Bishop Thomas J. Tobin will celebrate the noon Mass at the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul, Providence, on Monday, May 21, marking the inaugural celebration of the feast in honor of Mary, Mother of the Church.
Pope Francis recently decreed that Latin-rite Catholics around the world will mark the feast of “the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church” on the Monday after Pentecost each year.
The decree announcing the addition to the church calendar was released March 3 by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments.
Francis approved the decree after “having attentively considered how greatly the promotion of this devotion might encourage the growth of the maternal sense of the church in the pastors, religious and faithful, as well as a growth of genuine Marian piety,” the decree said.
