"In union with the bishops and the faithful of the world, I solemnly wish to bring to the Immaculate Heart of Mary all that we are living; to renew to her the consecration of the Church and of all humanity and to consecrate to her, in a particular way, the Ukrainian people and the Russian people, who with filial affection venerate her as Mother," the Pope said in St. Peter's Basilica before some three thousand faithful, and more than two thousand in St. Peter's Square.
"It is the gesture of full confidence of the children who, in the tribulation of this cruel and senseless war that threatens the world, have recourse to the Mother, placing their fear and pain in her Heart, and surrendering themselves totally to her," he added.
It is a matter of "placing in that clean, immaculate Heart, where God is reflected, the precious goods of fraternity and peace, all that we have and all that we are, so that she, the Mother given to us by the Lord, may be the one to protect us and take care of us," the Holy Father said on the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord, after the reading of the Gospel of the Angel Gabriel's announcement to the Blessed Virgin.
"Obtain God's forgiveness."
"In these days news and images of death continue to enter our homes, while bombs destroy the homes of so many of our defenseless Ukrainian brothers and sisters," the Pope recalled in his homily. "The atrocious war that has fallen upon many and causes everyone to suffer, provokes fear and affliction in each one of us. We experience within ourselves a sense of helplessness and incapacity. We need to hear them tell us 'do not be afraid,' as the angel said to the Virgin Mary, the Pontiff added.
"The presence of God is necessary, the certainty of divine forgiveness, the only one that eliminates evil, disarms rancor and restores peace to the heart". For this reason "it is necessary to obtain from God's forgiveness the power of love, that same Spirit that descended on Mary".
"Because, if we want the world to change, our hearts must first change. For this to happen, let us today allow Our Lady to take us by the hand. Let us contemplate her immaculate Heart, where God reclined, the only Heart of a human creature without shadows," the Pope encouraged, appealing to conversion of heart.
"May Mary guide our way".
"She is the one 'full of grace,' and, therefore, empty of sin; in her there is no trace of evil and that is why God was able to initiate with her a new history of salvation and peace. It was there that history took a turn. God changed history by knocking at the door of Mary's Heart. And today too, renewed by God's forgiveness, let us knock at the door of that Heart," the Holy Father said.
Mary's lips uttered the most beautiful phrase that the angel could bring to God: 'May it be done to me as you say,'" the Pope had said. "Mary's acceptance is not passive or resigned, but the lively desire to adhere to God, who has 'plans for peace and not for misfortune.' It is the most intimate participation in his plan of peace for the world."
"We consecrate ourselves to Mary in order to enter into this plan, to place ourselves at the full disposition of God's plans," the Pope stressed. "The Mother of God, after having pronounced her yes, faced a long and tortuous journey to a mountainous region to visit her pregnant cousin. May she today take our path in her hands; may she guide it, through the steep and tiring paths of fraternity and dialogue, along the path of peace."
Rediscovering the Sacrament of Joy
At the beginning of his address, Pope Francis recalled that "in the Gospel of the Solemnity we are celebrating today, the Angel Gabriel speaks three times to the Virgin Mary. The first time, greeting her, he says to her: 'Rejoice, full of grace, the Lord is with you' (Lk 1:28). The reason for this joy, the cause of this jubilation, is revealed in a few words: the Lord is with you. Brother, sister, today you can hear these same words addressed to you; you can make them your own every time you approach God's forgiveness, for there the Lord says to you: "I am with you."
"Too often we think that Confession consists in presenting ourselves to God with our heads bowed. But, to begin with, it is not we who return to the Lord; it is He who comes to visit us, to fill us with His grace, to fill us with His joy. To confess is to give the Father the joy of lifting us up again, of rising up. At the heart of what we will experience is not our sins but his forgiveness," the Pope said.
"Let us imagine that at the center of the Sacrament were our sins: almost everything would depend on us, on our repentance, on our efforts, on our eagerness," Pope Francis explained. "But no, at the center is He who frees us and puts us back on our feet. Let us restore the primacy of grace and ask for the gift of understanding that reconciliation is not primarily a step that we take towards God, but His embrace that envelops us, amazes us and moves us. It is the Lord who, as with Mary in Nazareth, enters our home and brings us an astonishment and a joy that were previously unknown. Let us put God's perspective in the foreground: we will rediscover the importance of Confession".
The Holy Father encouraged in his homily to discover God's forgiveness. "Let us not neglect Reconciliation, but let us rediscover it as the Sacrament of joy. Yes, of joy, where the evil that makes us ashamed becomes an occasion to experience the warm embrace of the Father, the sweet strength of Jesus who heals us and the 'maternal tenderness' of the Holy Spirit. This is the essence of Confession".
Likewise, he exhorted priests "No rigidity, no obstacle, no discomfort; open doors to mercy! In Confession we are especially called to embody the Good Shepherd who takes his sheep in his arms and caresses them; to be channels of grace, pouring the living water of the Father's mercy into the dryness of the heart."
Consecration of the Church and humanity
At the end of the penitential celebration, in which more than one hundred priests administered the sacrament of Penance in St. Peter's, the Pope made the consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and entrusted to her "our persons, the Church and the whole of humanity". "Make war cease war and provide the world with peace", the Pontiff asked before an image of the Virgin of Fatima, looking at her fixedly on several occasions, and with tearful eyes, or at least that is how it seemed at times. You can see the full text here.
"Mother of God and our Mother, we solemnly entrust and consecrate to your Immaculate Heart our persons, the Church and the whole of humanity, especially Russia and Ukraine", the Pope said to the Mother of God. And he continued: "The 'yes' that flowed from your Heart opened the doors of history to the Prince of peace; we trust that, through your Heart, peace will come. To you, then, we consecrate the future of the whole human family, the needs and aspirations of peoples, the anxieties and hopes of the world.
The Pope referred to the tragedies of the last century and the millions of dead: "We have lost the path of peace. We have forgotten the lesson of the tragedies of the last century, the sacrifice of millions of fallen in the world wars. We have disregarded our commitments as a Community of Nations and we are betraying the dreams of peace of the peoples and the hopes of the young".
Untangling tangles and knots
And he turned to our Mother, the Mother of God, looking at the miracle of the wedding feast at Cana and Mary's 'they have no wine': "We turn to you, we knock at the door of your Heart, we, your beloved children whom you never tire of visiting and inviting to conversion. In this dark hour, come to our aid and comfort us. Repeat to each one of us: 'Am I not here, who am your Mother? You know how to untie the tangles of our hearts and the knots of our time. We place our trust in you. We are sure that you, especially in these moments of trial, do not despise our supplications and come to our aid".
"So you did at Cana in Galilee, when you hastened the hour of Jesus' intervention and introduced his first sign into the world. When the feast had turned to sadness you said to him: 'They have no wine' (Jn 2:3). Repeat it again to God, O Mother, for today we have run out of the wine of hope, joy has faded, fraternity has been watered down. We have lost humanity, we have spoiled peace. We have become capable of all kinds of violence and destruction. We urgently need your motherly help," Francis pleaded.
Finally, the Pope invoked the Virgin Mary as "Queen of the Rosary", "Queen of the human family", "Queen of Peace", and "Woman of Yes", to ask her: "obtain peace for the world", "guide us along paths of peace".
At the same time, in Fatima
As reported by OmnesThe same act, on the same day, will be carried out in Fatima by Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, papal almoner, as envoy of the Holy Father," said Matteo Bruni, director of the Holy See Press Office.
This consecration stems from Our Lady's request during her apparition of July 13, 1917 at Fatima, in which she asked for the consecration of Russia to her Immaculate Heart, stating that, if this request were not granted, Russia would spread 'its errors throughout the world, promoting wars and persecutions of the Church'.
After the apparitions of Fatima there were several acts of consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary by Pius XII, St. Paul VI and St. John Paul II, the last two in a particularly solemn way.
