By Leslie Ann Aquino On the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima, Catholic Church leaders on May 13, Wednesday, led the faithful in praying for an end to the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. “We are praying that through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary this pandemic will end,” Malolos Bishop Dennis Villarojo said in a Mass at the National Shrine of Our of Fatima in Valenzuela for the National Consecration of the Philippines to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Before the Mass, bishops from other arch/diocese also prayed for the victims of the disease during the simultaneous praying of the rosary. “For the souls of those who perished because of the pandemic… may God welcome them and may the Immaculate Heart of Mary be their refuge,” Iba Bishop Bartolome Santos said. "May we grow in spirit and reach out to our brothers and sisters who are in most need in this time of crisis,” said Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma. Apostolic Administrator of the Archdiocese of Manila Bishop Broderick Pabilo, meanwhile, explained the purpose of the Act of Consecration. “To consecrate can mean two things. One it can mean to entrust. We are entrusting ourselves to the maternal hand of the Blessed Virgin Mary because she cares for us and the protection of her intercession is powerful before God,” he said in a Mass at the Manila Cathedral in Intramuros, which was attended by the five mayors in the archdiocese led by Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko” Domagoso. To consecrate, Pabillo said, also means offering ourselves to God and doing His will. “We entrust ourselves in the hands of the Blessed Mother so she may lead us to God,” he said. The prelate then thanked the mayors who participated in the activity. “Thank you, my dear mayors, for coming and leading your constituents to this consecration. That even if you are busy, you have taken time to be here with all the faithful,” Pabillo said. Aside from Domagoso, other mayors in attendance were Makati Mayor Abigail Binay, San Juan Mayor Francis Zamora, Mandaluyong Mayor Carmelita Abalos, and Pasay Mayor Imelda Calixto-Rubiano. The National Consecration was led by Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines president Davao Archbishop Romulo Valles. The May 13 consecration reaffirms the bishops’ previous consecrations of the Philippines to Mary. In March 1984, the Filipino prelates joined Pope John Paul II with other bishops around the globe in the worldwide consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Rome. The following year, the Church also begged the Blessed Mother’s intercession to bring the country to “true freedom and peace” during the Marcos dictatorship. The Church again renewed the nation’s consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and his Mother’s Immaculate Heart “as a form of joyous thanksgiving” in 1987. In 2013, the bishops also approved the yearly national consecration of the country to the Immaculate Heart of Mary during its memorial every June 8, in preparation for the celebration of the 5th centenary of the Christianization of the Philippines. But “extraordinary times,” Valles said, call on the Church to do the national consecration with a “sense or urgency.” The prayer service was streamed on different Catholic media platforms as dioceses across the country are under strict quarantine protocols.