Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

Oudtshoorn, 24 March 2023 – Pope Francis on 22 March, has invited Catholics to annually renew an act of consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on March 25, the solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord.con

Exactly one year ago, on the Annunciation Pope Francis consecrated Russia and Ukraine to the Blessed Virgin Mary at St. Peter’s Basilica with a prayer asking for peace in the world.

The pope, recalling his historic act of consecration, took the opportunity to call on parish communities and prayer groups to annually renew this Marian consecration. He said: “Saturday will mark the solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord, and our thoughts turn to March 25 last year when, in union with all the bishops of the world, we consecrated the Church and humanity, especially Russia and Ukraine, to the Immaculate Heart of Mary,”

“Let us not tire of entrusting the cause of peace to the Queen of Peace,” he continued while issuing his invitation . “Therefore, I would like to invite each believer and community, especially prayer groups, to renew every March 25 the act of consecration to Our Lady, so that she, who is Mother, may guard us all in unity and peace.”

Pope Francis also urged people not to forget to pray for “martyred Ukraine, which is suffering so much.”

Our Lady specifically asked that Russia be consecrated to her Immaculate Heart in the 1917 apparitions at Fatima and the Vatican’s Dicastery for Divine Worship defines consecration to Mary as an overt recognition of the “singular role of Mary in the mystery of Christ and of the Church, of the universal and exemplary importance of her witness to the Gospel, of trust in her intercession, and of the efficacy of her patronage.”

In the past, several popes have consecrated the Church and world to Mary. Pope Pius XII consecrated the entire world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on Oct. 31, 1942. St. John Paul II — who consecrated the entire Church and world to Mary three times during his pontificate — taught that by consecrating oneself to Mary, we accept her help in offering ourselves fully to Christ.

Before praying the consecration last year, Pope Francis explained that it is “an act of complete trust on the part of 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.”

The act of Consecration Prayer Is available below:

Participants from the Diocese of Oudtshoorn present at the Conference
Bisdom Oudtshoorn verteenwoordigers by die Konferensie aanwesig