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Virgin Mary by Sassoferrato. Public Domain via Catholic News Agency
May 1, 2020
Catholic San Francisco
U.S. bishops’ conference president Archbishop Jose Gomez has invited all U.S. bishops to join him on May 1 at noon, PDT, in reconsecrating the U.S. to the Blessed Virgin Mary in response to the pandemic.
The liturgy will be livestreamed on the website of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and on the USCCB Facebook page.
The event will also be aired live on EWTN’s Facebook page.
The reconsecration is timed to coincide with the bishops of Canada consecrating their own country to Mary at the same time.
Archbishop Gomez, who is the Archbishop of Los Angeles, said in a letter sent to all American bishops April 22 that the Marian reconsecration would be done under the title of “Mary, Mother of the Church.”
“Every year, the Church seeks the special intercession of the Mother of God during the month of May. This year, we seek the assistance of Our Lady all the more earnestly as we face together the effects of the global pandemic,” he said in his letter.
In an announcement on the Los Angeles archdiocesan website, Archbishop Gomez said "this moment of unified prayer will give our church the occasion to pray for Our Lady’s continued protection of the vulnerable, healing of the sick, and wisdom for those who work to cure COVID-19."
The bishops of Canada will consecrate the Crown Dominion to Mary under the same title on the same day.
“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,” 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.”
The consecration follows a similar action of the bishops’ conference of Latin America and the Caribbean, who consecrated their nations to Our Lady of Guadalupe on Easter Sunday. This prayer reaffirms and renews previous Marian entrustments, and it unites us in solidarity with our Holy Father, who recently established the Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, as a source of protection and strength.