Bishop Peter Jugis leads the Act of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary March 25 at St. Patrick Cathedral in Charlotte, in union with the pope and Catholic churches around the world. The pope had called for the extraordinary worldwide prayer service to appeal for peace in Ukraine. (Photos by SueAnn Howell, Catholic News Herald)CHARLOTTE — Catholics in the Diocese of Charlotte joined their bishop and their pope Friday in an extraordinary worldwide plea for peace.
Pope Francis consecrated Ukraine and Russia to Mary on March 25, leading a “Consecration of Ukraine and Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary” at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican Friday at 6:30 p.m. Rome time. In the Charlotte diocese, Bishop Peter Jugis and priests across western North Carolina recited the same prayer in their churches at 1:30 p.m. local time.
People gathered at St. Patrick Cathedral and other churches across western North Carolina to join in the prayer service, which consecrated Ukraine and Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.Hundreds of people filled the pews inside St. Patrick Cathedral in Charlotte for the bishop's historic prayer service, which included Mass, the rosary and the Chaplet of Adoration and Reparation. Nearly 300 more tuned in live via the diocese's YouTube channel.
"Today in a special way we pray for peace in Ukraine and an end to the war," Bishop Jugis said during his homily.
Peace, the bishop said, can only truly be found in God.
"God gives true peace," he said. "The world gives peace as a negotiated settlement between warring parties – a truce that is fragile and sometimes only a temporary absence of conflict. But the peace that Jesus says He gives is not an absence, but a presence. The presence of God in one’s life."
Friday, March 25, was a special day in the Catholic Church: it is the Feast of the Annunciation, when the Angel Gabriel visited Mary to tell her that she would be the mother of Jesus.
Bishop Jugis said Mary's saying "yes" to God and His Will is an example for us today – and especially for the warring parties.
"This day we pray that those who are responsible for this war will also say ‘yes’ to God, and cooperate fully with God’s plan for peace and salvation," he said.
Javier Lizarazu, a member of St. Gabriel Church in Charlotte, believes it was important to join fellow Catholics with the bishop today because “it is an historic event and hopefully peace will come sooner than later.”
St. Ann parishioner Brion Blais echoed Lizarazu’s sentiment, saying, “I wanted to be present at this most important prayer that we have been waiting (to pray) for many years. It was very powerful. I could feel the Holy Spirit’s presence.”
Billie Mobley made it a point to drive to Charlotte from Winston-Salem to pray with Bishop Jugis.
Mobley runs the Te Deum Foundation, which works to increase devotion to Our Lady of Fatima and praying of the Chaplet of Adoration and Reparation. People attending the worship service prayed the chaplet just before the bishop led them in the Act of Consecration to Mary.
“I have been allowed to see the fulfillment… and all the work that has gone on through time (in fulfilling Our Lady’s request),” Mobley said. She believes it may take some time for peace to be achieved, but “Our Lady says her Immaculate Heart will triumph in the end.”
WHAT IS A CONSECRATION?
The prayer service at St. Patrick Cathedral was repeated in churches around the world, as Pope Francis invited all Catholics to join in the "Act of Consecration of Ukraine and Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary."
Consecration means “to make holy,” and an act of consecration is a prayer to become more united to God. This consecration prayer is an appeal for Mary to intercede with God and help the world bring peace and the cessation of war in Ukraine, which has resulted in the deaths of hundreds of civilians and displaced more than 3.7 million people since Russia invaded Ukraine Feb. 24.
St. John Paul II once explained that consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary “means accepting her help to offer ourselves and the whole of mankind to Him who is holy, infinitely holy…”
St. John Paul II himself consecrated Russia and the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on March 25, 1984 – just five years before the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
At the cathedral, the prayer service included Mass and praying of the rosary and Chaplet of Adoration and Reparation.At the same time the pope prayed the act of consecration in Rome, the pope’s head of charities, Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, carried out a similar consecration at the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima in Portugal. The Archbishop of Lviv, Ukraine, also offered the prayer of consecration at the Church of the Nativity of the Holy Virgin Mary in Lviv-Sykhiv in solidarity with the pope.
Pope Francis’ call for this worldwide prayer effort came after the Latin Rite and Eastern-rite Catholic bishops of Ukraine asked him earlier this month “to publicly perform the act of consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary of Ukraine and Russia, as requested by the Blessed Virgin in Fatima.”
WHAT IS FATIMA?
Mary’s well-documented apparitions at Fatima, Portugal, in 1917 are intricately connected to Russia and 20th century European 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.”
In her apparitions, Mary predicted World War I would end but that another major war would start during the reign of Pius XI (1922-1939) if people continued to offend God and Russia was not consecrated to Mary’s Immaculate Heart.
— SueAnn Howell, senior reporter. Catholic News Agency and Catholic News Service contributed.
Watch his full homily:
Pope consecrates Ukraine, Russia to Mary
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Pope consecrates Ukraine, Russia to Mary
Pope Francis makes the sign of the cross in front of a Marian statue after consecrating the world and, in particular, Ukraine and Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary during a Lenten penance service in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican March 25. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)VATICAN CITY — As Russia's violent monthlong invasion continued to devastate Ukraine, Pope Francis laid the fates of both countries at the feet of Mary in the hopes that peace would finally reign."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 pope said March 25, pronouncing the Act of Consecration after leading a Lenten penance service in St. Peter's Basilica.
Praying before a statue of Mary that was loaned by the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima at San Vittoriano on the outskirts of Rome, the pope pleaded with Mary to "accept this act that we carry out with confidence and love. Grant that war may end, and peace spread throughout the world."
Sitting in front of the statue, which was placed before the steps of the main altar on a red platform and adorned with white roses, the pope proclaimed the act of consecration. During the prayer, the pope paused at several moments to gaze at the statue of Mary before continuing to recite the prayer.
"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," he prayed.
After the consecration, the pope, accompanied by a young boy and girl, placed a bouquet of white roses at the feet of the statue. He then remained for a few moments, with eyes closed and head bowed in silent prayer, before stepping away.
According to the Vatican, an estimated 3,500 people filled St. Peter's Basilica, while 2,000 people watched on video screens from St. Peter's Square. Police asked pilgrims who entered St. Peter's Basilica carrying or wearing Ukrainian flags to put them away, since the event was a prayer service.
Among those present at the liturgy were Andrii Yurash, Ukraine's ambassador to the Holy See. The consecration, he tweeted March 25, is "another attempt (by the pope) to defend Ukraine from the devil's war," referring to Russia's attacks on the country.
Joe Donnelly, who soon will present his credentials to the pope as the U.S. ambassador to the Holy See, also attended the service.
The Vatican announced March 18 that Pope Francis also asked bishops around the world to join him in consecrating Ukraine and Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, the papal almoner, led a similar act of consecration at the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima in Portugal.
Bishops from around the world had announced special services to coincide with the timing of the consecration in Rome, even in the early hours of the morning.
At the Dulce Nombre de Maria Cathedral-Basilica in Hagatña, Guam, Archbishop Michael Byrnes led the faithful in praying the rosary before reciting the Act of Consecration at 2 a.m. local time March 26.
Archbishop Georg Gänswein, private secretary of retired Pope Benedict XVI, had told reporters that the former pope would join in the consecration from his residence.
In a video released before the liturgy, Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk of Kyiv-Halych, major archbishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, said he would join in the consecration "because today we need very much the victory of good."
The consecration, Archbishop Shevchuk said, "means that it is never possible to make a deal, to cooperate with this evil that emerges from Russia today."
"And that is why we must pray for its conversion, for the eradication of that evil, 'so that it,' as the Mother of God of Fatima said, 'might not destroy other states, might not cause yet another world war.' We, as Christians, have a duty to pray for our enemies," he said.
In Rome, the bells of St. Peter's Basilica rang out after Pope Francis concluded the Act of Consecration.
In his homily during the Lenten penance service, the pope acknowledged that the war in Ukraine, which "has overtaken so many people and caused suffering to all, has made each of us fearful and anxious."
While calls to "not be afraid" may soothe one's helplessness in the face of war, violence and uncertainty, the pope said that "human reassurance is not enough."
"We need the closeness of God and the certainty of his forgiveness, and once renewed by it, Christians can also turn to Mary and present their needs and the needs of the world," he said.
Pope Francis said the Act of Consecration was "no magic formula but a spiritual act" of trust by "children who, amid the tribulation of this cruel and senseless war that threatens our world, turn to their mother, reposing all their fears and pain in her heart and abandoning themselves to her."
"It means placing in that pure and undefiled heart, where God is mirrored, the inestimable goods of fraternity and peace, all that we have and are, so that she, the mother whom the Lord has given us, may protect us and watch over us," the pope said.
In his prayer, Pope Francis specifically asked Mary to be with those suffering directly because of the war.
"May your maternal touch soothe those who suffer and flee from the rain of bombs," he prayed to Mary. "May your motherly embrace comfort those forced to leave their homes and their native land. May your sorrowful heart move us to compassion and inspire us to open our doors and to care for our brothers and sisters who are injured and cast aside."
— Junno Arocho Esteves, Catholic News Service
Read the full prayer
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Read the full prayer
Here is the Vatican text of the Act of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, sent by the Vatican to bishops throughout the world. Pope Francis has invited bishops and the rest of the world to join him when he recites the prayer March 25 in St. Peter's Basilica:
Act of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary
Basilica of St. Peter
March 25, 2022O Mary, Mother of God and our mother, in this time of trial we turn to you. As our mother, you love us and know us: No concern of our hearts is hidden from you. Mother of mercy, how often we have experienced your watchful care and your peaceful presence! You never cease to guide us to Jesus, the prince of peace.
Yet we have strayed from that path of peace. We have forgotten the lesson learned from the tragedies of the last century, the sacrifice of the millions who fell in two world wars. We have disregarded the commitments we made as a community of nations. We have betrayed peoples' dreams of peace and the hopes of the young. We grew sick with greed, we thought only of our own nations and their interests, we grew indifferent and caught up in our selfish needs and concerns.
We chose to ignore God, to be satisfied with our illusions, to grow arrogant and aggressive, to suppress innocent lives and to stockpile weapons. We stopped being our neighbor's keepers and stewards of our common home. We have ravaged the garden of the earth with war, and by our sins we have broken the heart of our heavenly Father, who desires us to be brothers and sisters. We grew indifferent to everyone and everything except ourselves. Now with shame we cry out: Forgive us, Lord!
Holy Mother, amid the misery of our sinfulness, amid our struggles and weaknesses, amid the mystery of iniquity that is evil and war, you remind us that God never abandons us, but continues to look upon us with love, ever ready to forgive us and raise us up to new life. He has given you to us and made your Immaculate Heart a refuge for the church and for all humanity. By God's gracious will, you are ever with us; even in the most troubled moments of our history, you are there to guide us with tender love.
We now turn to you and knock at the door of your heart. We are your beloved children. In every age you make yourself known to us, calling us to conversion. At this dark hour, help us and grant us your comfort. Say to us once more: "Am I not here, I who am your Mother?" You are able to untie the knots of our hearts and of our times. In you we place our trust. We are confident that, especially in moments of trial, you will not be deaf to our supplication and will come to our aid.
That is what you did at Cana in Galilee, when you interceded with Jesus and he worked the first of his signs. To preserve the joy of the wedding feast, you said to him: "They have no wine" (Jn 2:3). Now, O Mother, repeat those words and that prayer, for in our own day we have run out of the wine of hope, joy has fled, fraternity has faded. We have forgotten our humanity and squandered the gift of peace. We opened our hearts to violence and destructiveness. How greatly we need your maternal help!
Therefore, O Mother, hear our prayer.
Star of the Sea, do not let us be shipwrecked in the tempest of war.
Ark of the New Covenant, inspire projects and paths of reconciliation.
Queen of Heaven, restore God's peace to the world.
Eliminate hatred and the thirst for revenge, and teach us forgiveness.
Free us from war, protect our world from the menace of nuclear weapons.
Queen of the Rosary, make us realize our need to pray and to love.
Queen of the Human Family, show people the path of fraternity.
Queen of Peace, obtain peace for our world.
O Mother, may your sorrowful plea stir our hardened hearts. May the tears you shed for us make this valley parched by our hatred blossom anew. Amid the thunder of weapons, may your prayer turn our thoughts to peace. May your maternal touch soothe those who suffer and flee from the rain of bombs. May your motherly embrace comfort those forced to leave their homes and their native land. May your sorrowful heart move us to compassion and inspire us to open our doors and to care for our brothers and sisters who are injured and cast aside.
Holy Mother of God, as you stood beneath the cross, Jesus, seeing the disciple at your side, said: "Behold your son" (Jn 19:26). In this way, he entrusted each of us to you. To the disciple, and to each of us, he said: "Behold, your Mother" (Jn 19:27). Mother Mary, we now desire to welcome you into our lives and our history.
At this hour, a weary and distraught humanity stands with you beneath the cross, needing to entrust itself to you and, through you, to consecrate itself to Christ. 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.
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. Accept this act that we carry out with confidence and love. Grant that war may end and peace spread throughout the world. The "fiat" that arose from your heart opened the doors of history to the Prince of Peace. 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.
Through your intercession, may God's mercy be poured out on the earth and the gentle rhythm of peace return to mark our days. Our Lady of the "fiat," on whom the Holy Spirit descended, restore among us the harmony that comes from God. May you, our "living fountain of hope," water the dryness of our hearts. In your womb Jesus took flesh; help us to foster the growth of communion. You once trod the streets of our world; lead us now on the paths of peace. Amen.
Pope Francis asks all Catholics to take part in consecration
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Pope Francis asks all Catholics to take part in consecration of Russia, Ukraine to Immaculate Heart of Mary
Vatican City — Pope Francis has written a letter asking all Catholics to assemble in their parishes on Friday to pray the act of consecration of the world, particularly Russia and Ukraine, to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
The Vatican published the pope’s letter two days before he is scheduled to pray the Marian consecration in St. Peter’s Basilica on Friday, March 25, in union with bishops around the world.
“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 March 25, so that God’s Holy People may raise a heartfelt and choral plea to Mary our Mother,” Pope Francis said in the letter sent to all the world’s bishops.
Pope Francis also included the text of the consecration prayer with his letter so that all Catholics can pray it together in union on the Solemnity of the Annunciation.
“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,” the pope said.
The pope will pray the consecration during a penitential service which he will preside over in St. Peter’s Basilica at 5 p.m. local time.
In the letter, signed on March 21, he said that he wanted to entrust the nations at war to the Blessed Virgin Mary in response to the “numerous requests from the People of God.”
“Nearly a month has passed since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine that is daily inflicting immense suffering upon its sorely tried people and threatening world peace,” Pope Francis said.
“At this dark hour, the Church is urgently called to intercede before the Prince of Peace and to demonstrate her closeness to those directly affected by the conflict.”
