“To prevent this, I shall come to ask for the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart…” (Our Lady, 1917) “The Lady said that Her Immaculate Heart will be your refuge and the way that will lead you to God. Don’t you love that?” (Jacinta, 1917) “I am so grieved to be unable to receive Communion in reparation for the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary!” (Jacinta, 1917) “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. (Our Lady, 1929) “May the seven years separating us from the Centennial of the Apparitions hurry up the announced triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary for the greater glory of the Most Holy Trinity”. (Benedict XVI, 2010) “Finally, devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, our Most Holy Mother, consists in considering Her as the seat of mercy, of goodness and of pardon, and as the sure door by which we are to enter Heaven.” (Lucy, 1957) My questions: What is so special about this devotion? What is the full meaning of this religious concept? What kind of implications will this foretold triumph have on the Catholic Church, on the other faiths, on geopolitics, on the future history of mankind? And what about Russia? Has Russia been consecrated? Did Russia get converted? If so, to what? This thread is the reason why I joined this forum and I look forward to hearing and sharing some views on the topics above. Thank you.
Thats a lot of questions Basto. And we should try to work out the answers . The answers are available to us no doubt. As St Louis de Montfort said of Her ''Of Mary there is never enough''
To answer the question in my own personal way Basto.. "but what is the Immaculate Heart of Mary?" For me it’s is Mary's yes to God it was her free will to accept what God was asking of her So in a nut shell when will Mary’s immaculate heart triumph? It is when humankind’s free will says yes to God When the entire world says yes we will do what God wants us to do It is then when this human race gives back to God his greatest original gift to us Free will
I know Mac, but which question could I erase? I’m not expecting someone arriving here to give me straightway all the answers I’ve been searching for years… But if you try to give one I would be very pleased.
Of course we are not theologians here (most of us) but many of us have read a great deal about this, so here is what I would say. What is so special about this devotion? What is special is that God wills this devotion for our times. It is special because He has decided it is special. He has picked each of us to be saints during this period. We are specially blessed to be created to be born now and to be aware of devotion to Mary, for God loves his mother in a way we cannot understand. We are her foot-soldiers. We are her heel as St. Louis DeMontfort puts it who will finally crush the serpent. In my opinion it is also the matching correspondence to the Sacred Heart. The new Adam and the new Eve. The companion in a way of that devotion. What is the full meaning of this religious concept? Probably no one can fully understand it, but St. Louis DeMontfort is the quintessential Saint to unravel this enigma. We are to love and serve Mary with all our hearts and with blind obedience. Never be afraid of showing her too much devotion or loving her too much, he said, because we can never match her Son's love of her. His writings on this are the ones to read if you haven't. How far should we follow this theological approach? I am not sure exactly what you mean by this, but I would say you almost can't go too far (as long as you stay within Catholic norms) with making yourself subservient to Mary. I think God is stepping back a bit at this point in history and wants the spotlight on her. We are in the Age of Mary. What kind of implications will this foretold triumph have on the Catholic Church, on the other faiths, on geopolitics, on the future history of mankind? Through many different prophetic sources we know that during the final triumph of The Immaculate Heart, Catholicism will sweep the globe, right through to China and through the Muslim world. Not everyone will be Catholic, but the speed and thoroughness of the conversions will make it clear that it was miraculous and through The Immaculate Heart. For details of this see Desmond Birch's book Trial, Tribulation, and Triumph. It is the best studied work I have seen on the subject and ties together 2,000 years of prophecies by Saints in the light of Scripture and Tradition of the Church Fathers. It creates a road-map if you will for what will happen in the next few years right up until the final end of the world and the anti-christ (which is far away). If anyone wants to know clearly what is about to happen, this is a must have book. And what about Russia? Has Russia been consecrated? Did Russia get converted? If so, to what? This is an area where you will get all kinds of opinions, but my feeling is that the consecration has never been done as Our Lady asked, and so we have not seen the triumph yet, but that for the continued efforts of the Popes, though imperfect, we have gained some graces from them (like the collapse of communism and the shortening of WWII). Some sources (like Garabandal and Fatima I believe) say it will be consecrated at a very late hour when the large distresses have actually begun. I think the rapid conversion in the last few years of the average Russian back from atheism to orthodoxy is a first step. First bringing belief back into their lives, then miraculously they will be converted to Catholicism. Though I don't agree with much of what Putin's Russia is doing, in a lot of ways they are behaving much more like the sort of state that Christ can operate through to save souls than our western democracies. They are outlawing abortion, homosexuality and other moral disgraces. Their priests bless their troops, ships, etc and are shown a great deal of respect as is Christianity. These are just my opinions, but I think they have merit as they are opinions arrived at by long hours of study on the subject.
Yes Quis, I agree with you, but I think it means much more than that. At the beginning, I didn’t pay much attention to the concept. I used to think it was just another devotion linked to the private perception of the little shepherds, based on the local and cultural influence - a private revelation that could be shared. Just another Marian devotion beginning that would grow in new prayers and iconography. However, the message of Fatima is universal and urgent, so that couldn’t be right. At the same time, I realised that this concept is no completely new…, By 1917, the doctrine of the Immaculate had already been part of Catholic life for at least over 60 years, since the dogmatic definition by PIUS IX and since the Lourdes apparitions. The only really new element here was the Heart (please correct me if I am wrong). The Heart of Mary concept drives us to the Bible, to Luke 2:19, “As for Mary, she treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart.” By this meaning, I find the title/devotion “Mary Ark of Covenant” as the most similar to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The Immaculate Heart of Mary has to be, then, the most updated covenant between God and His Church, our best treasure where we keep the Truth. A treasure that has been increased by revelation and protected by the tradition, the two sources of the Catholic faith.
That's a good answer with much teaching, thank you very much. The third question has no sense, I going to delete it.
I just think we spend too much time discussing about the validity of the consecrations performed instead of analyzing the results of those consecrations. The first objective of that consecration was to obtain the conversion of Russia to the Catholic faith, I suppose. That could be possible only if the majority of that nation accepted the Catholic late dogmas and the supremacy of the Roman Pontiff, like the byzantine rite Catholics do. If that didn’t happen yet, we might need another consecration, I agree with you. I am not so sure if the communism has been completely defeated in Russia or just wounded.
Basto, It is difficult for me to speak of Our Lady and her Heart in theological terms, but I do gravitate toward Jacinta's image of a refuge. When I was an insecure and troubled teenager, I would often come home from high school, sit on the painted milk can in our kitchen, and share my day with my Mom. She would be busy, but always attentive, sharing love and insights in her responses to my ramblings. When she died in my junior year in college I was emotionally a wreck because she had been my anchor, or you might say my refuge. I did not consecrate my life to Mary until May of 1982, some seven years later. In many respects, Mary has picked up where my Mom, Christine, had left off. Her Immaculate Heart is a refuge for me, and she is a maternal companion. I love you, Dear Lady! Last November, I was describing to a forum member my walk outside at night in a heavy snowstorm. I finished up with the following: Maybe God speaks volumes all the time, but at least in such quiet I can better hear His reassuring love. And on my left is the gentle laughter of Our Lady of the Snows. I hope this is helpful and does not appear overly familiar! Obviously, this speaks on a personal level. Think how much more marvelous her Triumph will impact the world! Safe in the Hearts of Jesus and Mary!
I have always thought the Sacred Heart of Jesus was simply his love for us. Just so I have always thought The Immaculate Heart of Mary was simply her love for us. At Garabandal Mary tells us to think on the passion of Her Son. Jesus told Blessed Veronica of Binasco, "My daughter, tears shed for My Passion are dear to Me, but as I loved my Mother Mary with an immense love, the meditation on the torments which She endured at My death is even more agreeable to me." In 1916 the Angel of Peace said at Fatima, "The Hearts of Jesus and Mary are attentive to the voice of your supplications." St Catherine of Sienna said, "Between the sufferings of the soul and those of the body there is no comparison." St Bridget was told that Mary's martyrdom began even before she became His mother and all that He would suffer was revealed to her. Her fiat was thus fully informed. St Alphonsus Ligouri confirms that hers was the greatest of martyrdoms being the longest in duration and the greatest in intensity. St Albert the Great said "that as we are under great obligation to Jesus for his Passion...so we are under great obligation to Mary for the martyrdom she freely suffered for our salvation in the death of Her Son." St Agnes said 'our compassionate Mother was satisfied rather to endure any torment than that our souls should not be redeemed." St Bernardine of Sienna said, "The grief of Mary was so great that, were it divided amongst all men, it would suffice to cause their immediate death." This then is The Immaculate Heart of Mary, pierced by love for her Son who gave Her to us for our Mother. This is the love that will triumph over the powers of darkness soon to envelope this world. This is the mantle under which we will find refuge and refreshment for our spirit so that we too can share in her martyrdom and the saving passion of Her Son. PS I am no expert or anyone special. I am certainly no saint. Just another Joe Blog. I have known this from the web since Our Lady of Akita was installed in our church and our devotion to the Rosary of the Seven Sorrows began.
Hi my good Friend Basto, regarding your questions, I'll suggest 2 Saints, Montfort and Kolbe + "The Theology of the Doctrine of the Immaculate Heart of Mary", Google it and you will get the document, this should answer to your questions. Aviso
What is so special about this devotion? Our Lady told Sr Lucia that devotion to her Immaculate Heart is one of the two last remedies offered to the World by God. So that makes it special. ...'' that God is giving two last remedies to the world. These are the Holy Rosary and devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. These are the last two remedies which signify that there will be no others."
I don't know if this will help but I will tell you something that happened to me on the 27th October 2000. It was the day after my brothers funeral. The Lord answered my prayer to Him that day, in extraordinary ways. Which are too sacred to mention here, as the tragedy of my 36 year brothers death on the 22nd October and the visions and words of Our Lord on the 27th October to me outnumber in kind and intent anything that I have experienced before or after and have never been repeated in my life since. At one point, Our Lord who was speaking to me, handed me a heart. And said 'place this heart in your home'. The Heart was alive and I said to Our Lord 'is it Brendan's heart [my brother]?' Our Lord said, "It is my mothers Heart" I was shocked as I had never seen Our Lady's heart depicted like this! The Heart was alive and it was very pale pink in color as if it had been drained of blood, it looked very fragile but also very robust like it could never stop, it looked like it needed me in some way but also this robust Heart looked like it would sustain me as it was greater than mine and Oh so pure. Its hard to describe, so I pondered the words of Our Lord and the Heart of Mary for many years. When Our Lord said that day, 'to place this Heart in my home', I felt He meant to place this Heart in my body and not just to place this Heart somewhere in my home as an ornament to be venerated. I believe the Immaculate Heart of Mary is the most tender, most loving, most Divine like Heart that the Lord Himself reverences, as it contains all the Love of a creature for its God, it contains all the humility of need for God and the strength to Love God above all and He wishes this Heart of His Mother, comes to each individual person and lives in each individual, so He can feel that great Love and Devotion that She alone has given Him.
I love the answers here, for they are all about mystery. Understanding this is a great mystery shows humility the great key to turn the lock of a glimmer of understanding.
I wonder if we are meant to , 'Understand' a mystery like the Immaculate Heart in the same manner we say we, 'Understand', a shopping list. Some things are understood only by the heart. Only a heart can see a heart.
One thing I have learnt in recent years about the Immaculate Heart is that it has a mystical equivalance to the Church of Christ. Thus when Mary said, 'In the end my Immaculate Heart will Triumph', she was saying, 'In the end God's Church will Triumph'.
That’s beautiful Mario, thank you. God didn’t let you have mother for a long time in this world but had provided you with a great one who taught the most intimate meaning of that concept.
