ACT OF CONSECRATION OF RUSSIA AND UKRAINE TO THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY

O Mary, Mother of God and our Mother, in this time of trial we turn to thee. As our Mother, thou lovest us and knowest us: no concern of our hearts is hidden from thee. Mother of mercy, how often we have experienced thy watchful care and thy peaceful presence! Thou hast never ceased 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 neighbour’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, amidst the misery of our sinfulness, amidst our struggles and weaknesses, amidst the mystery of iniquity that is evil and war, thou remindest 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 thee to us and made thine Immaculate Heart a refuge for the Church and for all humanity. By God’s gracious will, thou art ever with us; even in the most troubled moments of our history, thou art there to guide us with tender love.
We now turn to thee and knock at the door of thine heart. We are thy beloved children. In every age thou madest thyself known to us, calling us to conversion. At this dark hour, help us and grant us thy comfort. Say to us once more: “Am I not here, I who am your Mother?” Thou art able to untie the knots of our hearts and of our times. In thee we place our trust. We are confident that, especially in moments of trial, thou wilt not be deaf to our supplication and will come to our aid.

That is what thou didst at Cana in Galilee, when thou interceded with Jesus and he worked the first of his signs. To preserve the joy of the wedding feast, thou saidst 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 thy 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 thy sorrowful plea stir our hardened hearts. May the tears thou shedst for us make this valley parched by our hatred blossom anew. Amid the thunder of weapons, may thy prayer turn our thoughts to peace. May thy maternal touch soothe those who suffer and flee from the rain of bombs. May thy motherly embrace comfort those forced to leave their homes and their native land. May thy 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 thou stoodst beneath the cross, Jesus, seeing the disciple at thy side, said: “Behold thy son” (Jn 19:26.) In this way he entrusted each of us to thee. To the disciple, and to each of us, he said: “Behold, thy Mother” (v. 27). Mother Mary, we now desire to welcome thee into our lives and our history. At this hour, a weary and distraught humanity stands with thee beneath the cross, needing to entrust itself to thee and, through thee, to consecrate itself to Christ. The people of Ukraine and Russia, who venerate thee with great love, now turn to thee, even as thine 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 thine 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 thine heart opened the doors of history to the Prince of Peace. We trust that, through thine heart, peace will dawn once more. To thee we consecrate the future of the whole human family, the needs and expectations of every people, the anxieties and hopes of the world.

Through thine 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 thou, our “living fountain of hope,” water the dryness of our hearts. In thy womb Jesus took flesh; help us to foster the growth of communion. Thou once trod the streets of our world; lead us now on the paths of peace. Amen.