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May is a special, joyful month at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. For Catholics around the world, May is traditionally dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, set aside for honoring her loving intercession and maternal care in the life of the Church. Rooted in centuries of devotion, this Marian focus infuses many Shrine activities with prayer, reverence, and community participation. In Polish culture especially, May carries additional significance: May 3 is celebrated as the Feast of Our Lady, Queen of Poland, commemorating both deep religious devotion and the anniversary of Europe’s first modern written constitution, adopted in 1791 – a historic day that binds faith and national pride. The highlight of this special day is a procession immediately following the Shrine’s 12:30 p.m. Polish Mass. All are invited to join and reflect on both their faith and cultural heritage.
The month of May also begins with the traditional Mother’s Day Novena which will be prayed from May 1 through May 9. During these nine days of prayer, intentions are offered for mothers – both living and deceased – as well as for their families and loved ones. All are encouraged to submit their intentions so they may be included in this special novena, asking the Blessed Mother to intercede for those we love and to bless all mothers with grace, strength, and peace.
Another of the Shrine’s most beloved recurring events in May is Fatima Day on May 13, held each year at 7 p.m.. On this day, the faithful Catholics gather for a solemn Mass, followed by a candlelit Rosary procession through the grounds. The Main Celebrant for this Mass will be the Most Rev. William J. Waltersheid, Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of Pittsburgh. Inspired by the 1917 apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima in Portugal, this observance invites everyone to pray for peace in the world and to entrust personal intentions to Mary’s Immaculate Heart. The Rosary procession, often prayed in multiple languages, winds through the Shrine’s beautiful outdoor spaces, creating a moving witness of prayer and community devotion.
Then on May 14, the Shrine celebrates the Ascension of Our Lord, a central feast in the liturgical calendar that honors Christ’s triumphant return to the Father 40 days after Easter. On this Holy Day of Obligation, the Pauline Fathers invite everyone to reflect on the call to live as witnesses to the risen Lord in the world. Masses will be at 7:30 a.m, 8:00 a.m., 10:00 a.m. in Polish, 11:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. in the Lower Church. A Vigil Mass will also be on May 13 at 5:00 p.m..
Together, these May observances at the Shrine – Mothers’ Day Novena (May 1-9), Feast of Our Lady (May 3), Fatima Day (May 13), the Ascension (May 14), and Pentecost (May 24) – weave a tapestry of faith that reflects deep Marian devotion, Christ’s redemptive mission, and the life-giving power of the Spirit. Whether one comes to pray in the Rosary garden or to participate in the processions and Masses, the month of May offers many chances to deepen spiritual life and experience the richness of Catholic tradition.
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How is it that we as Christians, and more specifically Catholics, can find ourselves benefitting from a deeply personal relationship with our Liturgical seasons? How can we learn to not just go through the motions of prayers and functionalities of our faith but truly embrace the enrichment of our spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical life during the opportunities presented in these moments, hours, days, and weeks of this Lenten season? How does having an interactive relationship with the scripture and gospels help us to live the seasons of our years (and even our lives) with more intention, awareness, and growth in our relationships with Christ and one another? What is the objective of dedicating ourselves to our religion or faith if we are not genuinely on a journey to learn where and how Christ wants to transform us with His love?
Are these questions that we ask ourselves enough?
I found myself really taking time before the start of this Lenten season to ask questions of myself and friends who practice their faith. I have been pondering more so the gift that God bestowed upon us of the exemplary relationship of divinity and humanity in the Blessed Mother and Jesus. All of us in the family of humanity get the opportunity to experience grief and loss while we are here in our lifetimes. The Blessed Mother’s lamentations and grief are one of the grandest examples of suffering in the human experience. Parallel to this is the endurance of physical tortures and the evils of hatred in the hearts of people that was bestowed upon Jesus in the carrying of his cross and ultimate sacrifice through the crucifixion. The loftiest visuals of the most challenging aspects of the human experience are the catalysts in which God bestowed His greatest love story through the grand mercy in the sacrifice of His one true son – made in His image, pleasing to Him, both fully human and fully divine. How can any of us truly grasp how much love that is, and how can we wrap our reasoning around the relationship of sacrifice, suffering, and laying down our lives for our friends as being true love?
As we are on our lenten journeys this year, we continue to be called to conversion. To surrender ourselves to the will of God and grow in virtues along the way. To fast, to pray, and to give alms. Along with our prayers and the recentering of the importance of the gospel in our lives; I hope the visuals and questions asked in this small writing may be helpful to ponder. As we pray from our heads and meditate on in our hearts to hear what the Lord is telling us. May all the solemn moments, small sacrifices, and generous giving bear everyone a fruitful harvest on Easter and in Eastertide.
Cassandra Zygmont