Consecration to Jesus Through Mary

And in his 2002 document, Rosarium Virginis Mariae, the Totus Tuus Pontiff elucidates the fruitful spiritual link between the Rosary and Marian Consecration:

In this process of being conformed to Christ in the Rosary, we entrust ourselves in a special way to the maternal care of the Blessed Virgin…. she continually brings to birth children for the mystical Body of her Son. She does so through her intercession, imploring upon them the inexhaustible outpouring of the Spirit…

The Rosary mystically transports us to Mary’s side as she is busy watching over the human growth of Christ in the home of Nazareth. This enables her to train us and to mold us with the same care, until Christ is "fully formed" in us (cf. Gal 4:19)… This is the luminous principle expressed by the Second Vatican Council which I have so powerfully experienced in my own life and have made the basis of my episcopal motto: Totus Tuus. The motto is of course inspired by the teaching of Saint Louis Marie Grignon de Montfort, who explained in the following words Mary’s role in the process of our configuration to Christ: "Our entire perfection consists in being conformed, united and consecrated to Jesus Christ. Hence the most perfect of all devotions is undoubtedly that which conforms, unites and consecrates us most perfectly to Jesus Christ. Now, since Mary is of all creatures the one most conformed to Jesus Christ, it follows that among all devotions that which most consecrates and conforms a soul to our Lord is devotion to Mary, his Holy Mother, and that the more a soul is consecrated to her the more will it be consecrated to Jesus Christ" (De Montfort, True Devotion). Never as in the Rosary do the life of Jesus and that of Mary appear so deeply joined. Mary lives only in Christ and for Christ! (30)

World Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

Beyond the specific call for personal Marian consecration, recent popes as the spiritual fathers of all peoples, have also sought to consecrate the entire human family to the maternal care and protection of the Mother of God. This effort by several pontiffs has been undertaken in response to a request of Our Lady herself during the 1917 Marian apparitions at Fatima.

During the third Fatima apparition of July 13, 1917, the Blessed Virgin asked the Holy Father to consecrate Russia to her Immaculate Heart as a remedy for the errors that Russia would spread throughout the world which would cause various wars, suffering for the Holy Father and persecutions of the Church, and even the annihilation of nations:

The term "Immaculate Heart of Mary" refers to the maternal heart of Mary from which, in part, the incarnate physical heart of Jesus was formed. Beyond just the material aspect, the heart of Mary formally symbolizes the very person of Mary and all the grace, sanctity, and love that flows from the Mother of Jesus to the human family. Scripturally, the word "heart" bespeaks the whole person. As Mary is always that pure channel of grace, which flows from Jesus and to Jesus, her Immaculate Heart is the perfect channel to Christ’s most Sacred Heart, source and symbol of the infinite love of God for humanity.

Several popes have sought in varying degrees to comply with the request of Our Lady of Fatima to consecrate Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. On October 31, 1942 Pope Pius XII, during a radio broadcast to pilgrims at Fatima, consecrated the entire world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in the midst of the global conflict of World War II:

On December 8th, 1942, Pope Pius XII repeated the consecration and made an allusion to Russia in the text. In his 1952 apostolic letter Sacro vergente anno, Pius XII dedicated and consecrated "all the peoples of Russia to the same Immaculate Heart." (33)

Sr. Lucia, the primary Fatima visionary, specified after the initial papal attempts to comply with the Fatima request that Our Lady desired a "collegial consecration" of Russia to her Immaculate Heart, that is, a consecration by the pope that would be joined in by the college of bishops throughout the world. (34)

Pope Paul VI, after proclaiming Mary as "Mother of the Church" at the Second Vatican Council, proceeded to entrust the human race to the Immaculate Heart of Mary: "We also entrust the whole human race for its protection, its difficulties and anxieties, its legitimate aspirations and ardent hopes to the guardianship of the heavenly Mother." (35) Moreover, on the fiftieth anniversary of Fatima, May 13, 1967, Pope Paul VI visited Fatima and issued the Marian exhortation, Signum Magnum (A Great Sign), in which he exhorted the "sons of the Church" to renew their consecrations to the Immaculate Heart of Mary:

On May 13, 1981, the Fatima anniversary, Pope John Paul II was shot in St. Peter’s square in fulfillment in part of the July 13, 1917 Fatima prophecy that, "the Holy Father will have much to suffer." John Paul II attributed his miraculous preservation from death to the direct intercession of Our Lady of Fatima, (37) and commenced preparation for the requested collegial consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

On March 25, 1984, Pope John Paul II, after having invited all bishops of the world to join him, consecrated the world, inclusive of Russia, to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in fulfillment of Our Lady’s request. The inspired prayer of consecration entrusted the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and petitioned Mary to intercede in delivering the world from the multi-form evils that presently threaten its spiritual and physical well-being. (38) John Paul II’s consecration of the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in 1984 in union with many bishops throughout the world did satisfy the Fatima request of 1917, as has been confirmed on several occasions both by Pope John Paul II and also by the Fatima visionary, Sr. Lucia. (39) Many contemporaries rightly associate the remarkable and relatively bloodless fall of Eastern European communism in recent times to the papal consecration of the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary by Pope John Paul II.

While some have questioned whether or not the Fatima request was actually satisfied since Russia was not explicitly named in the consecration, Sr. Lucia, the recognized authority on its fulfillment after John Paul II, has defended and explained the satisfaction of Our Lady’s request, since by consecrating "the world" John Paul II specifically intended Russia, which constitutes the essential interior element for the consecration and its satisfactory fulfillment. (40)

Marian Consecration and the Brown Scapular

Before concluding our discussion on Marian consecration, brief reference should be made to the traditional Brown Scapular devotion as a form of Marian devotion with significant theological and spiritual complementarity to consecration to Mary. The Brown Scapular (scapula, Latin for shoulder) consists of two small pieces of cloth connected by strings and worn over the shoulders as a symbol of protection of and devotion to the Blessed Virgin.

The Brown Scapular devotion originated in an apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary to St. Simon Stock (c. 1165-1265), the thirteenth century Prior General of the Carmelite Order. A contemporaneous Carmelite account records the event:

The wearing of the Brown Scapular ("brown" to designate association with the brown habit of the Carmelites) offers the "scapular promise" that those who faithfully wear it will not suffer the eternal damnation of Hell and, through the intercession of the Mother of God, will attain the graces of final perseverance unto Heaven.

The theological foundation for the Scapular devotion is essentially the same as that of Marian consecration, namely, Our Lady’s roles as "mother to us in the order of grace" (Lumen Gentium, No. 61) and Mediatrix of all graces, which grants her the ability to intercede for what Vatican II refers to as the "gifts of eternal salvation" (Lumen Gentium, No. 62).

As Spiritual Mother and Mediatrix of all graces, Mary can dispense the graces necessary for salvation to those who faithfully wear the Scapular as an external symbol of their internal devotion and dependence on the Mother of Jesus. In recognizing the authentic value of Scapular devotion, we must dismiss immediately any aspect of formalism, that is, an exterior act that is not accompanied by the necessary and corresponding interior disposition of the will. The external wearing of the Scapular should be a reflection of a person’s internal intentions of mind and heart to serve God, to love Our Lady, and to be true to the responsibilities of the Church and to one’s state in life, at least by way of an openness of heart to the extent one knows of these Christian calls of life. As one Carmelite author points out:

At the same time, the extraordinary spiritual efficacy of the Scapular devotion should not be underestimated in its ability to allow our motherly Queen and Advocate to intercede for the graces of final perseverance in situations that may appear hopeless from an external, human perspective. Pope Pius XII testifies to the powerful spiritual effects of wearing the Scapular in perplexing human circumstances:

A balance in an authentic Scapular devotion is achieved by avoiding expressions of formalism, and at the same time, by exercising Christian hope in the Marian promise given with wearing the Brown Scapular.