Teach Children Why Mary Is Special Enough to Celebrate For a Month

May is the traditional month of Mary, and Catholic parents would do well this month to make sure their children understand the importance of the “Mother of God.” Most non-Catholic denominations see Mary as simply an innocent, young girl who carried our Lord in her womb like modern-day surrogate mothers do and after giving birth her usefulness was complete. Yet Catholics have such a deeper, richer, and Biblically-based understanding of Our Lady.

In an age-appropriate way, parents can explain to their kids how as Catholics we believe Mary herself was immaculately conceived – exempt from original sin and not subject to sin throughout her life. The Angel Gabriel addresses Mary with, “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!” (Luke 1:28), and this fullness of grace would not have been possible had she any stain of sin.

Additionally, the Bible tells us that when a pregnant Mary visited her cousin Elizabeth,

Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and she exclaimed with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?’  (Luke 1:41-43).

It should be pointed out by parents to their kids that Elizabeth didn’t say Mary was “blessed” due solely to her having the privilege of carrying Jesus. She declared that both individuals – Mary and Jesus – were separately and uniquely “blessed.”

God in His infinite wisdom created and chose a sinless woman to carry and raise His Son. Thus, Catholics give Mary more admiration and respect than any other saint. We do not praise her at the same level to how we look upon the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. However, we do joyfully venerate Mary, which parents can define to their sons and daughters as “to give respect or awe inspired by the dignity, wisdom, dedication, or talent of a person.”

Mary stands as a model of Christian faith and obedience. She consistently put the will of God first and thought of herself last. She was the first to believe in Jesus as her Savior and thereby was the very first Christian. She was also the first human to literally kiss the face of God. Because of all this, we call Mary the “Mother of God,” “Queen of Saints,” and “Queen of Heaven and Earth.” God honored Mary, so if we honor Mary we are obeying God.

After educating your children on all of these facts and beliefs regarding Mary, it will seem natural to your youngsters that a person this special deserves an entire month devoted to her. As your kids grasp that our Almighty Father wanted His Son to have a human mother, they should also understand that He wants us to treat the Blessed Virgin Mary as our mother as well and have a personal relationship with her.

Our Blessed Mother loves and cares for each of us like we are one of her very own.  As the Queen of Heaven, reigning in eternal joy with her Son, no one is a more steadfast intercessor on our behalf than Mary. So we should approach her with the same love, comfort, and neediness with which we approach our earthly moms.

And speaking of our earthly moms, here is a prayer that can be said over moms this Mother’s Day. To any dads out there, how about you gather your kids around and together help them pray this or a similar prayer aloud to their mom?

Almighty and Everliving God,
Your own love for Your people is like the love of a mother for her children. Look with kindness on my mother. Give her comfort in moments of sorrow and joy in her work for our family. Listen to her prayers and bless her in all she does for us and for You. And when her time on earth is complete, let her share with Jesus Your Son and Blessed Mary our mother in the everlasting happiness of Heaven. We ask this through Christ, our Lord.
Amen.