Official Website of the
Catholic Diocese of Little Rock
U.S., Canada to be reconsecrated to Mary
Published: April 28, 2020
Click on the link above to watch Bishop Anthony B. Taylor join with bishops across the United States and Canada in renewing our diocese's consecration to Mary at 2 p.m. central time on Friday, May 1. You may also watch it live on YouTube. To participate more fully, download the liturgy guide in English or Spanish.
Bishop Anthony B. Taylor will join the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops in renewing our two nations' consecration to the Blessed Virgin Mary on Friday, May 1. Archbishop José Gomez, president of the USCCB, will lead the prayer service on behalf of the United States at 2 p.m. central time. All are invited to watch it live on the USCCB Facebook page or watch Bishop Taylor renew our diocese's consecration live on the Facebook or YouTube.
"Through a collective dedication or entrustment of a nation to Mary, an act of consecration is meant to be a reminder to the faithful of the Blessed Mother’s witness to the Gospel and to ask for her effective intercession before her Son on behalf of those in need," according the USCCB.
In this case, the need is for an end to the COVID-19 pandemic. “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 in a letter to the U.S. bishops. Each year, the Church seeks the special intercession of Mary in 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."
To participate more fully, download the liturgy guide and pray in union with the all the faithful in the U.S. and Canada. It is available in English and Spanish.
This is a renewal of previous dedications to the Blessed Mother. Bishop John Carroll of Baltimore, the first bishop of the United States, first put the country under Mary's protection in 1792. During the Sixth Provincial Council of Baltimore in 1846, Mary, under the title of the Immaculate Conception, was named patroness of the United States. When the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. was dedicated in 1959, the bishops once again consecrated the nation to Mary. Several popes have likewise consecrated the world to Mary on various occasions. Learn more from the USCCB.
The renewal planned for May 1 does not change previous dedications to Mary. "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."
