Why the consecration of Russia to Mary?

Mary at the birth of the Church, and with us still. Image: Source

Next Friday, Pope Francis will use a special prayer to ask Mary the mother of Jesus to pray to her son, to God, for Russia. He will consecrate Russia to "the immaculate heart" of Mary.

This action needs some unraveling, to understand both as to what is meant by Mary's "immaculate heart" and on the issue of why the Church would pray to Mary instead of the God directly. 

First, the matter of intercessory prayer. God wants us to ask Him for what we need. For that reason, Christians have a well-rooted practice of praying for each other, and the tradition is that even those who have died are part of the ongoing life of the Church. They continue to be members of the mystical body of Christ, the concept so central to Paul's teaching. Those on earth pray to God that those who have died are quickly received into heaven; then those in the presence of God add their pleas for divine help to the prayers of their brothers and sisters in need still on earth.

Second, Mary's role in the Church. Simeon's prophecy created the image of Mary participating fully in our redemption, saying that her heart would be pierced with a sword.  Luke notes twice that Mary kept all the sayings and doings of Jesus in her heart. Augustine highlighted how Mary did not have a passive role in the completion of God's plan as she had to cooperate with the Holy Spirit by applying her whole self. Mary was present at Pentecost, which marks the birth of the Church (Acts 1:14).

In the New Testament:

Elizabeth proclaims Mary blessed because she has believed the words of the angel; the Magnificat is an expression of her humility; and in answering the woman in the crowd, who in order to exalt the Son proclaimed the Mother blessed, did not Jesus himself say: “Blessed rather are they that hear the word of God and keep it”? [...] The Fathers understood His meaning, and found in these words a new reason for praising Mary. St. Leo says that through faith and love she conceived her Son spiritually, even before receiving Him into her womb, and St. Augustine tells us that she was more blessed in having borne Christ in her heart than in having conceived Him in the flesh.

By the 11th and 12th centuries Christians were acknowledging that Mary warranted special honour because of her spiritual attributes.

We honor Mary because of her office as Mother of God, and also the fact that she cooperated with God’s grace and God did something through her greater than—in fact, without Mary, there is no Jesus. There’s no Apostle Peter. There’s no Paul. There’s no nothing, there’s no New Testament, without Mary’s “Yes” to almighty God. Now, could God have chosen someone else? Absolutely! God could choose anybody wants to. But the bottom line is, He chose Mary and Mary said “Yes.”   

The Church examines the Magnificat, for example, to understand Mary's interior life, and it celebrates her joys and sorrows, her virtues, and her love for God and all those around her, which she shared with the early Church by continuing her participation in God's work.

Does not giving honour to Mary detract from our honouring God? Read on:

The Bible gives us basically two essential reasons why we honor some members of the Body of Christ more than others. Think of this: 1 Timothy 5:17 commands us to give “double honor” to the teaching elders. [...] So number one, we honor some members of the Body of Christ more than others because of their office.

But number two, we also honor them because of their holiness, or what God has done for them, in them, and through them. Well, the Blessed Mother’s a great example of that, because in Luke 1:48 she says—she prophesies under the power of the Holy Spirit—"All generations shall call me blessed, for the Almighty has done great things for me." 

Mary is worthy of honour as the Mother of God, but her manner and the Church's practice—apart from some excesses of piety from time to time or in some cultures—has been to put God first and foremost: "... for the Almighty has done great things for me".

The term "immaculate" refers to God preserving Mary from the original sin that afflicts all of humanity, making us weak in the face of evil, with a tendency to seek our own desires rather than complying with God's plan for us. The Church has seen from scripture and the regard Christians all along have held for Mary, that given this evidence, it is reasonable to believe that God would deem it unbecoming for the Creator to come into the world by means of a mother who was anything less than perfect. 

That means her heart is able to be absolutely pure in its love for God and her human sons and daughters, with the words of Jesus on the cross, "Woman, here is your son", and to John, seen as standing for all, "Here is your mother" (John 19:26) having significance.

As to the particular event next Friday (March 25, Feast of the Annunciation):

In 1942, Pope Pius XII consecrated the whole human race to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The pope said that the intercession of Mary, already known as the queen of peace, could bring an end to the war ravaging Europe, Asia, and North Africa.  

In 1952, [with the grip of Soviet communism apparent in many forms], Pius XII issued an apostolic letter entrusting the Russian people to the intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

In 1964, Pope St. Paul VI offered a public prayer entrusting the whole human race to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Pope St. John Paul II offered several consecration prayers to the Immaculate Heart of Mary; the most well-known and public was in 1984.

On March 25, 1984, he offered prayers of solemn consecration, which dedicated the world to Mary. While the pope’s text did not specifically mention Russia, some historians say that John Paul II privately added the words in his prayer. Bishops from around the world had been invited to join the consecration, and many did. 

According to some accounts, the pope was urged not to mention Russia by name in the public prayers of the 1984 consecration, because it would anger the Russian Orthodox hierarchy, who opposed the notion of Catholics consecrating their country to Mary, and because of Vatican efforts at political diplomacy with the USSR. 

Because of that omission, some Catholics have argued that Pope John Paul II did not actually consecrate Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary — and some Catholics continue to raise that objection. 

But after the consecration, Sister Lucia - the visionary who recorded the Fatima message from Mary - said several times that she believed the consecration request had been fulfilled. And in 2000, the Holy See said the consecration “has been done just as Our Lady asked”.

The new consecration is not a concession from the Holy See that the 1984 consecration was in some way insufficient, but this act will be more explicit, presumably naming Russia and Ukraine in the prayers themselves. 

[It's...] likely Pope Francis intends his prayers to be acts of renewal — pleas to God, and the Blessed Virgin Mary — in a time of great hardship, rather than making up for previous acts called into question. 

Honouring Mary as the Immaculate Heart gives us an example of how we as Christians should love. As Pope Paul VI said:

May the Immaculate Heart of Mary shine before the eyes of all Christians as the model of perfect love toward God and toward our fellow beings; may it lead them toward the Holy Sacraments by virtue of which souls are cleansed from the stains of sin and are preserved from it. May it also stimulate them to make reparation for the innumerable offenses against the Divine Majesty. Lastly, may it shine like a banner of unity and a spur to perfect the bonds of brotherhood among all Christians in the bosom of the one Church of Jesus Christ, which “taught by the Holy Spirit, honors her with filial affection and piety as a most beloved mother.” 

On 19 November 1959, Bishop Patrick O'Boyle of Washington, D.C. consecrated the United States to the Immaculate Heart of Mary:

ACT OF CONSECRATION OF THE UNITED STATES TO THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY

Most Holy Trinity:  Our Father in heaven, who chose Mary as the fairest of your daughters;  Holy Spirit, who chose Mary as your Spouse; God of Son, who chose Mary as your Mother; in union with Mary, we adore your majesty and acknowledge your supreme, eternal dominion and authority. Most Holy Trinity, we put the United States of America into the hands of Mary Immaculate in order that she may present the country to you.

Through her we wish to thank for you the great resources of this land and for the freedom, which as been its heritage.  Through the intercession of Mary, have mercy on the Catholic Church in America.  Grant us peace.  Have mercy on our president and all the officers of our government.  Grant us a fruitful economy born of justice and charity.  Have mercy on capital and industry and labor.  Protect the family life of the nation.  Guard the precious gift of many religious vocations.  Through the intercession of our Mother, have mercy on the sick, the poor, the tempted, sinners – on all who are in need.

Mary, Immaculate Virgin, our Mother, Patroness of our land, we praise you and honor you and give our country and ourselves to our sorrowful and Immaculate Heart.  O Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, pierced by the sword of sorrow prophesied by Simeon, save us from degeneration, disaster and war.  Protect us from all harm.  O Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, who bore the sufferings of your Son in the depths of your heart, be our advocate.  Pray for us, that acting always according to your will and the will of your divine Son, we may live and die pleasing to God. Amen. 

A concluding thought: Pray for the people of Russia and Ukraine every day. Pray, too, for peace in war zones all around the world.

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