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LESOTHO

With the permission of Basotho King Moshoeshoe I, Lesotho was consecrated to the Blessed Virgin Mary on 15th August 1865.

Pope Saint John Paul II came on pilgrimage to Lesotho in 1988 during which he beatified Father Joseph Gérard.

We do not as yet have any recordings for Totus2us podcasts by Basothos - if you would like to give a response, please get in touch with the Totus2us team. Thank you!

St John Paul II's Act of Entrustment of Lesotho to
Mary, Mother of our Redeemer
Maseru Racecourse, Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, 15th September 1988 

"O Mary, Mother of our Redeemer, Mother of the Church, at the end of this celebration of the Eucharist, we turn to you with confidence and love. On this feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, we remember your own sharing in the suffering and death of Christ your Son.

O Mother of Sorrows, it was precisely at the hour of your Son’s death that you became by a new title our Mother, Mother of all the faithful. For your loving Son said to you, as you stood at the foot of the Cross, “Woman, this is your son!”

From that moment onwards and throughout the course of human history, you are the Mother not only of the beloved disciple but of every member of the Church. You are our gentle Mother. You care for us all as your dear children. In fact, you see in each of us the face of your beloved Jesus And you intercede with him on our behalf, for our good and the Redemption of the world.

Today, dearest Mother, I entrust to you all those present at this Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and all the people living in this mountain Kingdom. I entrust them to you with complete confidence and love.

O Mother of Sorrows, I bring before you the sick and the elderly and all who are burdened by sin. I know they will find in you a safe harbour and a consoling help. You will bring them tenderly but surely to the foot of the Triumphant Cross.

O Immaculate Heart of Mary, so filled with love for your Son, I entrust to you the youth of Lesotho in whose eyes the future shines. Protect them from the evil one. Enable them to see that only your Son is” the Way and the Truth and the Life”, only in him is there a future full of hope and a life truly founded on love.

O Blessed Virgin of Nazareth, I place before you the families of the Basotho people, all married couples who with their children are called to form a lifelong communion of love. Keep them pure and chaste, ever faithful to one another, always faithful, as you were, to the life-giving word of God.

O Mary, Model of holiness and first disciple of your Son, I entrust to your gentle care the Church in Lesotho. As it rejoices in a century and a quarter of evangelization and in the beatification of Father Joseph Gérard, lead your sons and daughters in the way of constant conversion, along the path of spiritual renewal. Pray for this local Church, so dear to the Successor of Peter, so dear to your own Immaculate Heart. Help our brothers and sisters to come to believe with conviction what you believed at the foot of the Cross: that human death is not the final word, for the final word belongs to God, the God of love and mercy, the God who has saved the world through the victorious Cross of your Son. Amen."

St John Paul II's Prayer before the tomb
of Father Joseph Gérard

"God our Father,
all creation praises you,
all people delight in your presence.
You guide the course of history,
you govern all nations with order and mercy.

In your loving providence,
you called your servant, Joseph Gérard,
to imitate your only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ,
to follow him more closely in chastity, poverty and obedience,
and to proclaim the Good News of salvation
in South Africa and in the Kingdom of Lesotho.

O Father of tenderness and love,
at this tomb of Joseph Gérard, we recall with gratitude
how you blessed your servant with a faithful spirit of prayer
that he might constantly walk in your gentle presence
and pour out his life in generous service of others.

You filled him with wisdom and apostolic zeal
that he might enlighten minds with the truth of the Gospel.

You gave your chosen one the gift of compassion
that he might offer comfort to the sick, hope to the dying,
and charity to all.

On this vigil of his beatification
we thank you, heavenly Father, Source of all holiness,
for the Gospel witness of Father Joseph Gérard.

By the help of his prayers
give us purity of heart,
strengthen us in faith,
keep us firm in hope,
inspire us to imitate his example of love.

Bless the Church in this land
with renewed vigour in serving you,
with fresh enthusiasm for evangelization,
so that always and in everything
your Name may be blessed and adored.

This we ask through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen."

If you'd like to give your something about Mary,
please do get in touch with the Totus2us team

- as well as hopefully bringing you joy,
you'd be really helping Totus2us  :o)

Totus tuus ego sum et omnia mea tua sunt.
Accipio te in mea omnia. Praebe mihi cor tuum, Maria. - St Louis de Montfort

St John Paul II took his motto Totus Tuus from this quote.

"I am totally yours and all that I have is yours.
I accept you for my all. O Mary, give me your heart.”   ♥