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Over half a million people join Rededication of England to Mary

  • Jack Valero

Source: Behold 2020

History was made at noon on Sunday 29 March, when more than 500,000 people took part through live streaming in the Rededication of England as the Dowry of Mary, with many more joining at home at other times of the day.

Following a 2017 decision by the Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales, 29 March was fixed as the date to rededicate England as the Dowry of Mary. The original plan was for The Rededication to take place in all cathedrals and churches but the lockdown imposed because of the Covid-19 pandemic made that impossible as all churches were closed. Instead, a rededication ceremony was livestreamed from The Walsingham Catholic National Shrine in Norfolk and people could connect to it to carry out their own personal dedication from home.

The number of people trying to connect to the livestream made the Walsingham site crash and soon after the churchservices.tv stream also crashed. Viewers were asked to switch to YouTube to watch The Rededication there. Throughout the day the ceremony was repeated by bishops in their cathedrals and priests in their churches, but without congregations. In addition, individual households made The Rededication in their house.

Before the Coronavirus, communities were encouraged to sign up to The Rededication map on the official website, and 299 churches, schools and organisations signed up, including all cathedrals. As the coronavirus made it impossible to gather in these places, an individual sign up was made possible so that The Rededication could be celebrated at home and 2057 individual sign ups were made. A map of these can be found in www.behold2020.com/

In a message sent prior to the ceremony Pope Francis said that he "prays that the act of rededication will inspire all to persevere in the urgent task of sharing the joy of the Gospel with the men and women of our times. As they strive to bear witness to the beauty of our Catholic faith, to promote unity between Christians and to proffer the merciful love of Jesus to the poorest of our brothers and sisters," he encourages them "to draw wisdom and strength from the example and intercession of the country's many confessors and martyrs."

In his homily after The Rededication ceremony, Mgr John Armitage, Rector of The Catholic National Shrine, said: "When our bishops decided three years ago to undertake this rededication, they could never have foreseen the extent of our need at this time. Today we undertake this dedication in the "eye of the storm". We have long pondered and treasured the words of Pope Leo XIII to an earlier generation of Bishops "When England returns to Walsingham, Our Lady will return to England" in the hour of our need Our Blessed Mother has indeed returned to England!"

Cardinal Nichols, said on Twitter: "Today is the day we rededicate ourselves to Our Blessed Lady. This act of dedication asks of us to make a gift of ourselves to her. We ask for her protection, her mantle of love cast over us and our nations,"

See a video of Cardinal Vincent making the Rededication at home: www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcvL3NxLNJ8

LINKS

Behold: www.behold2020.com/

Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham: www.walsingham.org.uk/




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