Bishop to live-stream Mass

MADISON  Bishop Serratelli will celebrate a live-streamed Mass at St. Paul Inside the Walls: the Diocese’s Evangelization Center at 12:15 p.m. Friday, May 1, the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker. The Mass will be celebrated for all who labor for others, but especially those who work for our health, safety, security, service and essential needs. At the end of the Mass Bishop Serratelli will renew the Diocese’s consecration to the Blessed Virgin Mary under her title as Mother of the Church.

To view this Mass online, go to facebook.com/stpaulinsidethewalls/videos.

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. Rather, this prayer reaffirms and renews previous Marian entrustments, and unites us in solidarity with Pope Francis, who recently established the Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, as a source of protection and strength.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) announced that the U.S. bishops would join the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops on May 1 in renewing the consecrations of the two nations to the care of our Blessed Mother.

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. 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 of 1792. The 21 bishops attending the Sixth Provincial Council of Baltimore in 1846 determined to name the Blessed Virgin Mary, under the title of the Immaculate Conception, as the Patroness of the United States, and Pope Pius XI approved this decision the following year. More recently, the dedication of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. in 1959 was the opportunity for the bishops to once again consecrate the nation to the Blessed Mother. Several popes have likewise consecrated the world to Mary on various occasions.

The consecration on May 1 follows a similar action of the bishops’ conference of Latin America and the Caribbean (CELAM) who consecrated their nations to Our Lady of Guadalupe on Easter.