In response to the global Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Most Reverend José H. Gomez, President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and Archbishop of Los Angeles, has announced that the USCCB will join the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops in renewing the consecrations of the two nations to the care of our Blessed Mother on Friday, May 1st.
Locally, Archbishop Nelson J. Pérez strongly encourages clergy, religious, and lay faithful of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia to join Archbishop Gomez at 3:00 p.m. via livestream on the USCCB’s Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/usccb/) or the Archdiocese of Los Angeles’ website (https://lacatholics.org/consecration/).
As a united human family, Catholics will pray for Our Lady’s continued protection of the vulnerable, healing of the sick, and wisdom for those who work to cure the Coronavirus. The service will be interpreted in American Sign Language.
A liturgy guide is available to participants in both English and Spanish via http://www.usccb.org/about/communications/consecration.cfm.
Additionally, Pope Francis encourages faithful throughout the world to pray the rosary each day during the month of May for the same intentions. The month of May is devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Pope Francis has provided two prayers that can be recited at the end of the rosary. The prayers are available via https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2020-04/letter-on-the-month-of-may-full-text.html.
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Editor’s Note: For comprehensive information about the pastoral and temporal response of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia to the COVID-19 pandemic, please visit https://archphila.org/covid19/.
Contact: Alaina N. Longo
Deputy Communications Officer
215-587-3747 (office)