Time To Consecrate Russia

"To prevent this, 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 of the Church. The good will be martyred, the Holy Father will have much to suffer, various nations will be annihilated. In the end, My Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to Me, and she will be converted, and a period of peace will be granted to the world. In Portugal the dogma of the Faith will always be preserved . . . "

 

Once again, an aggressive and militaristic Russia dominates the news.  That country, under the dictatorship and thumb of a thug, threatens its neighbors once again with annihilation. 

As Catholics, how should we respond? We should pray, of course.  But there is more we can do.  That country is in dire need of conversion (as are most countries in the world) and while the Orthodox Church has been given more freedom in post-Soviet Russia, the people are far from converted.  Abortion rates in Russia and the countries of the former Soviet Union are the highest in the world.  While the Orthodox Church has made some inroads with the people of Russia, its reach is still very limited and even in the best of interpretations, the lack of communion with the Holy See represents a serious problem for the Russian people.

Because of Russia, souls are perishing, the world is threatened with war, and nations continue to be annihilated. 

More is needed.  What is needed is that Russia should be consecrated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Russia is a country in dire need of the assistance of our Blessed Mother.

Wait!!!  Hold your horses there bub.  The consecration of Russia was already accomplished in 1984.  Are you one of those Fatima deniers?

No.

I do not doubt for a second the veracity of Sr. Lucia or anyone else involved in the affair that the consecration of 1984 was 'accepted by heaven.'  Of this I have no doubt.  One would have to be blind not to see that so quickly upon the heels of that consecration, the threat posed by the Soviet Union dissipated as the Communist leviathan disintegrated.  That the consecration was accepted by heaven and was efficacious is beyond reasonable doubt.

But one must admit, that even though the disintegration of the Soviet Union was a miracle, it does not seem by itself to ultimately fulfill the promises made by Our Lady.  I think no reasonable person can make the case that the Immaculate Heart of Mary has triumphed in the world in the last 30 years.  If anything, it seems clear that the world has gleefully headed in the opposite direction.  While the Orthodox Church has been liberated to some degree in Russia, with the highest abortion rates in the world and with a a population that remains 22% declared atheist and less than 10% of the population attends Church just once a month, this hardly represents conversion in any meaningful way, even leaving entirely aside the continued schism of the Russian Church.  

Further, it is impossible to argue, even as Russia's 20th century errors continue to spread around the world, that the last war-filled and decadent decades can in any way be construed as a period of peace being granted to the world.

So if one believes in Fatima and in the promises of our Lady, one must conclude that some 30 years after the consecration of the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary that these promises have not been fulfilled.  That leaves one with two possibilities  to consider.  First, that Mary will yet fulfill the promises, but in a manner so remote from the 1984 consecration to not be seen as an obvious consequence of it.  Or, I think it reasonable to surmise, that even as efficacious as the 1984 consecration obviously was, it was not the consecration that will ultimately precipitate the fulfillment of Our Lady's promises.

But even leaving all that aside.  Russia is a country that is still largely and practically atheist and home to abhorrent practices.  It remains under the thumb of a thug dictator.  Russia is once again on the march and a militaristic and economic threat to its neighbors. 

That Russia needs to be and should be consecrated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary seems as plain as day.  Regardless of where anyone stands on Fatima and the 1984 consecration, Russia and the world, needs Our Lady's protection.  Is there any good reason to argue why Russia should not be consecrated again to the Immaculate Heart of Mary?  Such consecrations are regularly renewed.  And if this consecration occurs, why not do it by name and in public union with the Bishops of the World?  Now is the time, Russia and the world need it.