We are going to celebrate another Feast of Annunciation. On this joyous occasion, let us consecrate ourselves, our families, the Church and the whole world to the Sacred Heart of Jesus through the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin. This will help us in growing in the virtues that were profoundly manifest in Mary.
The desire that all of Mary’s children should be consecrated to her Immaculate Heart was conveyed through Sr Lucia, the Fatima seer in 1917. Since then, this appeal was repeated many times in Fatima as well as other places. Many of us have already done this consecration and are regularly renewing it every year.
But in Fatima, Mary appealed for something more than a personal consecration also . We often forget it. It was nothing but the consecration of Russia to her Immaculate Heart in a special way.
It was the Blessed Virgin’s wish that the Pope in union with all the Bishops should publicly consecrate Russia to her Immaculate Heart. She warned that unless the consecration is done as instructed by her, Russia will spread its ‘errors’ throughout the world , thereby bringing wars to the world and persecution to the Church. Good men will be martyred, the Holy Father will have to suffer greatly and many nations will be annihilated, warned the Virgin. This message was repeated not once or twice. Mary asked Sr Lucia to convey this important message to the Holy Father, which she did promptly. It is said that during the last hundred years, some Popes did not show much interest in carrying out this message, some other Popes did the consecration, though there is doubt as to whether they were done in strict accordance with what the Blessed Virgin said. Anyway, it is not our subject today. Instead of living in the past we should look forward to the future, and a possibility for it is now at hand.
Pope Francis has recently announced his decision to consecrate Russia to the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin and called upon all Bishops to join him in the act of consecration that is scheduled for 25 March 2022, the Feast day of Annunciation. Let us together thank God for this act of great spiritual importance. If all the bishops in union with the Pope carry out the consecration of Russia during a Mass of Reparation celebrated at their respective places, it will bring boundless and countless blessings not only to Russia but to the whole world. It will be the greatest contribution that we can offer for world peace.
Thirty eight years ago the Blessed Virgin once again reminded the Church about her call for Russia’s consecration, which was still awaiting fruition. The occasion was the Feast of Annunciation of the year 1984. Fr Stefano Gobbi has recorded the message of Our Lady in the following words: ‘I ask it, first of all, of Pope John Paul II, the first of my beloved sons, who is carrying it out in a solemn way on the occasion of this feast, after writing to the Bishops of the world to do this in union with him. Sadly, the invitation has not been welcomed by all the Bishops. Particular circumstances have not yet allowed the express consecration to me of Russia, which I have asked for many times. As I have already told you, this consecration will be made to me, when bloody events are already in train. ( To the Priests, Our Lady’s Beloved Sons -Message No 287 dated 25 March 1984).
Are we not living in the midst of those bloody events that our Lady warned of? Today, Russia is spreading her errors unhindered across the globe. It is in this backdrop, and taking a serious view of what is happening in Ukraine, Pope Francis has decided to expressly and publicly consecrate Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The decision might be due to the realization that we may not be given another opportunity to do it. It can also be due to the good intention that the world escapes from those bloody events looming large on the horizon. Whatever be the reason behind it, one thing is sure, that the Pope in union with all Bishops consecrating Russia expressly and publicly to the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin will see the fulfillment of a long pending wish of our heavenly Mother.
May we use this occasion to appeal to all our Bishops and Priests to join the Pope in consecrating Russia in a special way to the Immaculate heart of Mary? The programme is scheduled at 5.00 P M (Rome time) on 25 March 2022 at St Peter’s Basilica. Please check your local time and be generous towards our Mother by celebrating a Mass of Reparation for Russia and consecrating this nation to her Immaculate Heart. May this call from the Pope do not go in vain. As children of the Queen of Peace, isn’t it our duty to accede to her fervent appeals?
We request our readers to share this message with their bishops and pastors, and request them in charity to join the Pope in this great event.
In these days of uncertainty and turmoil may the Holy Mother protect us in her Immaculate Heart.
The Act of Consecration Prayer for March 25, 2022
***** ALL Catholics are encouraged to read along on Friday *****
The Vatican has sent bishops around the world the text of the prayer that Pope Francis will lead on March 25th, 2022 for the consecration of Ukraine and Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
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.
