Recently read President Lincoln honoured Mary by asking The United States Of America be consecrated to Her for protection and the will of God The Father.

This rings true to me for I feel our country has been given a priviladge to watch over the balance of the earth in God's name.

-- jean bouchardRC, (jeanb@cwk.imag.net), July 12, 1999

Answers

Consecration or dedication to the Blessed Virgin, or to any other saint, or to some attribute of the Lord (such as His Sacred Heart) is, as far as I know, a peculiarly Catholic custom. Most Protestants find these things to be abhorrent; even the Orthodox seem to find them to be somewhat alien.

Although Lincoln was free of the anti-Catholic prejudice that many of his compatriots revelled in, I cannot imagine that he would have done any such thing as asking that the USA be consecrated to the Blessed Virgin for her protection. He was not even a "conventional" Protestant; in fact, since he was not a church-goer, his political opponents frequently accused him of being an atheist.

Do you have a source for this story?

-- Lane Core Jr. (elcore@sgi.net), July 12, 1999.

Jean, I suspect the source for your Lincoln statement was similarly motivated as the one Michael used on his earlier thread (albeit for the opposite reason). I think folks are putting words into the mouth of our well-respected statesman in order to gain respect for their view and circulating that hoping it becomes part of the urban legend landscape of misquotes. In other words, I have to once again doubt that Lincoln ever made such a statement.

-- David Bowerman (dbowerman@balzenet.net), July 12, 1999.

DAvid,

that very may have been the source. =Peace=Jean B.

-- jean bouchardRC, (jeanb@cwk.imag.net), July 12, 1999.

Jean, please give us the source where you read this so that we may look further into the question. Thank you

ENRIQUE

-- ENRIQUE ORTIZ (eaortiz@yahoo.com), July 14, 1999.