Canada and US Bishops
reconsecrate their nations to Mary
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| Image of the Virgin Mary |
The Bishops of Canada and the United States join in prayer
on 1 May to reconsecrate their respective nations to the Virgin Mary.
By Vatican News
On Friday, May 1, the bishops of Canada and the United
States reconsecrated their respective nations to the care and protection of the
Blessed Virgin Mary, in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Both Bishops’ Conferences have announced that their
countries were reconsecrated to our Lady under the title “Mary, Mother of the
Church”.
Each year, during the month of May, the Church seeks the
special intercession of the Mother of God. The Pope highlighted this in a
letter that he sent to all the faithful last Friday, calling for renewed Marian
devotion.
In a letter to his brother Bishops, the President of the
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), Archbishop Jose Gomez of
Los Angeles, wrote that “this year, we seek the assistance of Our Lady all the
more earnestly as we face together the effects of the global pandemic”.
“Based on discussion with the leadership of the Canadian
Catholic Conference of Bishops, the Executive Committee of the USCCB met and
affirmed the fitness of May 1, 2020, as an opportunity for the bishops of the
United States to reconsecrate our nation to Our Lady and to do so under the
title, Mary, Mother of the Church,” Archbishop Gomez said, adding that they
would be doing so “on the same day that our brother bishops to the north
consecrate Canada under the same title.”
“This will give the Church the occasion to pray for Our
Lady’s continued protection of the vulnerable, healing of the unwell, and
wisdom for those who work to cure this terrible virus,” said Archbishop Gomez.
The title “Mary, Mother of the Church” was given to the
Blessed Mother by Pope St. Paul VI at the Second Vatican Council. In 2018, Pope
Francis added the feast of “Mary, Mother of the Church” to the Church’s
liturgical calendar, with the rank of a memorial.
Shortly after this announcement, the bishops of Italy
announced that they would also be reconsecrating their country to the
protection of the Virgin Mary, after having received over 300 letters asking
them to do so.
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