CBCP: Please consecrate our nation to Mary

Last year, we wrote about the very interesting book of Catholic writer Antonio Socci entitled “The 4th Secret of Fatima” wherein he pointed out very clearly, (and I fully concur with his observations) that despite the fact that the Oct. 13,1917 apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary at the Cova de Ira in Portugal was acknowledged by the Vatican on Oct. 13, 1930 (13 years after the first apparition) as “divinely inspired,” the world has not yet seen the peace as prophesied by the Blessed Virgin Mary because Russia was not yet “consecrated into her Immaculate Heart” by the Vatican.

This issue of doing the consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary has become the subject of a bitter debate within the Catholic clergy in the Vatican for many decades now. Sister Lucia dos Santos, the last survivor of the three children became a nun in Coimbra, Portugal and has died in 2005 without fulfilling our Blessed Virgin Mother's request that she made way back in Oct. 13,1917.

Perhaps due to some pressures… the late great Pope John Paul II did consecrate the whole world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in 1984. But since that consecration wasn’t specific to Russia, the world today is still in turmoil, as the request of the Blessed Virgin Mary remained unheeded.

All one has to do is open their television sets and they will see the violence and wars in the Middle East, Syria's civil war and small wars in the African continent. Here in Southeast Asia, China, which is still a Communist nation has threatened our sovereignty, claiming the Scarborough Shoal which is just a couple of hundred kilometers west of Zambales…so far away from mainland China. Of course, there is also North Korea, which recently fired a rocket that could very well hit the Philippines.

Knowing too well that the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is so ill-equipped to fight their Chinese counterparts boat for boat or soldier for soldier… and since the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) have not yet been reinstated in our schools to provide manpower whenever it is needed and while politicians bestow gifts from amongst themselves from the tax money of the people while the majority of Filipinos go hungry, I dare say that we are left with no other recourse but to seek God's divine intervention.

Last Friday, during a whole day meeting of the Human Life International (HLI) to find ways to continue with our struggle against the forces of darkness that just approved the RH Bill… I ended up texting Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma, Arch. Ramon Argüelles of Lipa and Davao retired Archbishop Fernando Capalla suggesting that now that we are faced with grave dangers for our country… perhaps it was time for the Catholic Bishop's Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) to consecrate the Philippines to the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

A day later, I talked with Arch. Palma on the phone and he told me that he would consider it. I know the heart of our beloved Cebu Archbishop is to help our country return back to God. But he still needs to consult the CBCP hierarchy for this thing to happen. So I suggest that our pious readers out there pray hard that Arch. Palma would be able to convince his fellow bishops to do this consecration for our ailing nation. Mind you, there is a historical precedent that could apply to us.

With the clouds of war still surrounding Europe after the end of World War I, on May 13, 1931, Cardinal Cerejeria, the Patriarch of Lisbon together with the bishops of Portugal and three hundred thousand faithful went to Fatima and consecrated Portugal to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. These are the words of consecration they used:

“We, the pontiffs of your people, feel a terrible storm raging around us, threatening to disperse and destroy the faithful flock of those who bless You because You are the Mother of Jesus. Afflicted, we stretch out our suppliant hands towards Your Son, as we cry out, “Save us, O Lord for we perish! Intercede for Portugal, O Our Lady, in this grave hour when from the East blow furious winds bringing cries of death against Your Son and against the civilization founded on His teachings, deceiving minds, perverting hearts and lighting the fires of hatred and revolution in the world. Help of Christians, pray for us.”

With this prayer, the Blessed Virgin Mary granted three miracles in Portugal. First, an unexpected Catholic Renaissance and or rebirth of the Catholic faith. As this is the Year of Faith, it is imperative that we do this prayer…anyway there's very little to change in its wordings. The second miracle is the miracle of political and social reform. Instead of embracing Communism, Portugal was spared from what happened in nearby Spain. Finally, Portugal was not only spared from the Communist terror, but it was Europe's most peaceful country in the midst of the horrors of World War II. Let us pray that the CBCP would agree to this consecration of our nation.

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