The Consecration of Spain to
the Immaculate Heart of Mary
By Joseph Cain
"The most genuine form of devotion to the Most Holy Virgin ... is
consecration to Her Immaculate Heart. By this means, a growing communion and
familiarity with the Holy Virgin takes life in the heart as a new way of living
for God and of carrying on, here on earth, the love of Jesus the Son for Mary
His Mother."1
To Jesus through Mary
On Sunday, May 22, 2005, in
the Plaza del Pilar, before the majestic Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar,
the bishops of Spain2 consecrated their country to the Immaculate
Heart of Mary in the presence of 70,000 Faithful. The Act of Consecration was
led by the President of the Spanish Catholic Episcopal Conference, His
Excellency Ricardo Blázquez Pérez, Bishop of Bilbão. It
was broadcast on Spanish TV, channel 2, and on the SEC (Spanish Catholic
Episcopal Conference) website; but beyond that, there was an almost complete
news blackout of the event by the secular media throughout the whole of Spain
and the rest of the world. The Fatima Crusader wants its readers to know
about this milestone event for several reasons, but first of all, to make up
for the deplorable and seemingly intentional neglect on the part of
Spain’s news services to communicate this major news to the public.
May 22, 2005 marked the close
of the Jubilee year in Spain that began on May 20, 2004 and was the first
Centenary of the Canonical Coronation of the Statue of Our Lady of the Pillar
in Zaragoza. In November 2004 the SEC (Spanish Catholic Episcopal Conference)
met in its eighty-third plenary session in Madrid and issued a document that
was published on their website on the 25th of that month entitled:
‘Message of the Plenary Assembly on the 150th Anniversary of the
Definition of the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary’.
They convoked ‘The Year of the Inmaculada’ in Spain
beginning on December 8, 2004 and stated:
We are convinced that the
new challenges that face us as Christians in a world ever in need of the light
of the Gospel, cannot be confronted without the close protection of Our Mother,
the Immaculate Virgin. As the centerpiece of the celebration of the ‘Year
of the Inmaculada,’ the diocesan churches of Spain, we, the
pastors, religious, and lay people, adults, youth and children, will go on
Pilgrimage to the Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar in Zaragoza on the 21st
and 22nd of May, 2005 to honor Our Mother and solemnly consecrate ourselves
again to Her Immaculate Heart.3
An art exposition under the
title Inmaculada, exhibiting some of the greatest treasures of painting
and sculpture which express the truths of the Faith contained in this Marian
Dogma, is taking place in the Cathedral of La Almudena in Madrid from May 1 to
October 12, 2005. The Spanish Episcopal Conference is also coordinating similar
initiatives that most of the dioceses of Spain are already undertaking or will
undertake throughout the year.
The SEC continues:
The sincere love for the
Virgin Mary in Spain, since antiquity, has been interpreted as an
‘intrepid defense’ and most particularly with regard to Mary’s
Immaculate Conception; a defense that, without doubt, laid the groundwork for
the dogmatic definition. If Spain is the ‘Land of Mary’ it is in
great measure by virtue of its devotion to the
Inmaculada.4
The Feast of the Immaculate
Conception on December 8 has been celebrated in Spain since the Eleventh
Century despite theological controversies, and, obviously, long before its
definition as a dogma of Faith. The Popes have always said that this dogmatic
definition was advanced by the Spanish. Pope John Paul II, on his first
apostolic visit to Spain on June 11, 1982, stated, "In your history, love for
Mary has been the leaven of Catholicity. It impelled the peoples of Spain to a
firm devotion and to an intrepid defense of the grandeurs of Mary, above all in
Her Immaculate Conception."5
Since the Sixteenth Century,
up until the Second Vatican Council, professors and students in the
universities of both Spain and Portugal took an oath to defend the doctrine of
the Immaculate Conception. In Spain there exists a tradition of many centuries
to greet fellow Catholics and to start a letter with the acclamation
‘¡Ave María Purísima!’ (Hail Mary Most Pure!) For
centuries, both Spain and Portugal have called their countries, i.e. the
Iberian Peninsula: ‘The Land of Mary’ (Tierra de María) or
‘The Land of Holy Mary’ (Terra de Santa Maria).
When Our Lady spoke of Her
Immaculate Heart at Fatima in 1917, She was, without any doubt,
deliberately using the same word that She used when speaking with St.
Bernadette at Lourdes in 1858, saying, "I am the Immaculate Conception."
And it was this word that Blessed Pope Pius IX used four years earlier in 1854
in his Papal Proclamation Ineffabilis Deus when he defined dogmatically
that Our Lady was conceived immaculatus: that is, without macula —
without stain of original sin.
The Consecration of Spain on
May 22, 2005 was a renewal of the national Consecration to the Immaculate Heart
of Mary done on October 12, 1954 by an earlier generation of the Spanish
Bishops which had marked one hundred years since the dogmatic definition of the
Immaculate Conception of Blessed Pius IX on December 8, 1854. The year 1954 was
proclaimed a Marian Year by Pope Pius XII to commemorate the centenary of the
definition.
A question arises when one
wonders if the renewal of the Consecration of Spain had been planned long in
advance. Why did the SEC wait until May 2005 to do it? The 150th anniversary of
the definition of the dogma was 2004, not 2005. And John Paul II, in spite of
his having beatified Pope Pius IX, was out of sync with the anniversary of the
definition, having proclaimed 2001 a Marian Year and 2005, ‘The Year of
the Eucharist’. Though the SEC dedicated a few lines in their November 25,
2004 document trying to tie in their convoking of the ‘Year of the
Inmaculada’ with the Vatican’s ‘Year of the
Eucharist’, it seemed clear that the honor being shown to the Mother of
God by the Spanish Episcopacy was their own initiative and was not planned long
in advance.
It can be deduced that, most
likely, the Consecration of Spain was in response to two recent dire events:
first, the Spanish nation having elected, in the immediate wake of the
traumatic March 11, 2004 terrorist attack in Madrid, a socialist government
that has pledged to further dechristianize that country with the legalization
of elective abortion and same-sex marriage. And second, the desecration of the
Little Chapel of the Apparitions in Fatima, Portugal on May 5, 2004 by Hindus
performing a pagan ritual on a Catholic altar on the very spot where the Most
Holy Virgin first asked that reparation be done for outrages, sacrileges and
indifference to Her Immaculate Heart, and the subsequent total lack of
reparation by the Portuguese hierarchy.
During the summer months of
2004, the Fatima Center sent to the Bishops of Spain a Spanish version of the
article by John Vennari published in The Fatima Crusader (see Issue
number 77). The article, entitled
"Pictures of a
Desecration," presents photographic proof of the desecration of the Little
Chapel of the Apparitions by Hindus who had been invited by the rector of the
Shrine and the Bishop of Fatima.
During the third week of
October, 2004, two representatives of the Fatima Center, one of whom is a
priest and a renowned expert on prophecy and geopolitics, met with several
bishops in Spain concerning the sacrilege at the Fatima Shrine and the not yet
performed Consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. In the first
week of November, the clergy listed in the diocesan directories of nearly all
the 69 dioceses of Spain were also sent the Spanish version of "Pictures of a
Desecration".
The SEC met in plenary session
shortly thereafter and convoked ‘The Year of the Inmaculada’
and announced their intention to consecrate Spain to the Immaculate Heart of
Mary in May 2005. The Fatima Center heard the news of the SEC’s intention
in January but kept quiet about it, being counseled to not jeopardize it in any
way by publicizing it in advance.
Two of the Spanish prelates
who met with the Fatima Center’s representatives in October, as events
would have it, played key roles in the Consecration of Spain. The first, who
had just published in September a comprehensive and detailed Marian pastoral
‘letter’ 225 pages in length, which included 154 footnotes, a most
eloquent testimony of his love for Our Lady, was the one who hosted the event
and celebrated the Mass during which the Consecration of Spain took place.
The other prelate who
graciously received the Fatima Center’s representatives (quoting the
representatives’ report), "... was charitable, not only with a donation
given us to help pay for a hotel room that night, but also by his kindness and
evident appreciation of the work we were doing ... he listened to the
presentation without interrupting, without appearing bored or annoyed, taking
great interest in what was said and asking pertinent questions ... We were
impressed by his openness and sincerity, both in the expression on his face as
we talked ... as well as his comments and questions concerning the desecration
of the Capelinha in Fatima, geopolitics and prophecy." This same bishop, five
months later, was elected to a position of authority over his peers, and it was
he who led his brother bishops in the Consecration of Spain on May 22.
Did the Fatima Center have a
part to play in making the Consecration of Spain happen? Ultimately only God
could have coordinated the surprising convergence of circumstances in the
series of events that led up to it, and in which this Apostolate may have been
an instrument. To Our Lord Jesus Christ and to His Holy Mother be all glory and
honor! May Spain’s Consecration protect and strengthen the Faithful and
future Faithful of that nation in the difficult times to come, and may this
solemn public act be recognized as the first joyful precursor of other national
consecrations.
May the Church continue to
take up spiritual arms in "intrepid defense" of Mary Immaculate, honoring Her
in the same solemn and public manner by the Episcopal Conferences of other
nations, in this way climbing out of the pit the nations of former Christendom
have fallen into. The Consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary by
the Pope in union with all the Catholic Bishops of the world will be the last
step on the road to Our Lady’s Triumph and the new dawn of a purified and
restored Catholic Church. And, as Our Lady of Fatima promised, the fruit that
awaits the world is universal peace. May it come soon, please God.
Prayer
of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary by the Bishops of
Spain
Mother of Christ and Our
Mother, to commemorate the Anniversary of the proclamation of Thy Immaculate
Conception, We wish to unite ourselves with the consecration that Thy Son made
of Himself:
And for them do I
consecrate Myself, that they may also be consecrated in truth (Jn. 17:19)
and renew our consecration both personal and in common, to Thy Immaculate
Heart.
We bow to Thee, Immaculate
Virgin, who are totally united to the redemptive consecration of Thy Son.
Mother of the Church, enlighten all the Christian faithful of Spain in the
paths of faith, hope and charity; protect with Thy maternal succor all the men
and women of our country in the paths of peace, respect and prosperity.
Immaculate Heart!
Help us to conquer the threat
of evil that lacerates the hearts of people and prevents them from living in
concord:
From all types of terrorism
and violence, save us!
From all manner of crime
against human life, from the first instant of one’s existence till
one’s last natural breath, save us!
From the attacks against
religious liberty and the attacks against the liberty of conscience, save
us!6
From all types of injustices
in social life, save us!
From the easiness of trampling
on the Commandments of God, save us!
From offenses against and
contempt of the dignity of Marriage and of the family, save us!
From the propagation of lies
and hatred, save us!
From the loss of the sense of
right and wrong, save us!
From sins against the Holy
Ghost, save us!
Receive, O Immaculate Mother,
this plea full of confidence and thanksgiving.
Protect all of Spain and its
peoples, its men and its women.
May the light of hope that is
in Thy Immaculate Heart open out to all.
Amen.
Footnotes:
1. Spanish Episcopal Conference, (SEC) Mensaje de la
Asamblea Plenaria en el CL aniversario de la definición del Dogma de la
Concepción Inmaculada de la Virgen María, Madrid, Nov. 25,
2004; c.f. Pope John Paul II, Mensaje con ocasión del Año
Mariano Carmelitano, March 3, 2001, page 4 (our translation).
2. Here in alphabetical order are the names of many of
the bishops who participated in the Consecration of Spain.
The Apostolic
Nuncio:
Mons. Manuel Monteiro de Castro
Cardinals:
Amigo
Vallejo, Carlos; Archbishop of Seville • Rouco Varela, Antonio
María; Archbishop of Madrid
Archbishops:
Barrio Barrio,
Julián; Archbishop of Santiago de Compostela • Cañizares
Llovera, Antonio; Archbishop of Toledo and Vice-president of the SEC •
García Aracil, Santiago; Archbishop of Mérida-Badajoz • Gil
Hellín, Francisco; Archbishop of Burgos • Martínez Sistach,
Luis; Archbishop of Barcelona • Pujol Balcells, Jaume; Archbishop of
Tarragona • Rodríguez Plaza, Braulio; Archbishop of Valladolid
• Sebastián Aguilar, Fernando; Archbishop of Pamplona and
Bishop of Tudela • Yanes Álvarez, Elías; Apostolic
Administrator of Zaragoza. There were also 33 Bishops and 7 Auxiliary
Bishops.
3. SEC, Mensaje de la Asamblea Plenaria en el CL
aniversario de la definición del Dogma de la Concepción
Inmaculada de la Virgen María, Madrid, Nov. 25, 2004.
4. Ibid., point 8.
5. Ibid., point 7, c.f. John Paul II, Alocución
en el acto mariano celebrado en Zaragoza, June 11, 1982.
6. The Spanish bishops are clearly appealing to freedom
of religion and conscience in the Catholic sense: Freedom for the true religion
and the rightly formed conscience, both of which are under attack in Spain,
where secular authorities are seeking to legalize abortion and same-sex
"marriage".
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