On Friday, March 25th, the Feast of the Annunciation, Pope Francis will consecrate Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary during a prayer service at St. Peter’s Basilica.
Pope Francis has asked all the bishops of the world, along with their priests, to join him in the prayer for peace and in the consecration and entrustment of Russia and of Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Cardinal Sèan has asked that we all join the Holy Father in this universal prayer of consecration. All are encouraged to attend Mass on Friday morning at St. Paul at 9:00AM, when this special prayer of consecration will be included.
BACKGROUND AND HISTORY
According to the Vatican’s translation of the messages of Fatima, when Mary appeared to the three shepherd children in Fatima in 1917, she told them, “God wishes to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart. If what I say to you is done, many souls will be saved, and there will be peace.”
Warning of “war, famine, and persecutions of the church and of the Holy Father,” Mary told the children, “to prevent this, I shall come to ask for the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart.”
The Fatima message promised: “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.”
But, the message continued: “In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me, and she shall be converted, and a period of peace will be granted to the world.”
On March 25, 1984, the Solemnity of the Annunciation, Pope John Paul II consecrated the world “and Russia” to the Immaculate Heart, and asked all the bishops of the world to do so in union with him. The consecration by Pope Francis of Ukraine and Russia on March 25, 2022 is a deepening of an existing and enduring act of trust in the Mother of God, confident of her Providential role in history — especially the history of Russia and its neighbors.
-adapted from National Catholic Reporter