On June 13, 1929, Sister Lucy of Fatima, while yet a Dorothean Sister, was privileged with a vision of the Most Holy Trinity. The vision happened in the convent chapel in Tuy, Spain. The Blessed Trinity appeared, with the Virgin Mary, and revealed Themselves to the Sister Lucy in a special way. In fact, the servant of God later testified that she “received lights about this mystery [of the Trinity] which I am not permitted to reveal.”
It was during this vision that the Blessed Virgin told the visionary, “The moment has come when God asks the Holy Father to make, in union with all the bishops of the world, the consecration of Russia to My Immaculate Heart, promising to save it by this means.”
Sister Lucy’s description of this vision, and an artistic rendering of it, can be seen here. A longer article on the subject can be found here. What I would like to dwell on in this Ad Rem is the magnificent apologetic that this vision presents for Marian consecration. God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost appeared to their humble handmaid, bringing to her illuminating graces of knowledge about the Godhead. At the same time, the Virgin revealed to her that God Almighty wants to save Russia by means of a consecration to Her Immaculate Heart.
This call for the consecration of Russia in 1929 had been heralded on July 13, 1917, when Our Lady told the three children:”To prevent this [a terrible series of chastisements She had just mentioned], I shall come to ask for the consecration of Russia to My Immaculate Heart, and the Communion of Reparation on the First Saturdays. If My requests are heeded, Russia will be converted and there will be peace; if not, she will spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions against the Church. The good will be martyred, the Holy Father will have much to suffer, various nations will be annihilated.”
At the end of the entire message that day, the Virgin said: “But in the end, My Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to Me. Russia will be converted and a period of peace will be given to mankind.”
What better argument for the efficacy of Marian Consecration? St. Louis de Montfort did not know about this vision. Neither did St. Maximilian Kolbe, who was alive and flourishing at the time. But the spiritual doctrine common to them both finds a significant — perhaps definitive — proof in a plan revealed by the Blessed Trinity and the Most Holy Virgin for the “conversion” and “salvation” of Russia.
Evidently, Russia not being yet converted, the consecration has not happened as Our Lady requested it.
The Wikipedia article on the Consecration of Russia mentions the objections of the Russian Orthodox to this act:
Members of the Russian Orthodox Church object to the concept of the Consecration of Russia for two reasons: (1) Russia has already been Christian for over one thousand years, and has a great devotion to the Theotokos, and (2) the concept contains what appears to be an implicit proselytism of Russian Orthodox Christians to the Catholic Faith.
“Proselytism.” That’s a no no now. But we know that the Holy Virgin wants Russia to be Catholic, and that is what the consecration will effect. The Theotokos wants to heal the schism. And how? By an act of consecration to her Immaculate Heart. The Russian Orthodox Church does not believe in the Immaculate Conception, even though some individual members do. Besides this, the consecration will be made by the Pope. And there is the real ecumenical tension: That Russia will be converted to Catholicism, and that it will be a papal act that will accomplish it.
Evidently, the Virgin is not an ecumenist.
But neither is the God who revealed Himself, for the vision presents us with the two foundational Catholic doctrines, both necessary for salvation: The Trinity and the Incarnation. It moreover shows us Mary as Co-Redemptrix and Mediatrix of all Graces, privileges without which Marian Consecration would be meaningless. It shows us the Mass and the Eucharist (the vision was seen above the chapel’s altar), and their connection to the Sacrifice of Calvary. It even shows us the Catholic Church: that Mystical Body that came forth from our Lord’s pierced side in the water of Baptism and the Blood of the Eucharist. Further, the accompanying words (mentioning the Holy Father) and the context (the chapel of a Catholic convent) also affirm the ecclesiological character of the vision.
Here, we draw some conclusions:
- Marian consecration works. It works for individuals, like the many saints who practiced it. It will work for Russia, as the Blessed Virgin promised. It can also work for America (see Marian Consecration and the Conversion of America).
- The Church is necessary for salvation, since the purpose of the consecration is to convert Russia to Catholicism, and thereby “to save [Russia] by this means.”
- Mary’s role in the Church, as Co-Redemptrix and Mediatrix of all graces, is, by the condign will of the Most Holy Trinity, indispensable. God does not “need” the Holy Virgin any more than he “needed” the Twelve Apostles, or St. Paul (the “vessel of election”), or Jesus’ sacred Humanity, or the Crucifixion, or the Bible, or the Church, or the the Prophets of the Old Law. But in all these cases, God chose to incorporate human agents into His merciful designs to save our poor race. Our Lady is part of God’s salvific plan now, as She ever was in the Eternal Mind.
- Peace is in the hands of our Holy Father, the Pope, not the UN, not NATO, and not the EU. This affirms the words of Pope Pius XI in Ubi Arcano: “the true peace of Christ can only exist in the Kingdom of Christ.”
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A contingent of our brothers and sisters leaves this Thursday morning, with all our other pilgrims, to participate in the coming weekend’s Pilgrimage for Restoration. We will pray for all our friends and benefactors on pilgrimage. Let us remain, as the French say, en union de prières.
