
How you can celebrate
15 August 2021 - 15 August 2022
In celebrating Bishop Pompallier’s dedication of our land of Aotearoa under the patronage of Mary assumed into heaven, we give thanks that she was taken body and soul into the fullness of eternal life with her Son, and that she will accompany and lead all who seek to follow her Son, God-with-us, to their ultimate and eternal destiny.
In this act of rededication, we give ourselves and our land anew to her patronage and protection, confident that Mary will be for us a sign of hope and the ultimate bridge of protection in difficult times both now and for generations to come.
The rededication is something that we will be celebrating over a 12 month period. There are many ways that you can join in.
Photo: A gathering at Totara Point in the Hokianga.
Your local parish
August 15 is a Holy Day of Obligation for the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. We will be making plans for the unveiling of the Shrine at St Mary of the Angels in Wellington in 2022.
If you are not a practising Catholic or do not have an affiliation to a local parish, you are always welcome to join us. A list of parishes is available here.
Mass
Feast of the Assumption National Mass
Location: St Mary of the Angels, Boulcott Street, Wellington CBD
The Catholic bishops of Aotearoa gathered in Wellington to renew the dedication.
Filmed moments from the mass will be shared on www.facebook.com/catholicdiscoverynz over an extended period.
A more complete version of the film is available here on the Catholic Discovery YouTube channel.
Cardinal John Dew's homily is also available to watch.
Novena
An excellent way to welcome the artwork is to share our novena in the period leading up to the taonga's arrival. The prayer booklet is available here
The booklet includes the prayer below that was written for the Rededication. Printed cards which feature this prayer and the artwork have been distributed within each of our dioceses. The prayer can also be downloaded here
Prayer for the Rededication
E te Atua aroha mā te whakapuaki
i tō mātou whakapono
Loving God in professing this faith
In which we are united as your people
we unite ourselves with the yes of your mother
Mary, the first disciple.
E te Atua, te Puna o ngā mea ora katoa,
te kaihomai o ngā mea pai katoa
O God, Source of all life, giver of all that is good
We, your people of Aotearoa New Zealand
Meet in the bonds of your love
Keep us faithful in our response to your love
with Mary patroness of our land.
E te Atua aroha, ka karangahia houtia mātou
e koe ki ngā hua o te ora.
Loving God, you call us anew to the abundance of life
For which we have been created.
In our life with you we mature
in relationship with you,
with one another, and with our land
We repent the harm we have caused in this holy place
To our sisters and brothers and to our land.
In humility we turn to Mary,
Mother of God, Assumed into Heaven
E te Atua, mā roto i te korowai o Maria
te whāea o tāu tamaiti, tō mātou whāea anō hoki
O God, under the patronage of Mary,
the mother of your son, and our mother
We join with those gathered in the Hokianga in January 1838
with the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Pompallier
first Catholic bishop of this place
to dedicate our land of Aotearoa New Zealand
To the care of Mary, Mother of God, Assumed into Heaven.
I tenei wā, ka whakahoungia e mātou tēnei oati tapu
We now renew this dedication
Turning to Mary with new fervour
In union with her Son
Our Lord Jesus Christ
Who lives and reigns with you
In the unity of the Holy Spirit
God forever and ever
Amen
Te Hīkoi Wairua mo Te Ara a Maria
The artwork will hikoi throughout New Zealand, visiting parishes, schools, and places of significance. This hikoi will commence on the Feast of the Assumption, 15 August 2021, and end after a year, on 14 August 2022.
Date | Region |
15 June to 30 June | Palmerston North |
1 - 3 July | Otaki |
5 July to 13 August | Wellington |
14 August | St. Mary of the Angels Church |
Please note the dates presented above are subject to change.
At the completion of the national tour, the artwork will be permanently installed in Wellington at the St. Mary of the Angels Church. This will be celebrated with a Shrine dedication on Sunday, 14 August 2022.
Hata Maria
Download and enjoy
Enjoy this piece of music specially composed by Father Chris Skinner SM a priest of the Society of Mary. An appropriate connection as it was priests of the Society of Mary that accompanied Bishop Pompallier when he arrived in New Zealand in 1838.
Hata_Maria-_003.mp3
Click on the three dots and choose to download song.
Mō Maria Himene
From his arrival in January 1838 Bishop Pompallier sought to foster a relationship with the tangata whenua, the first people of this land Aotearoa. In responding to a Māori tradition for music the Bishop offered a hymn, composed in their own language, and giving honour to a woman living in relationship with the transcendent, and encouraging love
In the almost two centuries of Catholic faith this powerful and beautiful hymn has been welcomed and sung throughout our land. Different regional pronunciations and subsequent adaptations of the original lyrics have made it difficult to sing this national hymn in a way that is unified and harmonious.
With the Feast of the Assumption with the rededication of Aotearoa New Zealand to Mary, Mother of God, Assumed into Heaven, we have taken the opportunity to once again learn again this hymn, lyric, melody and pronunciation, from the people of the Hokianga for whom this himene was first composed.
Lyrics to this beautiful himene can be downloaded here.
The Lead Sheet in G can be accessed here. Please note the lyrics included on the music sheet differ from the original lyrics we are promoting.
The National Liturgy Office and friends have produced a number of video guides about Mō Maria that can be viewed on YouTube
The videos include background stories, history, lyrics and a guide to pronounciation. More information is included on a National Liturgy Office page dedicated to Mō Maria.
A soundtrack of the himene being lovingly sung by students, parents and teachers of Te Kura Taumata o Panguru is included below. The file can be downloaded by clicking on the three dots.
Mo_Maria_sung_by_Te_Kura_Taumata_o_Panguru.mp3
Mō Maria
Mō Maria aianei
O tātou waiata
Kia kaha rā tātou
Kia nui te aroha
For Mary now
Our songs
Let us be strong
Let there be great love.
Chorus
Mō Maria aianei
O tātou waiata
Kia kaha rā tātou
Kia nui te aroha
For Mary now
Our songs
Let us be strong
Let there be great love.
Verse 2
Aroha ki te Atua
Aroha ki a Maria
i te Rangi,
te whenua
āke tonu, āke tonu.
Love God
Love Mary
In heaven
And on earth
For ever and ever.
Chorus