This Friday, March 25, Pope Francis, in union with the bishops of the world as well as all the faithful, will consecrate the world and in a particular way Ukraine and Russia once again to Our Lady's Immaculate Heart.
Join the Marian Fathers for the livestreamed Mass at a special time, 11:00 a.m. EST, during which the prayer of consecration will be recited (included at the end of this article).
By Chris Sparks
I have been living under the virginal cloak of the Mother of God. She has been guarding me and instructing me. I am quite at peace, close to Her Immaculate Heart. Because I am so weak and inexperienced, I nestle like a little child close to Her heart (Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, 1097).
At the Annunciation, God the Father entrusted God the Son to Mary, the Spouse of God the Holy Spirit. As Fr. Michael Gaitley, MIC, has made plain in his books, entrustment is effectively another word for "consecration." If God the Father saw fit to so entrust God the Son to Mary, why wouldn't we follow that supremely good example?
Highest form of Marian devotion
So then Marian consecration, or total consecration to Jesus through Mary, comes to us as the highest form of Marian devotion, as an act that most purely imitates God's own trust of the Blessed Virgin. Such consecrations can be made by individuals, as is the case with Fr. Gaitley's own 33 Days to Morning Glory preparation for individual consecration. But parishes, cities, whole nations, or even the entire world can be consecrated to Our Lady.
This Friday, March 25, the Solemnity of the Annunciation and the 38th anniversary of St. John Paul II's consecration, in the midst of a dangerous and unjust invasion of Ukraine by Russia, Pope Francis, in union with the bishops of the world as well as all the faithful, will consecrate the world and in a particular way Ukraine and Russia once again to Our Lady's Immaculate Heart. Join the Marian Fathers for the livestreamed Mass at a special time, 11:00 a.m. EST, during which the prayer of consecration will be recited (included at the end of this article).
Consecrations such as these have been made a number of times down through the centuries. Everyone probably has heard of Notre Dame de Paris (Our Lady of Paris) Cathedral, or some other such parish or cathedral church entrusted to Our Lady's patronage. Some people may be aware that Our Lady, the Immaculate Conception, is the patroness of the United States of America, and so one of the best people in Heaven or on earth to turn to when our nation needs heavenly intercession. And some people may be aware of the papal consecrations of Russia and the world to Our Lady's Immaculate Heart.
Throughout history
Different great figures in the history of the Church have requested various consecrations. For instance, Blessed Alexandrina de Costa (1904-1955) wrote to the Holy Father asking for the consecration of the world to the Immaculate Heart in 1936. Servant of God Lucia dos Santos (1907-2005), of course, wrote to the Holy See a number of times over the years and indicated to the Holy Father which consecrations fulfilled Heaven's request and which did not.
Here are recent examples, over the last 100 years:
On Oct. 31, 1942, Pope Pius XII, joined by the bishops of Portugal, consecrated the world with special mention of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary at the closing of the Silver Jubilee of Fatima.
On Dec. 8, 1942, Pope Pius XII repeated the consecration at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, though without the participation of the world's bishops. These consecrations affected the course of WWII, shortening it, according to Sr. Lucia.
On July 7, 1952, Pope Pius XII explicitly consecrated the people of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in his apostolic letter Sacro Vergente Anno (Consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary), though without the participation of the world's bishops.
On Nov. 21, 1964, St. Paul VI publicly recalled the Oct. 31, 1942 consecration to Mary made by Pope Pius XII and personally renewed it, though without the participation of the world's bishops.
On June 7, 1981, St. John Paul II recorded a prayer of consecration of the world to the Immaculate Heart and had it broadcast from St. Mary Major in Rome.
On May 13, 1982, St. John Paul IIwent to Fatima to thank Our Lady for saving his life and to renew the entrustment in union with the bishops of the world, but the letters inviting the bishops to take part arrived late, and so Sr. Lucia told the apostolic nuncio to Portugal that this act didn't fulfill Our Lady's request.
On March 25, 1984, the Solemnity of the Annunciation, in union with the bishops of the world (to whom a letter had gone out on Dec. 8, 1983, inviting them all to take part), St. John Paul II made the consecration of the world, and added, "In a special way we entrust and consecrate to you those individuals and nations which particularly need to be thus entrusted and consecrated." According to Sr. Lucia, this consecration fulfilled Heaven's requests, transmitted through Our Lady.
On Oct. 8, 2000, St. John Paul II renewed the entrustment of the world to the Immaculate Heart in union with the bishops of the world.
On. Oct. 13, 2013, Pope Francis led the faithful in an act of entrustment to Mary.
Saint Louis de Montfort, the great apostle of Marian consecration, called on the faithful to renew their consecration annually to Jesus through Mary. How fitting, then, that in the midst of deeply dangerous and difficult times, the Holy Father would do the same with the world, with Ukraine, and with Russia.
We are Mary's children
Jesus has entrusted us all to Our Lady. We are all her children, because Jesus is her Son. Mary is the mother of the New Adam, the Savior of the World, the Head of the Mystical Body. She who has given birth to the Head also gives birth to the rest of the Body, of all the members of the Body, something we find confirmed in Scripture: "Then the dragon became angry with the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring, those who keep God's commandments and bear witness to Jesus" (Rev. 12:17). Because of her immaculate purity, her whole-hearted assent to God's will, she is transparent to grace, the Gate of Heaven and the House of God. She is the greatest of all creatures, the one created person with the closest union to the divine.
Saint Faustina paid tribute to the extraordinary grace of Mary's Immaculate Conception throughout her Diary. For instance:
From early morning, I felt the nearness of the Blessed Mother. During Holy Mass, I saw Her, so lovely and so beautiful that I have no words to express even a small part of this beauty. She was all [in] white, with a blue sash around Her waist. Her cloak was also blue, and there was a crown on Her head. Marvelous light streamed forth from Her whole figure. I am the Queen of heaven and earth, but especially the Mother of your [Congregation]. She pressed me to Her heart and said, I feel constant compassion for you. I felt the force of Her Immaculate Heart which was communicated to my soul. Now I understand why I have been preparing for this feast [of the Immaculate Conception] for two months and have been looking forward to it with such yearning. From today onwards, I am going to strive for the greatest purity of soul, that the rays of God's grace may be reflected in all their brilliance. I long to be a crystal in order to find favor in His eyes.
That same day, I saw a certain priest [probably Father Sopocko or Father Andrasz] who was surrounded by the splendor which flowed from Her; evidently, this soul loves the Immaculate One (Diary, 805-806).
We are her children, many estranged, some faithful. We are the sons and daughters of the Mother of God, who is also the Mother of the Church. And when children are in trouble, there are few better courses of action than to go to our mother, especially Our Lady, Queen of Heaven and Earth.
So let us join the Holy Father and the whole Church, in union with the Marian Fathers, on Friday at 11:00 a.m. EST. At the same time in Rome, Pope Francis will lead a penitential service. If you are unable to join in at that time, please pray the prayer of the consecration (below).
Let us also remember that Our Lady at Fatima made several requests, including the First Saturdays of Reparation. Let us recommit ourselves to this important devotion, and to devotion to the Immaculate Heart.
Our Lady of Fatima, who is Our Lady of the Rosary and the Immaculate Conception, pray for us!
Here is the official translation of the Act of Consecration of Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart:
O Mary, Mother of God and our Mother, in this time of trial we turn to you. As our Mother, you love us and know us: no concern of our hearts is hidden from you. Mother of mercy, how often we have experienced your watchful care and your peaceful presence! You never cease to guide us to Jesus, the Prince of Peace.
Yet we have strayed from that path of peace. We have forgotten the lesson learned from the tragedies of the last century, the sacrifice of the millions who fell in two world wars. We have disregarded the commitments we made as a community of nations. We have betrayed peoples' dreams of peace and the hopes of the young. We grew sick with greed, we thought only of our own nations and their interests, we grew indifferent and caught up in our selfish needs and concerns. We chose to ignore God, to be satisfied with our illusions, to grow arrogant and aggressive, to suppress innocent lives and to stockpile weapons. We stopped being our neighbor's keepers and stewards of our common home. We have ravaged the garden of the earth with war and by our sins we have broken the heart of our heavenly Father, who desires us to be brothers and sisters. We grew indifferent to everyone and everything except ourselves. Now with shame we cry out: Forgive us, Lord!
Holy Mother, amid the misery of our sinfulness, amid our struggles and weaknesses, amid the mystery of iniquity that is evil and war, you remind us that God never abandons us, but continues to look upon us with love, ever ready to forgive us and raise us up to new life. He has given you to us and made your Immaculate Heart a refuge for the Church and for all humanity. By God's gracious will, you are ever with us; even in the most troubled moments of our history, you are there to guide us with tender love.
We now turn to you and knock at the door of your heart. We are your beloved children. In every age you make yourself known to us, calling us to conversion. At this dark hour, help us and grant us your comfort. Say to us once more: "Am I not here, I who am your Mother?" You are able to untie the knots of our hearts and of our times. In you we place our trust. We are confident that, especially in moments of trial, you will not be deaf to our supplication and will come to our aid.
That is what you did at Cana in Galilee, when you interceded with Jesus and he worked the first of his signs. To preserve the joy of the wedding feast, you said to him: "They have no wine" (Jn 2:3). Now, O Mother, repeat those words and that prayer, for in our own day we have run out of the wine of hope, joy has fled, fraternity has faded. We have forgotten our humanity and squandered the gift of peace. We opened our hearts to violence and destructiveness. How greatly we need your maternal help!
Therefore, O Mother, hear our prayer.
Star of the Sea, do not let us be shipwrecked in the tempest of war.
Ark of the New Covenant, inspire projects and paths of reconciliation.
Queen of Heaven, restore God's peace to the world.
Eliminate hatred and the thirst for revenge, and teach us forgiveness.
Free us from war, protect our world from the menace of nuclear weapons.
Queen of the Rosary, make us realize our need to pray and to love.
Queen of the Human Family, show people the path of fraternity.
Queen of Peace, obtain peace for our world.
O Mother, may your sorrowful plea stir our hardened hearts. May the tears you shed for us make this valley parched by our hatred blossom anew. Amid the thunder of weapons, may your prayer turn our thoughts to peace. May your maternal touch soothe those who suffer and flee from the rain of bombs. May your motherly embrace comfort those forced to leave their homes and their native land. May your Sorrowful Heart move us to compassion and inspire us to open our doors and to care for our brothers and sisters who are injured and cast aside.
Holy Mother of God, as you stood beneath the cross, Jesus, seeing the disciple at your side, said: "Behold your son" (Jn 19:26). In this way he entrusted each of us to you. To the disciple, and to each of us, he said: "Behold, your Mother" (v. 27). Mother Mary, we now desire to welcome you into our lives and our history. At this hour, a weary and distraught humanity stands with you beneath the cross, needing to entrust itself to you and, through you, to consecrate itself to Christ. The people of Ukraine and Russia, who venerate you with great love, now turn to you, even as your heart beats with compassion for them and for all those peoples decimated by war, hunger, injustice and poverty.
Therefore, Mother of God and our Mother, to your Immaculate Heart we solemnly entrust and consecrate ourselves, the Church and all humanity, especially Russia and Ukraine. Accept this act that we carry out with confidence and love. Grant that war may end and peace spread throughout the world. The "Fiat" that arose from your heart opened the doors of history to the Prince of Peace. We trust that, through your heart, peace will dawn once more. To you we consecrate the future of the whole human family, the needs and expectations of every people, the anxieties and hopes of the world.
Through your intercession, may God's mercy be poured out on the earth and the gentle rhythm of peace return to mark our days. Our Lady of the "Fiat", on whom the Holy Spirit descended, restore among us the harmony that comes from God. May you, our "living fountain of hope", water the dryness of our hearts. In your womb Jesus took flesh; help us to foster the growth of communion. You once trod the streets of our world; lead us now on the paths of peace.
Amen.
