This holy card features an image of Mary, Mother of Our Church (Mater Ecclesiae), the memorare, and the date and title commemorating the consecration of the United States and Canada to Our Lady's care.
In 1980, a group of university students were in an audience with the St. Pope John Paul II and pointed out that among all the holy images in the square, there were none of Our Lady. Seeing that the square was not complete without her, work was already underway to correct this. The project took on the additional weight of gratitude, after the pope was shot in 1981; he credited the Holy Mother with saving his life. Thus, he chose to depict her as the Mother of the Church because of her closeness to her children, indeed the whole church, in times of adversity. By winter of the same year, the mosaic was completed, in place of where a window once stood. Underneath the Madonna and child is the coat of arms of Pope St. John Paul II and his motto “Totus Tuus” (totally thine). The image is based on Our Lady of the Column, Mother of the Church, which stands above a side altar inside St. Peter’s Basilica.
It reads:
Acordaos, ¡oh piadosísima Virgen
María!, que jamás se ha oído decir que
ninguno de los que han acudido a
vuestra protección, implorando vuestro
auxilio, haya sido desamparado.
Animado por esta confianza, a Vos
acudo, Madre, Virgen de las vírgenes,
y gimiendo bajo el peso de mis pecados
me atrevo a comparecer ante Vos.
Madre de Dios, no desechéis mis
súplicas, antes bien, escuchadlas y
acogedlas benignamente.
Amén."
Paper pack: 50 cards
Laminated pack: 25 cards
( HC-SP4094B )