by Caitlin Cipolla-McCulloch | America

The story of Pentecost in Acts places Mary the mother of God in the upper room with the disciples. Scripture passages from Acts 1 and 2 affirm the presence of Mary at the beginning of the church’s ministry after the death and resurrection of Christ. We read the passage from Acts 2 during the 50-day paschal celebration of unbounded Easter joy in the liturgical calendar.

This year, the liturgical calendar placed Easter just before May, a month dotted with Marian feast days and heralded by Paul VI as “a month [during] which the piety of the faithful has long [been] dedicated to Mary, the Mother of God.” That month, we also saw the election of Pope Leo XIV as the successor to Pope Francis.