Consecration “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” Pope Francis said in the homily on Friday during the consecration of Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary with a prayer asking for peace in the world.

At the start of the Consecration service, Pope Francis stopped before a large crucifix placed in the center of the basilica’s nave, over the tomb of St. Peter. On the Holy Father's invitation, Bishops, priests and ordinary faithful around the world joined in the consecration prayer.

The live-streamed liturgy, which was punctuated by periods of silence, began with the chanting of the Latin hymn “Attende, Domine,” which means “Hear us, O Lord.”

The act of consecration took place at the end of the Vatican’s annual Lenten penance service, during which Pope Francis and other priests heard the confessions of Catholics present in St. Peter’s Basilica.

Pope Francis attends confession during a penitential liturgy at St. Peter’s Basilica, March 25, 2022. Vatican Media

The Holy Father began the act saying: “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,” he prayed, on the same day that the Church celebrated the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord.

Seated before a statue of Our Lady of Fatima from a shrine in central Italy, Pope Francis said: “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.”

“Through your intercession, may God’s mercy be poured out on the earth and the gentle rhythm of peace return to mark our days.”

The act of consecration was also read simultaneously by Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, the papal almoner, at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fatima in Portugal.

The first reading was from the Letter of St. Paul to the Colossians. “He delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins,” the lector read.

The responsorial psalm, taken from Psalm 97, was “the Lord has made known his salvation.”

The day’s Gospel, Luke 1:26-38, was the story of the Annunciation, when the Angel Gabriel appeared to the Virgin Mary and announced that she would conceive Jesus, the Son of God.

The Gospel was followed by a homily from Pope Francis, who said that the conflict in Ukraine cannot be ended by our own power alone but requires God’s love.

In his homily, the pope said that the consecration “is no magic formula but a spiritual act.”

“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.”

During the liturgy, Francis said: “In these days, news reports and scenes of death continue to enter our homes, even as bombs are destroying the homes of many of our defenseless Ukrainian brothers and sisters. The vicious war that has overtaken so many people, and caused suffering to all, has made each of us fearful and anxious.”

Pope Francis said that if people want the world to change, it is their hearts that must change first.
-CNA