San Francisco, Calif., Mar 28, 2017 / 23:08 pm
In the centennial year of the Marian apparitions at Fatima, Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco will consecrate his archdiocese to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
"I am confident that the archdiocese will receive many graces through the intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary if we are spiritually prepared and properly disposed," Archbishop Cordileone said. "For this act of consecration to bear fruit, we must prepare ourselves spiritually and with catechesis for this significant day."
Archbishop Cordileone said the consecration comes in response to "numerous requests from the faithful."
The Oct. 7 consecration falls on the same day as the archdiocese's Annual Rosary Rally, which takes place on the Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary.
It comes in the 100th year since the 1917 apparitions of the Virgin Mary to three young children in Fatima, Portugal. The apparitions took place from May 1917 to Oct. 13, 1917 when tens of thousands of people who had gathered near Fatima witnessed the sun dance.
The Virgin Mary apparition delivered a message to the children, asking for prayer and reparation for sins throughout the world.
The archdiocese website has a section dedicated to the upcoming consecration that includes Marian prayers and explanations of Our Lady of Fatima.
It describes the Immaculate Heart of Mary as a devotional name for the internal life of the Blessed Virgin Mary, including "her joys and sorrows, her virtues and hidden perfections, and, above all, her virginal love for God the Father, her maternal love for her son Jesus, and her compassionate love for all people."
The archdiocese website lists several activities and suggested prayer intentions for each month leading up to the consecration. It is holding art contests and writing contests for students and has plans for a Marian retreat May 6.