Prayer for the Consecration of Canada
to the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary on July 1, 2017
Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God and Mother of the Church, when the first Christian believers came to these shores, they planted a Cross made of the fresh timber of the New World as a sign of their faith in your Son and the power of the Resurrection, placing their lives under your maternal protection and venerating you as the Immaculate Conception. You show us how to live a life free from sin in Christ Jesus and by our baptism, we hope to share fully with you, in the freedom of the glory of the children of God. You have accompanied us on our path through history, in times of peace, conflict, and reconciliation, and as we arrived at a greater sense of unity and nationhood.
With full confidence we come before you today giving thanks to God on the 150th day of the Canadian Confederation. Gathered in the communion of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we place ourselves completely in the sanctuary of your Heart and commit the past, the present, and the future of Canada to your maternal care.
For this reason, I, Terrence Prendergast, Archbishop of Ottawa, commend to your Immaculate Heart, the portion of the People of God entrusted to me. Together with the other Archbishops, Metropolitans, Bishops and Eparchs of Canada. I also consecrate the people of our country to your maternal Heart which teaches us to trust in God’s loving plan.
Immaculate Mother of God, we find ourselves at a crossroads in our history: we are grateful for advances in science and new discoveries. Yet we know the human heart is tempted by selfish interests and false ideas about the human person and freedom. Help us, as Catholics, to live in peace with all people of good will and to dialogue with respect and friendship .
Loving Mother of Our Lord, help us to uphold religious freedom in Canada, and the natural rights of parents and families, inspire us to protect the unborn, to help the poor, the marginalized, and to give support to the infirm and elderly. Weighed down at times by our concerns, but hopeful for the future, we turn to you, the new Eve, Mother of all living for help and for strength.
Your Son is the beginning of God’s New Creation and you are his Masterpiece. Intercede for our Churches, for all our people, especially for the Indigenous Peoples, the first stewards of this land of Canada, and all who come here to live, take refuge, or visit.
( All together )
May the Cross of your Son, planted on Canadian soil and in Canadian hearts, be known as the Tree of Life, whose fruit is visible and available to all in the garden of this world.
Mary our Mother, we place our country Canada in the sanctuary of your Holy Heart for we know that there we will find Jesus, who lives and reigns with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen.