Celebrating the Marian Months of May and October

For some years I had been approached by members of our worshipping community requesting a hymn to Mary in the Mass "... because it's her month...".    In my näive early days as a music leader I had not had any difficulty with this and so would drop one into a hymn slot and think no further about it - nor was I ever asked not to by a Priest or anyone else.   As I began to look at the Mass in greater depth and with more attention to how it all fitted together (and it has been pretty finely crafted) I became increasingly uncomfortable about bringing Marian hymns into a celebration of the Lord's Supper and began to refuse (giving my reasons) to do so.   This I found uncomfortable so what should I do?   I went and spoke to a Priest about it.   He was very understanding and said that, as the "exit" hymn came outside the Mass then I could always put one there.   I didn't like this idea either as it rather took away the "sending forth" nature of the dismissal which I always tried to follow-up with an appropriate "going out to spread the good news" hymn.
I went away to ponder and discuss the matter with friends.  When I returned I had an idea - what about a short Liturgy before Mass in which a hymn to Mary would be appropriate?  This was fine and we formed a group to develop this idea further ...

1. The Liturgy must be short so as not to remove our energies from celebration of Mass immediately afterwards (7-10mins.)
2. The Liturgy must have a clear focus and be accessible to all taking part.
3. It should finish in time for people coming in for Mass have the opportunity to prepare themselves without disruption. (Start time 15 mins. before Mass)
4. It should have a sense of consistency & continuity throughout the month.

Sunday 13th October 2002
Chant - Veni Sancte Spiritus (Taizé)
Meditation - The Ascension of Our Lord into heaven
One decade of the Rosary
Hail, Holy Queen
Hymn - Immaculate Mary

Sunday 20th October 2002
Chant - Veni Sancte Spiritus (Taizé)
Meditation - The descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles
One decade of the Rosary
Hail, Holy Queen
Hymn - Holy Virgin by God's decree