Questions About the Coming Consecration of California to Mary (12/9/2017)

Thousands, perhaps millions, of California Catholics are planning to attend a Mass, pray a rosary, and offer other prayers between noon and 2 p.m. on Saturday, December 9 at various locations around the state, with the intention to consecrate California to Our Lord through the Immaculate Heart of Mary. 

Some wonder why a specific consecration of our state is needed, because Pope Saint John Paul II already consecrated the entire world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on May 13, 1982. Decades before him, Pope Pius XII consecrated the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary—on two separate occasions.  As someone recently asked, Is California not part of the world?

In addition to the previous world-wide consecrations—although few people know this—California was solemnly dedicated to the Mother of God one hundred and seventy four years ago. When the proposed state-wide consecration was first publicized on Facebook a few weeks ago,  Father Anthony Hernandez, pastor of Saint Basil the Great Byzantine Catholic Church, Los Gatos, pointed out that California was dedicated to Our Lady even before it was a state, and provided the following information from "Our Lady of Refuge, patroness,” from Catholic San Francisco, written by his friend, Brother John Sahama.

 "When both Alta and Baja Californias were still part of Mexico, their first bishop, Bishop Francisco Diego Garcia y Moreno, dedicated both Californias to the Mother of God under the title, Nuestra Señora del Refugio/Our Lady of Refuge, with the feast day being July 4.

“In 1843, in his official declaration of the dedication of the Californias, Bishop Garcia y Moreno wrote: ‘We make known to you that we hereby name the great Mother of God in her most precious title, del Refugio, the principal patroness of our diocese . . . With so great a patroness and protectress, what can we not promise ourselves? What can be wanting and whom need we fear? ... If through the centuries this most worthy Mother of God has shown goodness and compassion to all peoples and nations . . . will she not do likewise for those peoples who bind themselves to her as their refuge and special patroness?’

“In the American period, when Alta California became part of the United States, the feast was generally no longer observed, except in the San Diego diocese. A few decades ago the California Catholic Conference of Bishops re-adopted the feast, but on July 5th instead (as July 4 in the U.S. is Independence Day. Many missions have the image of Nuestra Señora del Refugio."

Bishop Garcia Diego made the proclamation putting the Californias under the protection of  Nuestra Señora del Refugio at Mission Santa Clara in Alta California, which became a state separate from Mexico seven years later, in 1850.

In the restored Santa Clara Mission church on the Santa Clara University campus, a painting of Our Lady of Refuge is found “above the larger picture of Our Lady of Guadalupe in one of the side altar niches on the left as one nears the sanctuary. Another painting by Eulalio, a local Native American, is on display in Santa Clara University’s De Saisset Museum near the mission church.”—“Our Lady of Refuge, patroness."

Our Lady of Refuge, probably by Eulalio, at the de Saisset Museum

The image of Our Lady of Refuge became a focal point for Franciscan missionaries in the New World because it gained fame for touching the hearts of sinners wherever it was displayed. As described in Theater of a Thousand Wonders: A History of Miraculous Images and Shrines in New Spain, the first painting that later became known as Our Lady of Refuge was actually a copy of another painting titled Nuestra Senora de la Encina commissioned by Italian Jesuit missionary, Antonio Baldincucci.  Father  Baldincucci took the painting along with him as preached throughout Italy to much success. The inscription: “Refugium Peccatorum. Ora Pro Nobis” (Refuge of Sinners. Pray for Us), was added to his painting, and from that inscription came the title “Our Lady of Refuge.”

A print of the image made its way to the Franciscan Missionary College in Mexico, and later many copies of image and the painting were also made. Soon prints and paintings of the image hung in churches, chapels, and homes throughout the Californias and in many parts of northern Mexico and Texas. When copies of the painting were displayed in processions in Mexico, Our Lady of Refuge continued to inspire many conversions.

Father Baldincucci and the original painting titled Our Lady of Refuge

Today, several California parishes bear the title of Our Lady of Refuge, including the latest parish in San Jose, where the first Mass was celebrated on Sunday Feb. 18, 2011, in a former Protestant worship  building in a densely populated and previously under-served neighborhood.

Why? Why Not?

One possible reply to those who object to the planned consecration of California is another question “Why not?” Who can deny that prayers are still needed for our state?  The intentions behind this grassroots effort are to gather the laity together to pray for Our Lord’s help and Our Lady’s intercession, and a gathering of prayer like that can only help in the battle we all need to fight to combat both our own sinfulness and the besetting evils of our era.

Painted 1780, by José de Paez (1720-1795), at an unspecified location

Soledad Mission Museum, unspecified artist

In San Jose, where I live, the Immaculate Heart of Mary Oratory at Five Wounds Portuguese National Church will join in the state-wide initiative to consecrate California on December 9. The schedule will be:

• 12:00 noon Mass at the IES Chapel at 1401 East Santa Clara St. 95116
  If you are facing the Five Wounds Church, the chapel is to the right towards the freeway on the other side of the Cristo Rey High School building. 
• 1:00 pm Rosary
• 1:30 pm Prayer of Consecration

More information about the event and a downloadable flyer are at Consecrate California to Mary.