There’s something quietly powerful about the timing of Pope Leo XIV’s election. Not just the date — May 8, 2025 — but the month itself.
As you'll no doubt be aware, May has long held a special place in the heart of the Church with it being a month devoted to the Virgin Mary. It's a time when devotion blossoms in ways that are both visible and unseen.
All over the world, parishes crown statues of the Blessed Mother with fresh flowers. Children bring offerings of daisies and roses. Families gather once more to pray the Rosary, rediscovering the peace that comes from repetition and trust. It is a month marked not by drama, but by gentleness — by that maternal grace that consoles, strengthens, and quietly transforms.
Therefore to be elected pope in May is to begin a papacy under the gaze of the Mother of the Church. It is to enter into leadership not with loud declarations, but with a heart open to listening — just as Mary did. There is something deeply symbolic about this moment for Pope Leo XIV, who already seems to radiate a spirit of humility and pastoral closeness. His election doesn’t feel like a break from the past, but a continuation of the quiet, steady work of healing and unity — hallmarks of Mary’s presence in the Church.
A living symbol of hope
May is also a month of new life. It is when nature begins to sing again -- just as we imagine those seagulls were doing on the roof of the Sistine Chapel during the conclave! -- and when buds burst into bloom. Spiritually, it reminds us that hope never lies dormant for long. A new pope elected in this season becomes a kind of living symbol: that the Church, too, is always being renewed, always emerging with new beauty, new voices, new beginnings.
And perhaps that’s the greatest gift of all in this timing — that the world is being reminded that true leadership begins with surrender. Mary gave her “yes” in silence, and it changed history. Pope Leo XIV begins his journey surrounded by that same Marian grace, under her mantle, and with her maternal intercession.
In the month of Mary, we are not asked to be powerful. We are simply invited to trust.
As we journey through this Marian month, perhaps we can take a moment each day to entrust Pope Leo XIV — and our own lives — to the care of Our Lady. Whether through a single Hail Mary or the full Rosary, let us ask her to guide this new chapter in the life of the Church with the same grace, courage, and peace that defined her own “yes.” In a world longing for unity and mercy, may we become quiet instruments of both.
