Merry May

The month of May in the Philippines is associated with flowers. It is the month when the rains come after the scorching sun of summer.

There is a belief among our folks that the first rain of May is a heavenly blessing, and that the priest collects the rain water and uses it for blessings. Some collect the first rain and keep it throughout the year. They look at this water each day to “predict” the weather. If the water turns cloudy, there will be rain and when murky, a storm. It was their weather bureau in similar way as some believe that when their arthritis swells, there will be rain.

The rains of May quench the parched plants and induce them to bloom. It was also time for plowing and planting and with that are festivals.

Thus was born many celebrations of the Flores de Mayo, the flowers of May, in the same way that other countries have their Spring Festival after the cold winter recedes and the sun brings forth new life to the slumbering plants.

The Spanish missionaries took the opportunity to use the merry days of May for evangelization, thus they dedicated May to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Today, Filipino Catholics consider May as the Marian Month.

This month, children are invited to attend afternoon catechetical classes in churches and chapels. These classes were originally handled by adult women, who taught the basic prayers and doctrines of the Catholic faith.

Children learn their first formal lessons in their faith through the work of the lay volunteers. In some places, the children are given snacks donated by the community. This is an attraction to the children as well as an expression of support of the others, who could not help in the classes.

In the past, the catechism teachers also learned about their faith in this system. The lessons were easy to teach and to learn because they were usually rote memorization. The first book printed in the Philippines was a book for children and adults, who are unable to read and write. The book contains lesson in question and answer type and thus easily memorized.

In a way, the catechism classes that include a lot of singing take care of the children while the adults were in the fields working.

The celebration of Flores de Mayo ends with a procession of the statue of Mary, who is bedecked with flowers and showered with petals thrown by the children along the way as they sing Marian songs.*