The Vatican performed a rite today to "Consecrate Russia to the Sacred Heart of Mary". I heard this last night and thought "WTF does that even mean???" They will also consecrated the Ukraine. And the rest of the world. This is bizare at so many levels and makes me ask:
- What does it mean to consecrate a nation?
- What does it mean in terms of the second "secret" of Fátima?
- What does it mean in terms of world politics and spiritual warfare?
Consecration
So, one can consecrate a person or thing. Which is "Russia"? Is it a thing (a land mass with natural and man-made structures on it) or a group of people, i.e., the Russians?Consecration, in general, is an act by which a thing is separated from a common and profane to a sacred use, or by which a person or thing is dedicated to the service and worship of God by prayers, rites, and ceremonies.
https://www.catholic.com/encyclopedia/consecration
The "thing" that is most often consecrated is a church building. It is done to designate it as "sacred space", separate from the "profane" world. You pray in church, act reverently there, dress modestly. You don't do certain things there (incite violence, have sex, do drugs, swear, etc.) or that would be sacrilege. So if Russia is now consecrated, would that mean all the mafia drug dens and whorehouses in Moscow, all the military weapons depots in Siberia, all Russian garbage dumps, etc. are now holy places just like St. Peters Basilica in the Vatican???
But people are consecrated too. These rites are usually done when they are present and with their consent. In fact is a very deep desire of the individual to be consecrated. Yet, most Russians are Eastern Orthodox and probably would not consent to today's Roman Catholic ceremony. And the ceremony is taking place in the Vatican and Fatima, Portugal, not in Russia, and there probably won't be many Russians present.
So that Roman church usually has some precedent for what it does, in line with it's previous actions, but the of consecrating Russia has none, and makes little sense. Except perhaps if you look at the second secret of Fátima...
Fátima
In 1917, a series of events took place in Fátima, Portugal that were witnessed by three children. Two of the children died shortly after, but the third, Lucia Santos, lived a very long life as a nun. In 1941 Lucia revealed that she had received three secrets in apocalyptic visions during that time, and then the first two were published. The second was about Russia:
So, when Lucia allegedly received these messages in 1917, she was 10 years old and did not even know about a country called Russia, or that it was undergoing a revolution and the powers that took over were trying to banish Christianity there. However, it would be another 24 years before she published this information, and much of the time she had been in a convent and would probably have a lot of advisors she could talk about these visions to, and they may have influenced her view of what these messages were. The prophesy mentioned Pope Pius XI who was pope from 1921 to 1939. She could not have known that name at the time of Fatima. During Pius XI tenure as pope, there was no consecration, Russian communists found new ways to suppress the church, and finally World War II did break out and it was devastating to the Russians, so it seems like her revelation of the "secret" was too late to stop the doom it had predicted.You have seen hell where the souls of poor sinners go. To save them, God wishes to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart. If what I say to you is done, many souls will be saved and there will be peace. The war is going to end: but if people do not cease offending God, a worse one will break out during the Pontificate of Pope Pius XI. When you see a night illumined by an unknown light, know that this is the great sign given you by God that he is about to punish the world for its crimes, by means of war, famine, and persecutions of the Church and of the Holy Father. 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 shall be converted, and a period of peace will be granted to the world
Several popes including Pius XII, Paul VI, and John Paul II performed ceremonies to consecrate Russia, but Russia continued to suppress religion and fuel the cold war tension that created the Iron Curtain. Then in 1991, Lucia, then in her eighties, told Pope John Paul II that the ceremonies worked, since Russia was now allowing religious freedom and the cold war seemed to have ended.
World Politics and Spiritual Warfare
I have only questions on this one. Why is the church performing this rite? Why now? Is this just a political stunt on behalf of NATO and EU powers that want to possession of the Ukraine? Or does the church really think it is channeling some type of spiritual energy that is related to the apparitions of Fátima? And are the Vatican and Orthodox churches enemies in this war?
The Roman Catholic church has had a long running feud with the Orthodox Christian churches since 1054 A.D. but in the last few decades, the Roman church has tried to improve that relationship, and the largest of the orthodox church is the Russian church. Kirill, the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox church is on good terms with Putin and has expressed support for invasion of the Ukraine. Today's "consecration" does a lot to deepen the rift between the two churches. And it also is totally out of line with the rites and rituals of the church. Almost every thing they do is justified by centuries of precedent, by volumes of text, usually in Latin, of canon law. This action is completely crazy.
And while we've seen the Pope and many top Vatican officials talking of a new world order and promoting vaccination, we have also seen a few Catholics staunchly opposed to these actions, for example, Archbishop Vigano. I wonder where those people stand now?