The forgotten history of the consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary by the popes of the 20th century

It appears you’ve provided HTML code snippets without complete content. Here is the English translation of the visible text based on the given context and format:Catholic Theology (Mariology, Angelology, Demonology, Josephology)This section covers various aspects of Catholic theological teachings related to:– Mariology: The study of the Virgin Mary, including her roles as the Annunciation, the Assumption, the Immaculate Conception, and her perpetual virginity. Also, her Reality as Queen of Heaven, Corredentrix (Coredemptrix), and Mediatrix of All Graces. – Angelology: The theological study of angels, their nature, hierarchy, and functions. – Demonology: The study of demons, their nature, origins, and their relationship to human history and salvation. – Josephology: The theological study of Saint Joseph, his role in the life of Jesus, and his virtues.In its apparitions, Mary primarily refers to the Gospel and its values, such as prayer, conversion, the Eucharist, acceptance of the cross, and reparative solidarity with sinners.Generally, in the various contemporary apparitions, we can discern several general aspects that become concrete in the Apparitions of Fátima:a) The emphasis on practices of piety, prayer, and conversion with Our Lady of Fátima transitions to a genuine spirituality, condensed in devotion and consecration to her Immaculate Heart.b) From a purely spiritual perspective, Our Lady of Fátima shifts to a historical and political viewpoint, addressing wars and peace, and focusing on the longest and most terrifying phenomenon of the 20th century: communist Russia.c) From a concern for the present of the Church and the world, Our Lady of Fátima shifts to a focus on the future, entrusting the famous secret, divided into three parts, to the shepherd children.d) While some apparitions (18 in Lourdes) mark a nearly century-long dialogue between Mary and humanity through Sister Lúcia (born March 30, 1907, died February 13, 2005), other apparitions in Pontevedra and Tuy further explain and complete the message given to the three shepherd children.e) From a restricted influence, Mary’s impact expands to a universal level, influencing the piety of the faithful, even bishops and popes, notably John Paul II, who attributed his survival after the May 13, 1981, assassination attempt to the intervention of Our Lady of Fátima.After briefly exploring the requests, realizations, and spiritual axes that typically accompany pilgrims to the Fátima Sanctuary, we now turn our attention to the Conscription to the Immaculate Heart of Mary under various Popes.The Silence of Pius XI (1922-1939)The Portuguese Bishops requested Pope Pius XI to consecrate Russia to the Most Holy Hearts of Jesus and Mary, emphasizing that it was a request from the apparitions of Fátima. The response was a complete silence, in line with the Holy See’s tradition of reserve regarding private revelations.Regarding Pius XII’s stance, Lúcia wrote to him several times, stating that “the moment has come when God is asking the Holy Father to make, in union with all the bishops of the world, the consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart, promising to save it through this means.”Some words from her letter of October 24, 1940, particularly those referring to the bishops, were omitted in the letter of December 2 of the same year, at the suggestion of superiors, to facilitate acceptance of the request at the Vatican. Pius XII demonstrated sensitivity to Fátima by consecrating “the Holy Church” and “the entire world” on October 31, 1942, and reiterating this solemnly on December 8 of the same year. On December 15, 1951, Lúcia confirmed what she had already expressed: that “the request of Our Lady regarding Russia had not been fulfilled.”Let us remember that at that precise moment, the context for Pius XII was one of “practical impossibility” of making a consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Why?Russia, as a schismatic religious unit because it is Orthodox, and as a Marxist political unit because it is communist, could not be consecrated by the Pope without this act taking on a challenging tone, regarding both the separate hierarchical patriarch of Moscow and the Union of Soviet Republics, which after World War II constituted a united bloc. This made the consecration practically impossible. It is clear that this is only a moral impossibility of consecration, due to the reactions it would normally evoke.However, on July 7, 1952, Pius XII did not hesitate to consecrate “in a very special way all the peoples of Russia to the Immaculate Heart” and, in the encyclical “Ad coeli reginam” (October 11, 1954), he ordered bishops “on the same day” (May 31, the feast of Our Lady established as Queen) to renew the consecration of the human race to Her Immaculate Heart. All this instills great hope that a new era, illuminated by Christian peace and the triumph of religion, will emerge.A forgotten element in this document is the attempt, without breaking diplomatic ties, to appeal to Soviet peoples:In some parts of the earth, there are those unjustly persecuted for the sake of the Christian name and deprived of the divine and human rights of liberty. To remove such evils, nothing have the justly demanded petitions and repeated protests achieved to date. To these innocent and tormented children, turn Your eyes of mercy, whose light dissipates clouds and calms storms, the powerful Lady of events and of the times, who knows to overcome evil with her virgin foot. Grant them to enjoy the due liberty soon and to fulfill publicly their religious duties. And, serving the cause of the Gospel, with their concordant effort and noble virtues, of which they give example amidst so many difficulties, let them contribute to the strengthening and progress of earthly societies.

The Timidity of Saint John XXIII (1958-1963)

Regarding Pope Roncalli, despite being “a simple soul always open to celestial suggestions,” his Enlightenment education led him to great reluctance regarding the consecration to the Sacred Heart or to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. As for the Secret of Fátima, John XXIII had it in his hands on August 17, 1959, and read it a few days later with his confessor, Monsignor Alfredo Cavagna, and the Portuguese translator Monsignor Tavares. The content was communicated to the heads of the State Secretariat and the Holy Office and to others, including Cardinal Grégoire-Pierre XV Agagianian and Monsignor Loris Capovilla. The Pope made no comment and preferred not to reveal it, leaving that task to his successors. According to Father Alonso’s testimony, John XXIII stated: “This does not concern the years of my pontificate.”

The Courage of Saint Paul VI (1963-1978)

In the midst of the Second Vatican Council, concluding the third session (November 21, 1964), Paul VI renewed the consecration of “all mankind to the protection of the Queen of Heaven” with reference to Fátima and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.Let us listen to his words:While in ardent prayer, we turn our souls to the Virgin, so that she may bless the Ecumenical Council and the whole Church, hastening the hour of unity among all Christians, our gaze opens to the boundless horizons of the whole world, the object of the most vivid attention of the Ecumenical Council, and which our predecessor Pius XII, of blessed memory, solemnly consecrated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, not without inspiration from on high. We deem it opportune to recall this act of consecration today in a particular way. To this end, we have resolved to send, soon through a special mission, the Golden Rose to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fátima, so dear not only to the people of the noble Portuguese nation, but to us as well, today particularly, and known and revered by the faithful of the whole Catholic world. Thus, we also intend to entrust the entire human family, with its problems and aspirations, its legitimate desires and its ardent hopes, to the care of the heavenly Mother.There is no mention of Russia out of respect for the Russian observers invited to the Council.A significant historical event is the pilgrimage of Pope Paul VI to Fátima on May 13, 1967, at the invitation of the Portuguese episcopate. The religious purpose takes precedence, as the Pope intends to invoke Mary’s intercession for the internal peace of the Church, for civil and social peace in the world, and for the peace of humanity (May 3, 1967).On the same date, Paul VI publishes the Apostolic Exhortation *Signum Magnum*, in which he invites “all the children of the Church to consecrate themselves personally once again to the Immaculate Heart of the Mother of the Church.” However, Paul VI deserves credit for going against the tide by paying attention to charismatic events in the Church, such as the Fátima apparitions to the shepherd children, which constitute the *occasion* for *Signum Magnum*.And beyond the external act, even though sacred and solemn, the Pope grasps the essence of the Fatima message when he invites us to legitimize and personalize the consecration of the Church and humanity to Mary, Mother of God and her Immaculate Heart, which was initiated by Pius XII in 1942 and renewed by him at the Council in 1964 as we read in the aforementioned text.In this phase, overcoming the magisterial or collective act is achieved through the passage to personal assimilation of the act of surrender that results in a consistent life of increasing adherence to the salvific will of the Father and identification with Mary, the Lord’s servant and model of virtue.This means not stopping at the recitation of a formula, even if it constitutes the most noble act of worship, but moving to the commitment of life: to the “pronouncement of oneself,” as Karl Rahner would say, and to the fidelity to the commitments arising from baptism, as Saint Louis G. de Montfort would put it.

Pope John Paul II, the Pope of Fatima (1978-2005)

To John Paul II, the extraordinary Pope of Mary, who survived an assassination attempt on May 13, 1981, when a young Turkish man, Ali Agca, shot him twice in the abdomen, we owe two significant, fundamental gestures regarding Fatima: the consecration of the world involving all bishops with a clear, though not explicit, reference to Russia (March 25, 1985) and the revelation of the third part of the secret (May 13, 2000).On May 13, 1982, during a pilgrimage of gratitude to Mary for saving his life, the Pope performed an act of consecration to Mary in which the reference to Russia is made both in the declared intention to renew the consecration carried out by Pius XII in 1942 and 1952: “We consecrate you in a special way the men and nations who need this surrender and consecration particularly.” In the same act, the Pope expresses his concern to carry it out “in the spirit of the prayer of the Virgin Mary.”In union with all the shepherds of the Church, and previously, Cardinal Casaroli had announced to the bishops in a letter dated April 20, 1982, that the Holy Father intended to renew, in union with all the bishops of the world, the two acts performed by Pius XII.John Paul II, having decided to proceed with a renewal of the act of consecration on the feast of the Annunciation in 1984, sent a letter to the bishops on December 8, 1983, requesting them to renew this act with him, choosing the mode that each one considered most suitable. The meaning of this act is seen by the Pope as: a profession of faith in the infinite salvatory power of the Redemption… through the immaculate Heart of the Mother of God, who in a very particular way experienced this salvatory power.The consecration is carried out by the Pope on March 24, 1984, at St. Peter’s Square, in front of the image of Our Lady of Fátima, brought to the occasion from its sanctuary, significant not only for the solemnity of the rite but also for some small, yet meaningful, changes made to the text recited in Fátima: first, a strong emphasis on the collegiality of the act and the mention “of those peoples who await our act of consecration and surrender.”

What does Pope Francis mean today by consecrating Ukraine and Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary?

Let us see what the *Directory of Popular Piety and Liturgy* says:> 174. On the day following the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Church celebrates the Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The continuity of the two celebrations is in itself a liturgical sign of their close connection: the mysterium of the Heart of the Savior is projected and reverberates in the Heart of the Mother, who is also a partner and disciple. Just as the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart celebrates in a synthetic way the salvific mysteries of Christ and returns them to their source, the Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of Mary is a celebration of the “heart-to-heart” association of the Mother with the salvific work of the Son: from the Incarnation, to death and resurrection, to the gift of the Spirit.The devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary became widely spread after the Virgin’s apparitions in Fátima in 1917. On the 25th anniversary, in 1942, Pius XII consecrated the Church and humanity to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and in 1944 the feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary was extended to the whole Church.Throughout history of piety, there are numerous personal and collective experiences of *consagration-surrender-offering* to the Virgin (*oblatio*, *servitus*, *commendatio*, *dedicatio*). These are reflected in prayer manuals and statutes of *Marian associations* where we find formulas of *”consagration”* and prayers in her honor or in memory of her.Regarding the pious practice of *”consacrating to Mary,”* there are rare expressions of approval from Roman Pontiffs, and the formulas reciting this act are known publicly.A renowned master of the spirituality underlying this practice is Saint Louis Maria Grignion de Montfort, *who proposed to Christians the consecration to Christ through Mary’s hands as an effective means to live faithfully the baptismal commitments*.In the light of Christ’s testament (cf. Jn 19:25-27a), the act of *consagration* is indeed the conscious recognition of Mary of Nazareth’s unique place in the mystery of Christ and the Church, of her exemplary and universal evangelical testimony, of trust in her intercession and the effectiveness of her patronage, of her multiple maternal function as a true mother in the order of grace, for all and each of her children.However, note that the term *consagration* is used with some amplitude and impropriety: for example, saying *”consecrate children to Our Lady”* when, in fact, one intends only to place children under the Virgin’s protection and ask for her maternal blessing. We also understand the suggestion from many sides to use other terms, like *incumbence* or *donation*, instead of *consagration*. Indeed, in our time, the progress of liturgical theology and the consequent need for a rigorous use of terms suggest reserving the term *consagration* for the offering of oneself that has God as its term, totality, and perpetuity as its characteristics, with the guarantee of Church intervention, founded on the sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation.Nevertheless, regarding this practice, it is necessary to instruct the faithful about its nature. Although it presents the characteristics of a total and perpetual offering: it is only analogical in relation to *consacrating to God*. It should be the fruit not of a passing emotion but of a personal, free, mature decision in the context of a clear vision of the grace’s dynamic. It should be expressed correctly, in a kind of liturgical line: to the Father through Christ in the Holy Spirit, imploring the glorious intercession of Mary, to whom one is totally entrusted, observing faithfully the baptismal commitments and living in a filial attitude towards him. It should be performed outside the celebration of the Eucharist, as it is a devotion gesture that cannot be equated with Liturgy: the surrender to Mary distinguishes itself substantially from other forms of liturgical consecration.The effects of the act requested by Our Lady will not fail to be realized, even if God’s times do not coincide with our own.

To deepen the theology of consecration to Mary and devotion to the Immaculate Heart, consult the Apostolic Exhortation Marialis Cultus by Paul VI.

Deepen your studies: explore Mariology, Marian Theology, Marian Apparitions, and Graduate Studies in Mariology.