On May 28, 1792 when there were barely two dozen priests and 35,000 Catholics in this country, John Carroll, first bishop of the United States, entrusted us all to Mary, the Mother of Jesus. Several generations later, in 1846, the bishops of the United States unanimously chose Mary, to be the Patroness of the United States of America. Closer to our time and during his first Pastoral Visit to the United States in October 1979, Pope St. John Paul II entrusted all of us to the Blessed Virgin at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. Now it is time for all of us to approach Mary for help again.
We think one way to do this is to create personalized, spontaneous litanies for the leaders of our country, especially when feeling anxious about a newscast or social media post. Therese stumbled upon this way to pray when she was very concerned about a grown child. Repetition of this brief prayer form has given Therese great relief.
Step One: Greet Mary by praying the entire Hail Mary or through a song.
Step Two: Prayerfully repeat just the second half of the Hail Mary for the struggling political leader or government official. No need to write anything down. Just pray for whomever comes to mind.
Holy Mary, mother of God and mother of __________ (name), pray for us [optional: now and at the hour of our death. Amen.]
Spend as little as five minutes or as long as twenty minutes; either praying for this one person over and over again, or pray for several people, one at a time, repeating step two with another name for as long as necessary. “Pray FOR US” is an important act of compassionate solidarity for the leader in question.
Step Three: End by thanking God for listening and by reading Psalm 23.