Hundreds celebrate Assumption feast at national shrine

The Bishops of New Zealand and the Apostolic Nuncio to New Zealand celebrated Mass for the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary at the national Marian shrine in Wellington on August 15.

A packed national Marian shrine was the site for a renewal of the country’s dedication to Mary, Assumed into Heaven on New Zealand’s patronal feast day on Friday evening.

The six active bishops were at St Mary of the Angels Church for the second of two joint pilgrimages they have made during the current Jubilee Year.

Wellington Archbishop Paul Martin SM, who preached at the Mass, drew on the Jubilee theme of “Pilgrims of Hope” in his homily.

“In this Year of Jubilee, we can take concrete steps to live as people of hope,” he said. “In our parishes and dioceses, we want to foster communities where all are welcomed, heard and valued.

“In our personal lives we can make space for prayer, and especially the Rosary, which keeps us close to Mary and her Son. In our public witness we can be a voices for peace, for care of creation, for those whose voices are rarely heard.

“If we live this way, then the patronage of Mary will not just be a nice idea, it will be a living reality shaping who we are as Church.”

New Zealand’s first bishop, Jean-Baptiste Pompallier, dedicated the nation to the patronage of Mary, Assumed into Heaven soon after arriving in 1838.

“In doing so, he was not merely honouring her, he was entrusting the mission of the Church here to her maternal care,” Archbishop Martin noted.

That dedication was renewed by the country’s bishops in August 2021. St Mary of the Angels was designated the national Marian shrine on the Feast of the Assumption 12 months later.

Archbishop Martin expressed his desire for the Church in New Zealand, almost 190 years after the arrival of its first bishop, to be known for “lifting up the lowly, for walking alongside those on the margins, for standing with the poor, for protecting the dignity of every person from conception to natural death”.

“Mary, as a mother, embraces all her children – Māori, Pākehā, Pasifika, Asian and all peoples who now call this land home,” he said. “The unity that she desires is not uniformity, but a harmony that honours the gifts of each culture.”

Archbishop Gabor Pinter, the Pope’s ambassador to New Zealand and the Pacific, joined the six local bishops as one of the concelebrants at the Mass.