Ukraine and the Appeal to Heaven

    This past week on March 2, Ash Wednesday, the Roman Catholic Bishops of Ukraine sent an urgent request to Pope Francis asking that he “publicly perform the act of consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary of Ukraine and Russia, as requested by the Blessed Virgin in Fatima.”
    In their letter to our Holy Father, the bishops wrote, “Holy Father! In these hours of immeasurable pain and terrible ordeal for our people, we, the bishops of the Episcopal Conference of Ukraine, are spokesmen for the unceasing and heartfelt prayer, supported by our priests and consecrated persons, which comes to us from all Christian people that Your Holiness will consecrate our Motherland and Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.”
    There is no doubt that this plea for the consecration springs from hearts that are wracked with pain, sorrow and tremendous anxiety. We have seen unbelievable scenes of violence and bloodshed. Incomprehensible acts of lethal aggression are perpetrated daily against civilians, including women and children, in maternity hospitals, orphanages and family homes. This is behavior that would melt the hardest of hearts. 
     The Ukrainian bishops remind us that this horrific conflagration affecting the people of Ukraine cannot be halted by diplomacy, political intervention, and economic sanctions alone. There needs to be a heavenly intervention to save Ukraine and re-establish peace. The bishops who are suffering with their afflicted flock wisely suggest a strategy that comes from the maternal plan of the Mother of God. 
     When Our Lady appeared to the children of Fatima on July 13, 1917,  she asked for the consecration of Russia to her Immaculate Heart. World War I was raging in Europe and millions were going to their death. The Mother of God told Lucia, Jacinta and Francisco that if people prayed the Rosary daily, repented of their sins, and offered sacrifices for the conversion of sinners, there would be peace. World War I would end. She added that if people did not cease offending God, a worse war would break out during the pontificate of Pope Pius XI. Our Lady then said that to prevent this terrible war, Russia must be consecrated by the pope to her Immaculate Heart and the reception of Holy Communion on First Saturdays as an act of reparation should be embraced by people.  The consecration was not accomplished and World War II broke out.
    Various consecrations to the Immaculate Heart were made throughout the years. Pope Pius XII made one in 1942. Pope St. John Paul II made a consecration to the Immaculate Heart in 1984 and an act of entrustment and consecration to the Immaculate Heart in 1991. Although there is much discussion about the efficacy of these consecrations; we know that Lucia, one of the three children of Fatima who had become a Carmelite nun, told Pope St. John Paul II that he had fulfilled Our Lady’s requests by his act of consecration in 1984. In the ensuing years, the seemingly impossible happened, the Soviet Union unraveled, leading to the freedom of the Soviet satellite states in the early 1990’s. Ukraine achieved her freedom in 1991.
    Tragically today in 2022, we find Ukraine fighting for her freedom and sovereignty as a nation.  I believe that Ukrainian Latin Bishops have followed the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in requesting the Act of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary by Our Holy Father. It is a strategy born of faith and the wisdom to remember our history. It is a confident turning to the ways of God and the power of grace. It is a clear recognition that God Our Father has sent His Son Jesus who saved us by His Death on the Cross. It is an affirmation that Jesus, has come to us through the Blessed Virgin Mary, His Mother whom He gave to us as our own Mother. In God’s plan of salvation, she always comes to our aid a with  her Immaculate Heart open to us.
    So what does this consecration mean to us? We should follow the example of the Ukrainian Bishops who are asking their priests and people to make the Act of Consecration after Mass each day. We should pray fervently  each day and ask Our Lady to take the people of Ukraine and Russia into her Heart. We should beg her to turn the thoughts and actions of leaders of nations to peace.
    Certainly, in our appeal to heaven on behalf of Ukraine, we should not forget the Rosary. It is a powerful weapon against evil, and a wonderful way to bring families together in prayer and to obtain peace. Pope St. John Paul II wrote in his apostolic letter on the Rosary, “By its nature as an insistent choral petition in harmony with Christ's invitation to ‘pray ceaselessly’ (Lk 18:1), the Rosary allows us to hope that, even today, the difficult “battle” for peace can be won” (Rosarium Virginis Mariae #40).  After all, as St John Paul II knew so well, Our Lady at Fatima asked for the praying of the rosary every day to obtain peace for the world and an end to the war.  
    Let us make our appeal to God through the intercession of Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart. If we are tempted to think that this appeal will not work, let us remember that our history tells us it has worked over and over again the past. We should not become so sophisticated and arrogant to lose faith in God’s plan that has changed the world and will do so again.
    I heartily encourage you to pray the Rosary daily for the protection of the Ukrainian people, to end the unjust attacks against them, to obtain peace for all hearts. After all, Our Lady promised, “In the end my Immaculate Heart will triumph.”  Pray the prayer of consecration each day giving our brothers and sisters in Ukraine and ourselves into the Heart of our Good Mother!

Most Reverend William J. Waltersheid
Auxiliary Bishop of Pittsburgh


Below is the text suggested by the Latin Rite Bishops of Ukraine for the Consecration of Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary:

Beloved Queen and Our Mother, Queen of the Holy Rosary, Help of Christians, Salvation of the human race, Victorious Virgin, here we humbly fall before You, that You may bring our sincere prayers to Almighty God in the Trinity.

We come in full confidence to beg for mercy and protection for our Motherland in this dramatic time of war. Mother of Mercy, we ask this not of our merits, which we do not count on, but in view of the infinite goodness of Your Heart and the saving Blood of Christ, Your Son.

May the suffering and cries for help of so many people touch you. Have mercy on the wounded and victims of the shelling, orphans and widows, all those who were forced to leave their homes and seek refuge in safer places. Ask for mercy for those who gave their lives defending their neighbors and our Motherland.

O Immaculate Mother, ask God for the grace of conversion, and we especially ask for the conversion of Russia and all those who are blinded by hatred or thirst for power. Pray for us, first of all, for those graces which can change human hearts in an instant, and which will prepare and bring such coveted peace! Above all, bring us the gift of spiritual peace so that the Kingdom of God may grow in peace and harmony.

Queen of Peace, ask for us the grace of true reconciliation with God and with one another, so that we can give each other a hand of help and support.

O Throne of Wisdom, inspire all rulers to make wise decisions, and strengthen the efforts of those who contribute to the end of war and peace.

Queen of the Apostles, ask for our pastors the gift of strong faith and zeal in the celebration of the Sacraments, so that at this time we may all be united at the Eucharistic table and in zealous prayer.
Heal the sick, strengthen all medical staff and volunteers who care for the sick and wounded, ask for their spiritual and physical strength. Be healing for the sick, strength for the dying and peace for their loved ones.

Just as the Church and all mankind were consecrated to the Heart of Your Divine Son, in Whom we hope to find an inexhaustible source of victory and salvation for all, so we dedicate ourselves forever to You and to Your Immaculate Heart, our Mother and Queen, that Your love and care may ensure the victory of the Kingdom of God, and that our Ukraine and all nations, reconciled among themselves and with God, may bless and glorify You. Amen!