The Most Reverend Robert Brennan, Bishop of Brooklyn, led a Holy Hour of Prayer for Peace this morning, Friday, March 25, 2022, at 11:00 a.m. at the Cathedral Basilica of St. James located at 250 Cathedral Place in Downtown Brooklyn.
At Noon, Bishop Brennan consecrated Ukraine and Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Following the Act of Consecration, he celebrated Mass for the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord.
The Holy Father, Pope Francis, had asked all Bishops to join him spiritually in prayer today as he consecrated Ukraine and Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
In the Catholic Church, to consecrate something is to make it sacred or holy. In the consecration of Ukraine and Russia, the Church is appealing to God, through the intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, to answer prayers for an end to the war in Ukraine.
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VIDEO AND PHOTOS: Courtesy: DeSales Media
:38 Can you imagine that the whole world, everywhere in the world somebody is praying this prayer right now, begging God for peace, consecrating Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and really asking God that we too might be transformed, consecrate our own lives to the will of God.
1:03 CONSECRATION: O Mary, Mother of God and our Mother, in this time of trial we turn to you. As our Mother, you love us and know us: no concern of our hearts is hidden from you. Mother of mercy, how often we have experienced your watchful care and your peaceful presence! You never cease to guide us to Jesus, the Prince of Peace. Yet we have strayed from that path of peace. We have forgotten the lesson learned from the tragedies of the last century, the sacrifice of the millions who fell in two world wars. We have disregarded the commitments we made as a community of nations. We have betrayed peoples’ dreams of peace and the hopes of the young.
2:12 CONSECRATION: We have forgotten our humanity and squandered the gift of peace. We opened our hearts to violence and destructiveness. How greatly we need your maternal help! Therefore, O Mother, hear our prayer.
Star of the Sea, do not let us be shipwrecked in the tempest of war.
Ark of the New Covenant, inspire projects and paths of reconciliation.
Queen of Heaven, restore God’s peace to the world.
Eliminate hatred and the thirst for revenge, and teach us forgiveness.
Free us from war, protect our world from the menace of nuclear weapons.
Queen of the Rosary, make us realize our need to pray and to love.
Queen of the Human Family, show people the path of fraternity.
Queen of Peace, obtain peace for our world.
3:15 HOMILY: Here we did something a little bit different, we all stopped in place and joined together to be one, that sense of unity is part of the act of consecration, it’s not just one person offering prayer but of us all gathering together.”
3:38 HOMILY: Behold I come to do your will, that’s the consecration. You might say that is a little odd, we just did a worldwide prayer for peace, a nice gesture but what difference is it going to make? That’s an easy thing to think, nice thought, wouldn’t be great if it works, but no. We stopped with faith and we said, we really want this to happen, we want God’s will to reign, we want God’s will to come true. Well, you might say well nice but sounds kind of tough, but did you hear what the angel Gabriel said to Mary, his last words? He said nothing is impossible for God.”
