In order to understand better the upcoming Consecration, we send you 2 comments of outstanding Fatima specialists: Mr. Christopher Ferrara and Yves de Lassus:
Mr. Christopher Ferrara
Christopher Ferrara, lawyer with the Thomas More Society and Fatima author, provided lengthy commentary to LifeSiteNews on the consecration, noting that it does meet the requirements but expressing misgivings about its content nonetheless.
“Predictably enough, the previously announced consecration of ‘Russia and Ukraine’ was watered down to an ‘entrustment’ and consecration of ‘ourselves, the Church and all humanity, especially Russia and Ukraine.’ Russia is thus not the sole object of the Consecration. Nor, quite shamefully, is there any mention of the Message of Fatima, the very source of the heavenly imperative of the Consecration,” he noted.
To that extent, the now nearly century-long farce continues: Pope after Pope after Pope, in ceremony after ceremony after ceremony, has somehow managed to avoid the simple act of consecrating Russia, by name, to the Immaculate Heart in unison with the world’s bishops, as Our Lady of Fatima requested. John Paul II alone conducted three “entrustment” ceremonies (1982, 1984, 2000) in which any specific mention of Russia was assiduously avoided and there was no organized worldwide episcopal participation. Only Pius XII mentioned “the peoples of Russia,” but then only in a papal bull issued in 1952, not a public ceremony in union with the Catholic episcopate.
However, Ferrara was hopeful that Pope Francis’ text was sufficient. “Yet with this latest attempt at a consecration of Russia there is reason for optimism,” he said.
“Barring any further meddling by Modernist papal advisors, the published text, which is being communicated to the worldwide episcopate with an invitation to invoke it at the appointed time, will finally link the words ‘consecrate’ and ‘Russia’ in a public declaration by the Pope, who will recite the operative words in union with as many of the world’s bishops who join him on Friday.”
He observed how “the repeated references to Mary as the Mother of God, Her Immaculate Heart, and Her divinely appointed roles as the Mother of all humanity and no less than the Queen of Heaven, are sure to provoke the ire of Protestants and liberal Catholics alike. No less dramatic is the ecumenically intolerable reference to Mary’s intercession as the means by which ‘God’s mercy be poured out on the earth.’”
“When all is said and done” Ferrara continued, “if the ceremony on Friday proceeds as planned, Russia will at least be named as an object, if not the object, of a papal consecration to the Immaculate Heart—a radically un-ecumenical act to be joined, one supposes, by a substantial number of the world’s bishops.”
“It seems to me that we can hope for the best, given that for the first time since Our Lady appeared to Sister Lucy at Tuy, Spain in 1929 to request the Consecration of Russia by the Pope and the world’s bishops precisely that is about to happen, albeit amidst a verbal jumble of other objects of the ceremony. We can only wait and see.”
‘Time of trial,’ but no mention of errors of Russia or communism
The “consecration” text opens by referring to “this time of trial” and how “we have strayed from that path of peace.”
While mentioning the suppression of “innocent lives,” the stockpiling of weapons and how “we have ravaged the garden of the earth with war,” the text completely avoids mentioning the errors of Russia or those of communism.
“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,” the prayer reads.
Referring to Mary’s fiat at the Annunciation, the prayer asks that “war may end and peace spread throughout the world.”
“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.”
Making a veiled reference to the period of peace promised by Our Lady of Fatima, the text continues: “Through your intercession, may God’s mercy be poured out on the earth and the gentle rhythm of peace return to mark our days.”
Bishops around the world are now urged by the Pope to respond to his invitation and to join him in making the consecration of Russia and Ukraine on March 25.
Mr. Yves de Lassus
Francis’ consecration fails to meet all the conditions expressed by Our Lady of Fatima, but here’s how it can be fixed :
The essential thing is to recite a prayer that respects the principles that have just been recalled. In this way, the whole Church will pronounce an act of consecration, some of its members reciting an incomplete act, but others a complete act.
(Fatima100) – The Holy See has just released the prayer that the Pope will recite on Friday, March 25 at 6:30 pm. Does this prayer answer all of Our Lady’s requests, as several experts have already stated?
First of all, let us recall the requests of Our Lady. On July 13, 1917, Our Lady entrusted the three little visionaries, Lucia, Jacinta and Francisco:
« I will come to ask for the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart and for reparative communion on the first Saturdays of the month. If my requests are listened to, Russia will be converted and we will have peace. »
On June 29, 1929, in Tuy, Our Lady said to Sister Lucy:
« The moment has come when God asks the Holy Father to make, in union with all the bishops of the world, the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart. He promises to save her by this means. »
In May 1930, and again in June 1930, Our Lord said to Sister Lucy:
« God would put an end to the persecution in Russia if the Holy Father would deign to make, and order the bishops of the Catholic world to make, a solemn and public act of reparation and consecration of Russia to the Most Holy Hearts of Jesus and Mary, His Holiness promising, in return for the end of this persecution, to approve and recommend the practice of reparatory devotion. »
Subsequently, especially after the eight acts made by Popes Pius XII, Paul VI and John Paul II, Sister Lucia repeated these requests of Our Lord and Our Lady many times. (1) Therefore, the act requested from the Pope is:
- a consecration
- of Russia
- to the Immaculate Heart of Mary
- in union with all the bishops of the world
- with an act of reparation
- and the promise to approve and recommend the reparative communion of the first Saturdays of the month.
Remarks on the prayer proposed by the Holy See
Firstly, regarding Pope Francis’ consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary – it is indeed a consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The term “consecration” and the expression “Immaculate Heart of Mary” appear well in the proposed prayer:
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.
The cover letter contains an almost identical formula:
On March 25, the Solemnity of the Annunciation, I intend to perform a solemn act of Consecration of humanity, and of Russia and Ukraine in particular, to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Finally, the title of the prayer clearly states: Act of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Consecration of Russia
Second, Russia is indeed clearly named. The addition of Ukraine does not change the spirit of the prayer, because Ukraine was part of Russia when Our Lady made her first request at Fatima.
Moreover, the spirit of Our Lady’s request is to name a precise and well-defined territory. Sister Lucia explained this very well to Bishop Hnilica on May 14, 1982, the day after the act of offering made by John Paul II during his first pilgrimage to Fatima.
In response to Bishop Hnilica’s question: “Sister, yesterday in his act of offering, did the Pope really consecrate Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary?,”
Sr. Lucia replied: “No, for two reasons. The bishops of the whole world did not make a public and solemn consecration at the same time as the Pope, each in his own cathedral. On the other hand, Russia did not appear clearly as the object of the consecration.”
And she specified that God wanted “the consecration of Russia and only of Russia, without any addition,” because “Russia is an immense and well circumscribed territory, and its conversion will be noticed, thus bringing the proof of what can be obtained by the consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.”
What is needed, therefore, is a well-defined territory in order to be able to see the effectiveness of the consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The world is too vast a whole for us to be able to see its conversion and thus the triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
On the other hand, Russia plus Ukraine is a well-defined territory, just as much as Russia alone.
However, the consecration proposed by the Holy See does not concern only Russia and Ukraine, because both in the cover letter and in the prayer itself, it is spoken of a consecration of ourselves as well as of the Church and humanity, in particular Russia and Ukraine. The addition of ourselves, the Church and humanity means that Our Lady’s request is not fulfilled.
Order to all bishops
The letter of the pope asks all the bishops to make this act:
I ask you to join in this act by inviting priests, religious and the faithful to gather in their churches and places of prayer on March 25, so that the Holy People of God may raise a sincere and choral supplication to Mary our Mother.
Moreover, even before receiving the pope’s letter, the bishops of the Latin American Episcopal Conference (CELAM) and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), the largest part of the American continent, had decided on their own to participate in this consecration.
Act of repair
There is no formal indication of an act of reparation, but the second paragraph of the proposed prayer can be seen as responding to this request since it lists a series of faults ending with: “Now, with shame, we cry out: Forgive us, Lord!”
First Saturdays of the month
Finally, and this is the most serious point, there is never any mention of reparative communion on the first Saturdays of the month. Now this request is particularly important and cannot be omitted for the following reasons:
The first reason: The main purpose of the apparitions of Fatima is the salvation of sinners through the establishment in the world of devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. This is a will of God Himself that Our Lady entrusted to the little visionaries.
On June 13, 1917, she told them: “Jesus wants to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart. To those who embrace this devotion, I promise salvation. These souls will be cherished by God as flowers placed by Me to adorn His throne.”
The request was repeated almost word for word on July 13, 1917: “To save souls, God wants to establish devotion to my Immaculate Heart in the world. If we do what I am going to tell you, many souls will be saved and we will have peace.”
In an act that should obtain so many graces for us, it is therefore indispensable to respect the spirit of the apparitions of Fatima and to ensure that it participates concretely in the establishment of devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
The second reason: Our Lady said on July 13, 1917: “I will come to ask for the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart AND for the reparative communion of the first Saturdays of the month. If my requestS are listened to, Russia will be converted and there will be peace” and not “my request.” This means that if all her requests are not fulfilled, Russia will not be converted and there will be no peace.
The third reason: Of the two requests stated on July 13, the Blessed Virgin came first to ask for the reparative communion of the first Saturdays of the month. In fact, she asked for it on December 10, 1925 in Pontevedra, a request repeated on February 15, 1926, three years before asking for the consecration of Russia. The first request is necessarily more important than the second.
Conclusion
In summary, in Francis’ consecration – despite containing two points that have not yet been met in the previous acts made by the popes, the mention of Russia and the union of a large part of the bishops – two of the six demands are not met:
- the consecration does not concern only Russia and Ukraine;
- reparative communion is neither approved nor recommended.
It is also unfortunate that the apparitions of Fatima are never mentioned, either in the letter of invitation or in the proposed prayer.
Therefore, in order to respect all the requests of Our Lord and Our Lady, it is necessary to modify and complete the prayer proposed by the Holy See:
- by deleting the mentions of the Church and of humanity,
- adding the approval and recommendation of the reparative communion of the first Saturdays of the month.
It is also desirable to complete the act of reparation by citing the sins mentioned by the Angel in 1916 and Our Lord in 1930, as well as those caused by the errors of Russia spread throughout the world.
In order to respond more fully to Our Lady’s requests, it is also desirable that the prayer make mention of the aims of this consecration, especially obtaining the fruits attached to it, namely:
- the conversion of Russia and Ukraine, i.e. the return to the Catholic Church, the only fold of the Eternal Shepherd, under the authority of the Vicar of Christ on earth,
- the peace for the world that, by the divine will, only Our Lady can obtain,stopping the plagues, consequences of Russia’s errors spread throughout the world,
- the triumph of the Immaculate Heart.
Proposal
The Holy See has not formally imposed the use of the prayer attached to the cover letter, and only that one without any addition or omission. The request is formulated as follows: “I am sending you the text of the prayer of consecration, so that we can all recite it throughout this day, in fraternal union.” So, there is nothing to prevent us from modifying it, or even pronouncing a different one. The essential thing is to say a prayer in union with the Pope and the bishops of the whole world.
Therefore, we propose a prayer that strictly respects the requests of Our Lord and Our Lady. For greater clarity, it is divided into three parts:
- the consecration,
- the act of repair,
- the promise to practice and spread around us, each at our own level, the reparative communion of the first Saturdays of the month.
Finally, in order to complete this act and to respond to the request of the Blessed Virgin to recite the rosary every day to obtain peace, it is proposed to finish with a rosary meditating on the sorrowful mysteries, on the one hand because these mysteries are well within the spirit of reparation requested by Our Lady, and on the other hand because traditionally these are the ones that are meditated on Fridays.
