Bishops consecrate U.S. to Mary amid pandemic

Friday, May. 08, 2020

WASHINGTON (CNS) — Bishops throughout the United States reconsecrated the country to Mary as the nation continues to struggle in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

Bishops in Canada also used May 1 to rededicate their country to the Blessed Mother. 

Archbishop Jose H. Gomez of Los Angeles, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, led a “Renewal of the Consecration of the United States of America to the Blessed Virgin Mary” May 1. The sparse, 37-minute ceremony at Our Lady of the Angels Cathedral in Los Angeles was livestreamed on Facebook, YouTube and the websites of the Los Angeles archdiocese and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Alternating between English and Spanish, Archbishop Gomez said: “In this difficult time we turn to the Blessed Virgin Mary, mother of the Church. She intercedes with her Son for all are affected in this way by the pandemic. ... We implore her maternal care for her children.” 

Archbishop Gomez noted Mary’s history in the U.S. “The first missionaries came to this country under the mantle of Our Lady of Guadalupe.”

Later, the bishops consecrated her as patroness of the United States of America. “The Virgin Mary has accompanied this great nation since our beginnings,” he said. “Now in this difficult hour, we renew our consecration to her.”

“Mary was the first person to consecrate herself to Jesus, the first to offer her whole heart to do his will, to set his beautiful plan of redemption,” Archbishop Gomez said. “We ask God to give us that same faith, that same courage ... the strength to follow Jesus, to seek his holiness and his kingdom.”