Traditionally, mothers are matriarchs who give advice, direction and love.

In the Jewish faith, children are raised by the mother to be obedient to their fathers and to God. In Jewish tradition, when approaching King David, people had to bring their concerns and ideas to his mother first, during which time she would decide whether it was worthy of her son’s time, according to Carol Montgomery, a parishioner at Mother of Mercy Catholic Church.

The perception of mothers in the Catholic faith is much the same as the older Jewish faith, and this Mother’s Day, the church guided youth parishioners in the Crowning of Mary, a Catholic tradition on Mother’s Day each year, Montgomery said.

The children who crowned the statue of Mary on Mother’s Day are those who have made their first Holy Communion, Montgomery said. Beforehand, children must have instruction about the Catholic faith.

“They made their (Holy Communion) a week ahead of time in May,” Montgomery said. “They’re all dressed in white dresses and little veils and little white suits, and on the second Sunday, that’s when they crown Mary. We train them from a very young age to obey God and to obey their parents, as well as the rules of the church like no sex before marriage, no stealing and the rest of the Ten Commandments.”

Montgomery said the reason Catholics participate in the tradition is tied to the Biblical scripture of when the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and said all generations from here on will call her the Blessed Mother.

The month of May also includes the Feast of the Queenship of Mary, beginning with the crowning of her images, according to the church. A brochure from the church states that the feast honors God’s restoration of the Davidic Kingdom, with Jesus as the Christ, and Jesus’ mother as its Queen Mother — it is the king’s mother who sits on the throne and exerts power as “The Great Lady.” Just as Bethasbee, the mother of King Solomon, acted as intercessor for the people of Israel, Mary acts as intercessor for Catholics with the King of Kings, according to the brochure.

“When you want something done, sometimes we go to Mary and say this is what you’re going to ask your son (Jesus) to do,” Montgomery said. “(Catholics) don’t pray to Mary. We have her as an intercessor. We have her to help us — to be more like her son and to be more God-like and to do what he wants us to do. She’s our intercessor, and that’s why we give her homage.”

Mother of Mercy Catholic Church is located at 112 W. Ninth St. in Washington.