UPDATE 25 March 2022:
The consecration took place today in St. Peter’s Basilica.
Below, I wondered if the puzzling aspects of the text were intended to separate this act from the requestion of Our Lady of Fatima, to make it “free-standing”, as it were.
Today, the consecration tool place before a statue of Our Lady of Fatima.
Hence, I am more than likely wrong about that, unless they are throwing a real curve.
UPDATE 23 March 2022:
While I posted in a comment that a friend mentioned to me that he thought that “Land of Heaven” might have a Byzantine connection.. I’ve been putting my old cyrilic skills to work on that, but we really need Easter Catholics to chime in- there is definitely a connection of that title “land of heaven” with the Pachamama demon cult.
From Agencia Servicios Informativos, describing the Pachamama bands of color.
La madre tierra tiene cuatro estratos cada uno representado por un color. El que está debajo, lo llamamos en el idioma mapuche “minche mapu” y se lo identifica con el rojo, tanto por la sangre derramada en defensa de nuestros derechos (desde el comienzo de la conquista hasta la de Santiago Maldonado, Rafael Nahuel y tantos recientes en América) como por el fuego que forma el centro del planeta. El siguiente es “karu mapu”, la tierra verde donde transcurren nuestras vidas. Más arriba está la “wenu mapu” tierra del cielo, idenficada con el celeste y donde tenemos la atmósfera con sus nubes, sus vientos. Y más alto aún, la “pullu mapu”, tierra de las almas, identificada con el amarillo por la luz del sol que alumbra y nos permite vivir….
Mother Earth has four strata, each represented by a color. The one below, we call in the Mapuche language “minche mapu” and is identified with red, both because of the blood shed in defense of our rights (from the beginning of the conquest to that of Santiago Maldonado, Rafael Nahuel and so many recent in America) and by the fire that forms the center of the planet. Next is “karu mapu”, the green land where our lives take place. Higher up is the “wenu mapu” land of the sky, identified with the sky and where we have the atmosphere with its clouds, its winds. And higher still, the “pullu mapu”, land of souls, identified with yellow by the light of the sun that illuminates and allows us to live.
Is that strong enough a connection? Not sure.
Originally posted Mar 22, 2022
UPDATE BELOW:
Francis from the window of the residence of Popes, the Apostolic Palace – where is does not live – now says:
Invito ogni comunità e ogni fedele a unirsi a me venerdì 25 marzo, Solennità dell’Annunciazione, nel compiere un solenne Atto di consacrazione dell’umanità, specialmente della Russia e dell’Ucraina, al Cuore immacolato di Maria, affinché Lei, la Regina della pace, ottenga al mondo la pace.
I invite every community and all the faithful to join me on Friday 25 March, the Solemnity of the Annunciation, in carrying out a solemn Act of consecration of humanity, especially of Russia and Ukraine, to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, so that she, the Queen of peace, obtain peace for the world.
Interesting, no?
It is said that, just before John Paul II did a consecration of Russia, he was approached and he changed the formula.
So, who got to Francis?
UPDATE:
The cover letter and the text. Note on page 2 of the Consecration…
“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,….”
So… “humanity” calls on Mary.
“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.”
So, this is a consecration of “the Church and all humanity”.
That’s … everyone, everywhere.
Thought: Was this done specifically to distance this act from anything having to do with the messages of Our Lady of Fatima?
When the news broke about this, I wrote here, “It depends on what is said.” Yup. It does depend. What I read here is a consecration of “humanity” and the “Church”. I read a plea for “the people of” Russia and Ukraine but not in any way separated from the way the Church and all humanity are consecrated to Mary’s Immaculate Heart.
Yes, “the people of” Russia and Ukraine get honorable mention.
Think of a graduation ceremony. All the recipients get their diploma and one might be singled out as valedictorian. That person is not being granted a degree higher than the others or a double award, High School diploma with Oak Leaf Cluster.
Also, I am turning over in my head the implications of consecrating “the people”, “humanity” and the “Church”. First, the Church IS the Body of Christ. Hard to get more consecrated than that. The Church is made up of baptized living stones. Some of them are even more consecrated, in a more technical sense of the word: certain religious, virgins, clergy. Otherwise, things and places are consecrated, in the technical sense: chalices for Mass, bells, buildings such as a church, places such as cemeteries.
A Catholic Dictionary says that “consecration” is:
An ecclesiastical act by which a person or thing is definitely set apart from some religious office, state, or use. It is superior to and more solemn than a blessing, from which it must be distinguished.
I wonder what “consecration” means in this Act to be read in a few days.
However, there is a non-technical meaning of this polyvalent word. It intends something along the lines of “place under the protection of”… like entrust.
Do you suppose that what the Blessed Virgin wants, wanted, wants… who knows now, given the confusion about consecrations of Russia, yes or no… RUSSIA, the nation, that would have included Ukraine in 1917, not just a rather general entrustment and blessings of the people, but something rather more … what’s the word… “binding”?
More than once the Blessed Virgin told Sr. Lucia about the consecration of Russia. In 1941 Sr. Lucia reported that in the July apparition in 1917 Mary said:
I shall come to ask for the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart, and the communion of reparation on the first Saturday’s. If my requests are heeded, Russia will be converted, and there will be peace. If not, she will spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions of the Church. The good will be martyred, the Holy Father will have much to suffer, various nations will be annihilated. In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me, and she will be converted, and a period of peace will be granted to the world.”
Anyway, read the text. It’s not bad. It just seems to be a consecration of humanity and the Church and Russia and Ukraine get honorable mention.
Am I wrong?
Act of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary Basilica of Saint Peter 25 March 2022
0 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, 0 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, 0 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.
PAGE
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.
Today is Lady Day, the Feast of the Annunciation, the instant of the Incarnation.
They make GREAT beer.
