May 25 & 26 and Marian May with a double apparition!

The emphasis is on Pentecost this weekend, which most years (though not always), falls within the month of May. The Marian aspect of this celebration is evident in the days surrounding the celebration. On the Saturday prior, Our Lady of the Cenacle is remembered. And on the Monday following, according to Pope Francis' direction, Mary is honored under the title of Mother of the Church, something very much promoted with the Second Vatican Council. The date of May 24th is traditionally celebrated as Mary, Help of Christians, an ancient title first described by John Chrysostom in AD 345. This devotion was particularly promoted by Don Bosco and the Salesians. 

And on May 26th is a dual veneration in Italy: Our Lady of Piné, Madonna of Montagnaga is a little-known but authenticated apparition of Mary that occurred between 1729 and 1730. It is related to the apparition of Our Lady of the Fountain in Caravaggio from May 26, 1432, referring to the village, not the artist, but this is the town where the artist Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio grew up.  A painting of the 1432 appearance is at the center of the story of Mary's reappearance to another young woman 297 years later in Montagnaga. This is yet another significant Marian date in May. Here is some clarity between these two occurrences:

The first apparition was reported by Giovanetta, daughter of Pietro Vaccli and wife of Francesco Varoli. She said that on 26 May 1432, Mary appeared in a field in Caravaggio, in Northern Italy, in the region of Milan. The Virgin Mary announced peace to Giovanetta in her family, among the neighboring warring states, and reconciliation between the Church in the East and West, through the Council of Florence (1436—1445). As proof of her Marian apparition, the Virgin left the imprint of her feet on the stone where she stood. A spring of water sprang forth from under the stone, purported to be miraculous. 

The Virgin, dressed in white with a rosary in her hand, appeared on May 14, 1729, and four other times to shepherdess Domenica Targa. The third occasion was on September 8, 1729. A new and larger painting of the apparition of the Madonna to the visionary Giovanetta Varoli was prepared by Elena Zambaiti and installed in the church of St. Anne in Montagnaga. As people gathered for the dedication of this new altar, the Blessed Virgin herself appeared to the seer, along with  Saints Joachim & Anne and St. Joseph. Mary specifically blessed the picture and assured that this would be the place where she would welcome the prayers of her devotees.