Hi quizzers, As you probably know, the month of May is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. In her honor, I came up with an abundance of May/Mary questions for you to answer.
1. May Question
What is the name of the month-long Catholic festival held each May in the Philippines in honor of the Virgin Mary?
- a) Crowning of May
- b) Mes de Maria
- c) Queenship of Mary
- d) Flores de Mayo
2. Saints
Who is the patron saint of accountants?
- a) St. Matthew
- b) St. Katharine Drexel
- c) St. Investus
- d) St. Brian
3. Current Events
What country elected a retired Catholic bishop, Fernando Lugo, as president on April 20? Lugo retired as a bishop in 2005 and the Vatican suspended him from exercising his priestly ministry but denied him laicization when he decided to run for president.
- a) Ecuador
- b) Paraguay
- c) Spain
- d) Zimbabwe
4. Church Trivia
What is “laicization”?
- a) the ceremonial laying in a trunk of papal vestments before the pontiff travels
- b) having to do with the 13th and 14th century European song form known as the lai
- c) the process through which a priest is relieved of his obligations of Holy Orders and ministry and returned to the status of lay person.
- d) the term given to the transition between the pre- and post-Vatican II Mass forms that occurred in the 1960s and 1970s
5. Picture
Can you name the artist that painted this 17th century portrait of Mary called “The Immaculate Conception”? (Hint: The Spanish artist also painted a companion piece called “Saint John the Evangelist on the Island of Patmos.”)
- a) Johannes Vermeer
- b) Diego Velázquez
- c) Peter Paul Rubens
- d) El Greco
6. May Question
What is the name of Marian prayer composed by Father Claude Bernard and beginning, “Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that any one who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, and sought thy intercession, was left unaided”?
- a) Hail Holy Queen
- b) Angelus
- c) Memorare
- d) Salve Regina
7. Other Religions
This year Jewish Holocaust Memorial Day falls on May 2. It is also known as what?
- a) Yom Kippur
- b) Purim
- c) Shavuot
- d) Yom Hashoah
8. Papal Trip
Pope Benedict XVI was seen during his recent trip to Washington D.C. and New York City riding in his glass-enclosed “popemobile.” What car company makes the current vehicle?
- a) Volkswagen
- b) Mercedes-Benz
- c) Ford
- d) BMW
9. May Question
Why did Pope Pius XII in 1955 make May 1 the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker?
- a) To counteract the atheistic International Workers’ Day Communists celebrate on May 1.
- b) The pope determined that the husband of Mary should have his feast day within her month
- c) Before 1955, St. Joseph did not have a declared feast day.
- d) Because St. Joseph was a favorite saint of Pope Pius XII
10. Popes
Pope John Paul II was pope for 27 years. His predecessor, Pope John Paul I, was pope for how long?
- a) three months
- b) nine weeks
- c) 33 days
- d) 12 days