‘CELEBRATE, KEEP THE TRADITION ALIVE’

In the age of high-tech devices and 3D video games, parishes find it a challenge to get children interested in Flores de Mayo, a Catholic tradition that honors the Virgin Mary.

It’s the time of the year again when giddy little girls flock to their respective churches carrying flowers and wearing angel’s wings, a sight that reminds many of us of our own childhood memories.

For many children, the month of May means a chance to become an angel even for just one hour a day, and a chance for women in the parish to be queens in the Santacruzan pageantry.

The highlight of the month is Flores de Mayo, a month-long event celebrated across the country, a tradition that fuses festivity and devotion to Mother Mary.

College student Louise Sigrid de Dios is one of those who looked forward to joining Flores de Mayo as an angel at the Church of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception in Bohol when she was six years old.

“It was a nice experience. Feel nako nga buotan kaayo ko, and happy pud kayo na magkanta-kanta while offering flowers for Mother Mary,” she recalled.

For her, Flores De Mayo is a proclamation of our love for Mother Mary, and an occasion for children to learn about devotional sacrifices offered to the Blesses Virgin.

But in the age of technology, it may seem that some are slowly forgetting what Flores de Mayo really means. How much do people know about Flores de Mayo?

Maria Carmela Miñoza, chairman of the Children for Mary in St. Joseph The Patriarch Parish in Barangay Mabolo, Cebu City, remembered the first day of Flores de Mayo of years past differently.

“Compared karon, mas daghan gyud sa una. Approaching pa lang ang May, daghan na kaayong mga bata nga excited kayo muapil ug mahimong anghel,” she recalled.

Miñoza said the number of participants has dwindled over the years, perhaps because children these days have become attached to gadgets and choose to stay at home to play video games.

“The children have lost interest in the tradition, they now find entertainment in their cellphones,” she lamented.

Miñoza encouraged everyone to participate in Flores De Mayo.

“Hopefully, we can bring back the kind of Flores de Mayo that we had before, where children come to offer flowers to the Blessed Virgin,” she added.

Flores de Mayo culminates with a religious procession called the Santacruzan, a depiction of St. Helena’s legendary quest to find the relic of the Sacred Cross.

It is held on the last day of May in honor of St. Helena of Constantinople.