The news is that on 25 March, Feast of the Annunciation, Francis will “consecrate Russia and Ukraine” to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Also, in Fatima, the papal almoner Card. Krajewski will do “the same act, on the same day”. It is not clear if that will be at the same moment. It also is not clear that bishops around the world will be asked to do the same at the same moment.
In 1917 Our Lady asked that Russia be consecrated to her Immaculate Heart by the Pope and all the bishops. There have been several “consecrations” of one sort or another, but seemingly not quite in the way that Mary asked. IT is disputed.
People are asking me what I think about this.
What do I think about this? I think it depends a great deal on what is said and who says it.
Nevertheless, I don’t think it can hurt, so long as the Immaculate Heart of Mary is being invoked.
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With so much coalescence in general support for Ukraine, this would be the easiest moment that I can think of to get as many bishops in the world to join in. I really love the Fatima message and devotion (Repent, Rosary, Eucharist!), but I don’t obsess too much if Russia was consecrated “enough”. It would be good to leave no doubt.
To get ALL the Catholic bishops of the world to agree about doing anything would outdo the Miracle of the Sun. Not sure our Lady would demand we do the impossible. I can’t imagine China state approved bishops going there..
Well according to Lucia, and JPII t’was done and accepted by our Blessed Mother. Indeed Russia was converted. Trouble is, in the meantime, because of procrastinating Popes, Russia had already spread it’s errors around the world. We need consecration now, this war was started by the the west.
Jimmy Akin has covered all this with references, in minute detail, over 3 hrs. In his 3 Fatima episodes on his Mysterious World.
I have on video, a European TV broadcast with Lucia saying, it was done as Our Lady requested and was accepted in heaven.
I wonder about tacking on Ukraine since it was not what Our Lady asked for.
In union with all the bishops of the world was also what she asked for.
If Benedict is present, it will add a great deal more credibility, in my opinion. Without Benedict, many will probably not see the consecration as authentic and will still be saying, the consecration was never done. This is for various reasons.
Have Benedict there.
This is waaaay above my pay grade. I only know that Sr Lucia said that on June 13th, 1929, in a vision that she was granted in her conventual chapel in Tuy, she heard Our Lady say, ‘The moment has come in which God asks the Holy Father, in union with all the bishops of the world, to make the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart, promising to save it by this means’.
I think the whole, in union with ALL the bishops of the world ship has sailed. It may have been possible in the early 1930s, but not today. The “MOMENT” was almost a hundred years ago.
Ukraine was part of Russia until 1917. Our Lady wanted it consecrated as well.
When Russia is consecrated properly, there will be a miraculous conversion…a true conversion. Our Lady doesn’t do a half-job. Russia has not yet been converted. The Orthodox also need to be converted. There is one True Faith. Russia will be completely Catholic after it is consecrated properly. Our Lord wants to honor His Mother by showing the whole world His power through consecration to her. It will be miraculous, it will be complet, and it will be obvious to the whole world.
I think Francis is the one Pope, in the last 50 years, who could actually get all the Bishops to do it – given the current state of things. Ironic, certainly. Even if the Chinese “official” Bishops don’t/can’t would it matter, given that…? nah, let’s not go there. Anyway, I do hope the HF asks all of them to do it. We can only hope for the best, in the extraordinary circumstances we’re in now. Only 2 weeks left for a call to go out to them all. As Sr. Lucia reported Our Lord saying: “They will do it, but it will be late”. This time? Spera in Domino.
Our Lady’s request was so simple: The Pope must consecrate Russia to my Immaculate Heart in union with all the Bishops of the world.
The Pope, then needs to command ALL the Bishops of the world, wherever they may be, to join him in Our Lady’s specific prayer for Russia, at a specific day and time. Boom. Done deal.
If the Bishop does not, he has disobeyed the Pope and the official corrections need to follow.
What is all this business about adding the Ukraine? Another consecration going on elsewhere by someone else? Exorcists say an exorcism must be very specific
I am not saying this is an exorcism, I accidentally hit “post” too early. What I am saying is what Fr Z has said repeatedly- the words matter. Do the red say the black. This IS spiritual warfare on a world wide scale. Specificity is critical.
What could happen? If this consecration is not valid, nothing, except the Enemy using it to drive souls to despair, disbelief, complacency, you name it.
I will be increasing my fasts and prayers.
You have to think, sometimes God and Our Lady must be shaking their heads. “We gave you a clear, easy-to-follow, detailed instruction on how to fix all this. Why can’t y’all just DO EXACTLY WHAT WE TOLD YOU TO DO?”
As a kid, I thought the Noah story was a little extreme, but now-a-days I have a much better appreciation for just how dumb mankind can be.
Might be a good thing to do, apart from fasting, to offer a Novena of the Annunciation that the Pope will carry out the consecration exactly as Our Lady requested.
Indeed it depends a great deal what is said and has been said.?..”? The Gospel does not tell us anything: if she spoke a word or not… She was silent, but in her heart, how many things told the Lord! ‘You, that day, this and the other that we read, you had told me that he would be great, you had told me that you would have given him the throne of David, his forefather, that he would have reigned forever and now I see him there!’ Our Lady was human! And perhaps she even had the desire to say: ‘Lies! I was deceived!’ John Paul II would say this, speaking about Our Lady in that moment. But she, with her silence, hid the mystery that she did not understand and with this silence allowed for this mystery to grow and blossom in hope.” (Homily, Santa Marta, December 20, 2013)
I wish I knew what hour the pope is going to do this, so I can say my rosary then. I’ll say it anyway, but it would be nice to be able to say say the rosary during the consecration.
Dear Father Z., If only Pope Benedict XV had heeded Our Lady’s request. Yes ,all these prayers help but stop associating them with Fatima. Our lady was crystal clear. Consecration of Russia with all the Bishops. Why? Because Russia will spread it errors (communism) throughout the world. Not China, not North Korea,but Russia. Over the years Satan has tried to fool the multitudes that this has been done. People including many Catholics believe Russia no longer communist.
@kathleen10-Ukrane was part of the Russian Empire when Fatima occurred. Ukraine only declared independence in 1917, prior to that it was part of the Russian Empire from 1869. Makes sense in a way to include it.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_history_of_Ukraine
@ Gab – I’m going to do the exact same thing. Plenty know better than me about Fatima, but I know the simple message Our Lady shared with the children there. Pray, fast, say the rosary, mass & confession, penance and the 5 first Saturday devotions. Pray for the Pope and each other. God Bless everyone and thanks again Fr Z!
This is less about Fatima and more about the request from the Ukrainian bishops. They felt that consecrating both countries to Our Lady would lead to peace. Just like other trustful acts have led to the end of pestilence, etc.
If Pope Francis is bothering to make the effort to do this, I would hope that he is willing to make the effort to tell the bishops to join him. Indeed, to tell them that he is grading them on their participation in this at least as much as he is grading them on their obeying TC (or his other directives).
I don’t have any specific point of view about whether the consecration had to be done back 100 years ago, or was “successfully” done at some point. I don’t feel a need to sort that out. It can never hurt to consecrate a nation to Mary. And do so repeatedly: every day we renew our thanks to God and our gift of ourselves to him. Maybe the next day the Pope can consecrate Italy to Mary. And the day after that, the US! Whatever else would be the case, while the pope is doing this, he won’t be busy making trouble for traditionalists.
In 1936, our Lord told Sr. Lucia it was too late to consecrate Russia. Time had passed, but that the Immaculate Heart of Mary would convert Russia anyway because Russia had been entrusted to her.
So, it seems any consecration will help but will not be useful in the way the Blessed Mother, in doing God’s will, had originally intended.
Didn’t Lucia say it would be done “late”. It is that.
I hope Benedict is there or gives some public statement on his agreement. But it would be astounding, if they did.
The pope puts out a communique to all the bishops. This seems to fulfill Our Lady’s request. If some bishops don’t participate, that’s on them.
As far as Russia/Ukraine (thank you tgarcia) I just wish her request would not be changed in any way. Can’t we stick to exactly what she said.
Why could this not be public? It might actually drum up some public enthusiasm for the faith, for it to be known that the public consecration will be done by such and such a bishop on March 25th in our local area. Imagine our churchmen actually doing something the world found interesting. There’s a miracle.
CNA reports the Latin American bishops’ conference is going to join in the consecration. https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/250687/latin-american-catholic-bishops-to-join-pope-francis-consecration-of-russia-and-ukraine-to-mary-s-immaculate-heart
Malachi Martin, 1996: “Now as regards the mystery of Fatima it still stands…. So Russia is within the plans…. Why Russia and Kiev are involved in the final solution of this problem? But they are. They are part-and-parcel, and it’s really God’s choice. And it is purely and simply God’s choice. Like he chose the Jews. He has His own favorite solutions. I wouldn’t have chosen Russians or Kiev or The East for salvation. But salvation is to come from the East.”
I am of the opinion that the consecration did happen, but too late. Hence Russia was able to spread its errors (marxism / socialism / communism), before eventually converting and rejecting communism. Note that many of the events surrounding the dissolution of the USSR took place on major Catholic feast days.
A great source on this topic is the late Fr. Andrew Apostoli’s book on the Fatima apparitions.
Consecrating Russia and Ukraine now is really a separate / new issue.
Geoffrey,
You’re thinking that the consecration was done because Russia supposedly abandoned communism. Yet that is not the conversion Our Lady would want. The conversion she wants is Russia and the world to the One True Faith. Russia has not been converted! It is the souls that must be saved, not just an evil government. The country must be solidly Catholic, top to bottom.
kat,
No, I’ve heard that line of thought before. I don’t really buy it. The Russian people will always have free will. No consecration could ever change that. The very idea stretches credulity. And besides, most are Russian Orthodox. They have the seven sacraments. Are these souls automatically lost?
The Virgin said: “If my requests are heeded, Russia will be converted, and there will be peace”. It seems to many that she was specifically addressing atheistic communism.
@ellen…..I’ve read it’s supposed to happen 5 pm Rome time.
The consecration was not ever done in the manner heaven requested and if only Pope Francis and one cardinal do it on 3-25-2022, it will still not have been done in complete obedience to the request.
What was requested was a collegial consecration of Russia BY NAME by the pope and all of the bishops of the world, on the same day.
If it is not done in the precise manner requested, this will not be an act of filial obedience at all, and will not result in the conversion of Russia.
Note well, the 3 or 4 previous partial consecrations did have good effects. The Oct. 1942 partial consecration did result in the shortening of WWII by “several years.” The 1980’s partial consecrations did result in some nuclear accidents in Russia which greatly slowed down their nuclear war machine.
It would appear that Rome, the bishops, and the world in general will have to be totally backed up against the wall before they begin to “get it”–true obedience requires doing it in exactly the manner requested.
Please pray that this consecration be done in the manner requested, and at the earliest possible date!
Besides, “the errors of Russia means communism” is an interpretation; a plausible one of course but still an interpretation.
When Our Lady appeared in Fatima first, Russia was a liberal (in the European sense of the word) democracy ruled by one Mr. Kerensky. Communism on the other hand was a German idea (with French predecessors) which its instigators had hoped would succeed first in England. Did Russians even have a leading rôle within the Communist movement, before they outdid the others by the happenstance of having a country in their thral? I do not know. I do know that many leaders of Russian Communists had been enjoying Bavarian beer-halls before the war.
That Russia became Communist was in any case largely a German plot; our general staff, I really hate to say it, smuggled Lenin into the country so that he might betray it in the war (which he would in fact do). But it’s not “the errors of Germany” (which obviously also were abhorrent!), but “the errors of Russia”…
Still, looking on the 20th century one cannot say that “the errors of Russia” were not Communism, either.
@ Gab and everyone else:
I was given a prayer card today, which evidently comes from Bp Schneider. Here’s the text:
“Prayer for the Holy Father to Consecrate Russia
O Immaculate Heart of Mary, you are the holy
Mother of God and our tender Mother.
Look upon the distress in which the Church and the
whole of humanity are living because of the spread
of materialism and the persecution of the Church.
In Fatima, you warned against these errors, as you
spoke about the errors of Russia.
You are the Mediatrix of all graces. Implore your
Divine Son to grant this special grace for the Pope: that
he might consecrate Russia to your Immaculate Heart,
so that Russia will be converted, a period of peace will
be granted to the world, and your Immaculate Heart
will triumph, through an authentic renewal of the
Church in the splendor of the purity of the Catholic
Faith, of the sacredness of Divine worship and of the
holiness of the Christian life.
O Queen of the Holy Rosary and our sweet Mother,
turn your merciful eyes to us and graciously hear
this our trusting prayer.
Amen.
+ Athanasius Schneider, Auxiliary Bishop of the archdiocese of Saint Mary in Astana
Confraternity of Our Lady of Fatima 117 Hollywood, Blvd Steubenville, OH 43952
livefatima.io | info@livefatima.io”
I hope this is useful.
BTW, for historical reasons, I should think “Russia” would include the Ukraine, so, even if you don’t say the term “the Ukraine”, it’s likely to be included. God knows our intentions.
The bishops of England and Wales have announced that they are joining in the consecration. https://www.cbcew.org.uk/bishops-unite-with-pope-in-act-of-consecration-of-russia-and-ukraine-to-the-immaculate-heart-of-mary/. The bishops of the Philippines have also announced they are joining the consecration. https://mb.com.ph/2022/03/17/bishops-to-join-pope-francis-in-consecrating-russia-ukraine-to-the-blessed-mother/.
There is also a story bearing the headline that the bishops of Canada will join the consecration, but it is not clear from the story that that is actually what they will be doing. http://archeparchy.ca/news_details.php?news_id=1127
It’s confirmed: all the bishops are going to be asked to join in the consecration.
https://catholicfamilynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/USCCB-Act-of-Consecration-of-Russia-and-Ukraine-to-the-Immaculate-Heart-of-Mary.pdf?189db0&189db0
I think we may safely read “invitation” as “order.”
Rotate Coeli has a letter posted that seems to indicate that every bishop in the world will be invited to join the consecration at 5pm, Rome time on 3/25/22.
https://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2022/03/apostolic-nuncio-to-united-states-all.html?m=1
Indulge me one more time while I give a shout-out to my own bishop, +Peter Christensen of the Diocese of Boise, who will join in the act of consecration at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist while the Pope is making the act in Rome.
https://www.catholicidaho.org/post/consecration-of-russia-and-ukraine-to-the-immaculate-heart-of-mary
We’re Blessed the Diocese of Manchester will be joining in prayer. From Office of Bishop: https://tinyurl.com/4p8m3xyy