestochowa by praying this simple prayer:

“Mary, Our Lady of Czestochowa, I am close to you. I remember you. I keep watch.”

On one of his papal visits to Poland, Pope Saint John Paul II suggested that this prayer be part of the life of every family in that country. But we should all feel invited to join in this call. Here’s a suggestion: set an alarm on your phone to ring at 9 pm and when it sounds, pray the Call of Jasna Gora. You can even adapt it to your favorite title of Mary. For example: “Mary, Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament, I am close to you, I remember you. I keep watch.”

Our Lord Himself exhorts us to “watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation” (Matthew 26:41). What a wonderful way to combine watchfulness and prayer, and to honor both Our Lady and Our Eucharistic Lord, who prizes both devotion to His Mother and the watchfulness of Holy Hours.

As a gift to Our Lady this May, why not pray a guided Holy Hour of prayers themed around consoling and lavishing Our Blessed Mother with love. Sign up here to get a link to a free prayer guide honoring Our Lady and an option to join a free 33-Day Consecration to Our Lady.