Consecration of the Archdiocese of Quebec City by Cardinal Ouellet

On December 8, 2007, the feast of the Immaculate Conception, accompanied by all the clergy of the diocese of Quebec City and a great number of the diocesans, His Eminence Marc Cardinal Ouellet consecrated the diocese of Quebec City to the Immaculate.

Act of Consecration to the Immaculate Virgin

O Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, Mother of God and Mother of the Church, Chief Worker of Divine grace that flows from the Eucharistic and Pascal gift of Jesus Christ, your beloved Son; the Unique Mediator between God and humanity.

We recognize in you the marvels of Divine Mercy and we unite ourselves to you, worshipper of the Living God, in this solemnity that celebrates the celestial glory and your patronage over the Church of Quebec City, cradle of evangelization in North America. We give thanks to God for your Son Jesus, in the Spirit of Love, for all the graces and favors that have marked the history of our Church since the beginning to the present time, through your maternal intercession.

We thank you for having supported the audacity of the missionaries, the courage of the martyrs, the perseverance of the families and the richness of the vocations in the first diocese of the New World, configured by the French culture and the Catholic faith.

Prostrated at your feet, O Sovereign Virgin, we put into your hands as did Blessed Francois de Laval, the destiny of our country and the future of our institutions. We consecrate ourselves to you, Most Holy Mother, with total confidence in Your powerful intercession with God.

Obtain for us obedience to the faith that the Holy Spirit operates in our hearts by secret roads that are known to God alone.

Help us to remain docile to the teaching of the Church and open to the Hope showed by our Holy Father Benedict XVI.

Intercede for our people so that it will remember its Christian roots, that it may be proud of its holy history and that it will embark on a vast movement of repentance, reconciliation and a firm and enthusiastic adhesion to Jesus the Christ, Our Savior and Brother.

Mother of Mercy, look with compassion on the poor, the excluded, the sick and despairing, so that with your aid they will find the help, care and the charity that they need.

Mother of Beautiful Love, of the knowledge of the Holy Spirit, we especially confide to you all the projects of evangelization, of the efforts of the catechesis, and all Catholic education in the families, schools and parishes.

Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, receive the homage of the hearts of the children of God in this solemn feast that unites all of the Church in worship of the glory that raises from your Immaculate Heart.

In intimate union with You, the ultimate Eucharistic Woman, we live this year 2008 as an incomparable grace of holiness, hope and Peace.

May the celebration of the jubilee year of Francois de Laval and the coming International Eucharistic Congress consecrate the rebirth of a great Christian culture in our country, for the salvation of our souls and the edification of the Universal Church.

O Immaculate Virgin, full of grace, Spouse of the Lamb and Mother of Mercy, reign over all liberty, dispose our hearts towards the greater glory of God; we are all yours in filial love that the Holy Spirit incites in us, by the grace of Jesus Christ our Savior and for the Glory of God the Father. Amen!

Marc Cardinal Ouellet
Archdiocese’s Patronal Feast Day
Basilica of Our Lady of Quebec
December 8, 2007