Why is May called "Month of Mary"?

Among Catholics, May is better known as the "Month of Mary", a specific month of the year in which special devotions are celebrated in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Because? How can he be associated with the Blessed Mother?

There are many different factors that contributed to this association. First of all, in ancient Greece and Rome the month of May was dedicated to pagan goddesses linked to fertility and spring (Artemis and Flora respectively). This, combined with other European rituals commemorating the new spring season, has led many western cultures to consider May as a month of life and motherhood. This was long before "Mother's Day" was ever conceived, although the modern celebration is closely linked to this innate desire to honor motherhood during the spring months.

In the early church there is evidence of an important feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary celebrated on May 15 of each year, but it was not until the 18th century that May received a particular association with the Virgin Mary. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, "May's devotion in its present form originated in Rome, where Father Latomia of the Roman College of the Society of Jesus, to counter infidelity and immorality among students, made a vow at the end of XVIII century dedicates the month of May to Maria. From Rome the practice spread to other Jesuit colleges and therefore to almost all Catholic churches of the Latin rite ".

Dedicating an entire month to Mary was not a new tradition, since there was an earlier tradition of dedicating 30 days to Mary called Tricesimum, which was also known as "Month of the Lady".

Various private devotions to Mary spread rapidly during the month of May, as reported in the Collection, a prayer publication published in the mid-XNUMXth century.

It is a well-known devotion to consecrate the month of May to the most holy Mary, as the most beautiful and flourishing month of the whole year. This devotion has long prevailed throughout Christendom; and it is common here in Rome, not only in private families, but as public devotion in many churches. Pope Pius VII, in order to animate all the Christian people to the practice of a devotion so tender and pleasing to the Blessed Virgin, and calculated to be of such great spiritual benefit for herself, granted by a Rescript of the Secretary of the Memorials, March 21 1815 (kept in the Secretary of His Eminence the Cardinal-Vicar), to all the faithful of the Catholic world, who in public or private should honor the Blessed Virgin with some special tribute or devoted prayers, or other virtuous practices.

In 1945, Pope Pius XII consolidated May as a Marian month after instituting the feast of Mary's royalty on May 31. After Vatican II, this feast was moved to August 22, while on May 31 it became the feast of the Visitation of Mary.

The month of May is full of traditions and a beautiful time of year in honor of our heavenly mother.