Flores de Mayo

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Flores de Mayo
Santacruzan held during Flores de Mayo
Observed by	Philippines
Type	Religious/Cultural
Significance	May devotions to the Blessed Virgin Mary
Celebrations	Santacruzan
Frequency	Annual

Flores de Mayo (Spanish for "flowers of May") is a festival held in the Philippines in the month of May. It is one of the May devotions to the Blessed Virgin Mary and lasts for the entire month.

The Santacruzan (from the Spanish santa cruz, "holy cross") is the ritual pageant held on the last day of the Flores de Mayo. It honours the finding of the True Cross by Helena of Constantinople (known as Reyna Elena) and Constantine the Great. Its connection with May stems from the May 3 date of Roodmas, which Pope John XXIII deleted in the 1960s due to the trend at the time to abolish holy days that were either duplicates or dedicated to ahistorical saints. The Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross on September 14, which commemorates the recovery of the relic by Emperor Heraclius from the Persians instead of the finding by Saint Helena combines that occasion with Roodmas in the present General Roman Calendar.^{[citation needed]}