At St Peter’s Basilica in Rome on the Solemnity of the Annunciation (25th March), the Holy Father, consecrated Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Catholic Bishops in England and Wales also joined Pope Francis in the consecration on that day.
“This Act of Consecration is meant to be a gesture of the universal Church, which in this dramatic moment lifts up to God, through his Mother and ours, the cry of pain of all those who suffer and implore an end to the violence, and to entrust the future of our human family to the Queen of Peace. I ask you to join in this Act by inviting the priests, religious and faithful to assemble in their churches and places of prayer on 25th March, so that God’s Holy People may raise a heartfelt and choral plea to Mary our Mother. I am sending you the text of the prayer of consecration, so that all of us can recite it throughout that day, in fraternal union.” ~ Pope Francis.
From 13th May to 13th September 1917, Our Lady appeared to three shepherd children in Fatima, Portugal. She called the world to prayer and penance and asked for the Consecration of Russia to her Immaculate Heart. Sister Lucia, one of the three Fatima visionaries, recalled in her memoirs that Our Lady asked for “the Consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart, and the Communion of reparation on the First Saturdays…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…In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph.”
In this parish, Fr Foley made a public act of consecration in front of a statue of Our Lady of Fatima. The act of consecration can continue to be prayed and can be found on this page of the Catholic Bishops’ website.
I am all thine and all I have is thine, O most loving Jesus, through Mary, Thy most Holy and Immaculate Mother.
