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WATCH: Bishop Malooly, U.S. and Canadian bishops: ‘Reconsecrate our nation to Our Lady’ at 3 p.m. May 1

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UPDATE: Archbishop Jose H. Gomez of Los Angeles, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, will lead a special liturgy to renew the consecration of the United States to the care of Mary. The Mass will be livestreamed here: https://www.facebook.com/usccb and here: https://lacatholics.org/consecration.

Bishop Malooly has joined Catholic bishops across the U.S. and Canada in consecrating the two nations to the care of the Blessed Mother under the title “Mary, Mother of the Church.”

“This dedication, or entrustment to Mary, is a reminder of the Blessed Mother’s witness to the Gospel,” Bishop Malooly said in a video released by the diocese April 30. “And to ask for her continued intercession before her son on behalf of all those in need.”

Archbishop Jose H. Gomez of Los Angeles, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, announced last week the U.S. bishops will join the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops in offering the consecration May 1. Archbishop Gomez will lead the prayer of reconsecration at 3 p.m. eastern time and has asked bishops to extend the invitation to the faithful in their dioceses for their participation via livestream.

Bishop Malooly joins procession of bishops outside the pastoral center in Philadelphia in February.
Dialog photo/Joseph P. Owens

There are many examples of this type of consecration throughout history, Bishop Malooly said. Bishop John Carroll of Baltimore, the first bishop of the United States, promoted devotion to Mary, the Mother of God, and placed the United States under her protection in a pastoral letter in 1792. Also, the bishops attending the Sixth Provincial Council of Baltimore in 1846 named the Blessed Virgin Mary, under the title of the Immaculate Conception, as the Patroness of the United States.

“Each year at our annual Marian Pilgrimage, we dedicate our diocese to Our Lady of Fatima,” Bishop Malooly said. “And recently, our celebration of our diocesan 150th anniversary saw the introduction of ‘Our Lady of Wilmington’ as intercessor for the needs of Catholics in Delaware and Maryland’s Eastern Shore.”

Archbishop Jose H. Gomez of Los Angeles. (CNS photo/Bob Roller)

“The renewal of consecration planned in this country for May 1 does not change the designation of Mary as the Patroness of the United States under the title of the Immaculate Conception,” Bishop Malooly said. “Rather, this prayer reaffirms and renews previous Marian entrustments, and 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.”

This reconsecration follows the Latin American bishops’ council who consecrated Latin America and the Caribbean to Our Lady of Guadalupe on Easter.

Bishop Malooly also invited families to pray the Catholic Diocese of Wilmington’s Coronavirus Novena beginning May 2.

“Let us turn to the face of God in prayer and ask for His healing, His help and His protection,” the bishop said. “Let us also turn to and ask for the intercession of our Most Blessed Mother Mary, our hope in times of crises.”

Online readers can find the novena and the bishop’s video at cdow.org/coronavirus.