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In 2018, Pope Francis instituted a new memorial that he wanted the entire Church to celebrate on Pentecost Monday.
According to the official decree, the celebration was established to “help us to remember that growth in the Christian life must be anchored to the Mystery of the Cross, to the oblation of Christ in the Eucharistic Banquet and to the Mother of the Redeemer and Mother of the Redeemed, the Virgin who makes her offering to God.”
Furthermore, “Having attentively considered how greatly the promotion of this devotion might encourage the growth of the maternal sense of the Church in the pastors, religious and faithful, as well as a growth of genuine Marian piety, Pope Francis has decreed that the Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, should be inscribed in the Roman Calendar on the Monday after Pentecost and be now celebrated every year.”
Mondays in the modern Church
Unfortunately, especially in the United States, Mondays have become a “non-liturgical” day in short-staffed parishes, as some priests use that day as a personal day. These parishes might have a Monday Mass.
This means that while Pope Francis encourages the faithful to celebrate Mary, Mother of the Church, some smaller parishes will likely never celebrate the new memorial in a public way.
Laity are still able to celebrate this memorial in a liturgical way by reciting the Liturgy of the Hours.
The USCCB has provided assistance in celebrating the Liturgy of the Hours with a liturgical aid.
When the Liturgy of the Hours is printed again with the Second Edition, Mary, Mother of the Church will be included in it.
For those who are not familiar with the Liturgy of the Hours and who find it difficult to handle, another alternative is to simply recite the Collect prayer from the Mass as a way to spiritually participate in this new liturgical memorial.
O God, Father of mercies,
whose Only Begotten Son, as he hung upon the Cross,
chose the Blessed Virgin Mary, his Mother,
to be our Mother also,
grant, we pray, that with her loving help
your Church may be more fruitful day by day
and, exulting in the holiness of her children,
may draw to her embrace all the families of the peoples.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
