Francis consecrates world to Immaculate Heart
The recent consecration of the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary by Pope Francis may well have been his most important act thus far.
Some may regard the consecration as simply an expression of pious devotion that effects little change, but the reality is different. Papal consecrations are world-shaking events.
They open a breach in history for God to enter. They stimulate change, and order the world to the kingdom of God. An example is John Paul II’s consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart.
The request for such a consecration was given to the Fatima visionaries, Lucia in particular. In 1929 Our Lady told her:
“The moment has come when God asks the Holy Father, in union with all the bishops of the world, to consecrate Russia to My Immaculate Heart, promising to save it by this means.”
After this a number of papal consecrations of Russia and its peoples were made but they lacked the involvement of the world’s bishops and so, did not fulfil Our Lady’s request.
But on 25th March 1984 John Paul renewed the consecration in Rome and crucially, did so in the presence of a ‘moral totality’ of the world’s bishops. Afterwards, Sister Lucia told the papal nuncio to Portugal that the Consecration was fulfilled.
A few weeks later on 13th May, one of the largest crowds in Fatima history gathered at the shrine to pray for peace.
That same day, says Fatima expert, Colin T. Donovan, “an explosion at the Soviet Severomorsk Naval Base destroys two-thirds of all the missiles stockpiled for the Soviets’ Northern Fleet.
“The blast also destroys workshops needed to maintain the missiles.” Western military experts called it the worst disaster the Soviet Navy suffered since WWII.
Within a year of the papal consecration of Russia, Mikhail Gorbachev was elected leader of Russia.
He began a series of political and economic reforms that dealt a lethal blow to the communist system.
Then, on 12th May 1988, as Donovan explains, ‘an explosion wrecks the factory that makes the rocket motors for the Soviets’ deadly SS 24 long-range missiles.”
The following year, Sr. Lucia wrote that the consecration “has been accomplished” and that “God will keep his word”.
Her faith in God was not misplaced. Three months later, on 9th November 1989, the Berlin Wall came down.
This was followed by peaceful revolutions in Czechoslovakia, Romania, Bulgaria and Albania as the peoples of Eastern Europe overthrew their communist masters.
East and West Germany were unified and finally on Christmas Day 1991, the effect of the papal consecration of Russia was seen in the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
It is difficult to dismiss the guiding hand of Providence in these events. The Christian faith, after all, proclaims Jesus as the Lord of history.
Political situations are within his power and through such simple means as the prayers of a pontiff consecrating the world to the heart of Christ’s mother transformation is brought to bear upon a world in crisis.
By no means a magical solution to the problems facing us today, the consecration of the world to Mary’s Immaculate Heart by Francis will surely initiate a chain reaction of good.
Some may regard the consecration as simply an expression of pious devotion that effects little change, but the reality is different. Papal consecrations are world-shaking events.
They open a breach in history for God to enter. They stimulate change, and order the world to the kingdom of God. An example is John Paul II’s consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart.
The request for such a consecration was given to the Fatima visionaries, Lucia in particular. In 1929 Our Lady told her:
“The moment has come when God asks the Holy Father, in union with all the bishops of the world, to consecrate Russia to My Immaculate Heart, promising to save it by this means.”
After this a number of papal consecrations of Russia and its peoples were made but they lacked the involvement of the world’s bishops and so, did not fulfil Our Lady’s request.
But on 25th March 1984 John Paul renewed the consecration in Rome and crucially, did so in the presence of a ‘moral totality’ of the world’s bishops. Afterwards, Sister Lucia told the papal nuncio to Portugal that the Consecration was fulfilled.
A few weeks later on 13th May, one of the largest crowds in Fatima history gathered at the shrine to pray for peace.
That same day, says Fatima expert, Colin T. Donovan, “an explosion at the Soviet Severomorsk Naval Base destroys two-thirds of all the missiles stockpiled for the Soviets’ Northern Fleet.
“The blast also destroys workshops needed to maintain the missiles.” Western military experts called it the worst disaster the Soviet Navy suffered since WWII.
Within a year of the papal consecration of Russia, Mikhail Gorbachev was elected leader of Russia.
He began a series of political and economic reforms that dealt a lethal blow to the communist system.
Then, on 12th May 1988, as Donovan explains, ‘an explosion wrecks the factory that makes the rocket motors for the Soviets’ deadly SS 24 long-range missiles.”
The following year, Sr. Lucia wrote that the consecration “has been accomplished” and that “God will keep his word”.
Her faith in God was not misplaced. Three months later, on 9th November 1989, the Berlin Wall came down.
This was followed by peaceful revolutions in Czechoslovakia, Romania, Bulgaria and Albania as the peoples of Eastern Europe overthrew their communist masters.
East and West Germany were unified and finally on Christmas Day 1991, the effect of the papal consecration of Russia was seen in the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
It is difficult to dismiss the guiding hand of Providence in these events. The Christian faith, after all, proclaims Jesus as the Lord of history.
Political situations are within his power and through such simple means as the prayers of a pontiff consecrating the world to the heart of Christ’s mother transformation is brought to bear upon a world in crisis.
By no means a magical solution to the problems facing us today, the consecration of the world to Mary’s Immaculate Heart by Francis will surely initiate a chain reaction of good.
