Cardinal Vincent Nichols has consecrated England and Wales to the Immaculate Heart of Mary at the visit of the National Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Our Lady of Fatima at Westminster Cathedral on 18 February, part of the centenary year of apparitions at Fatima. The consecration took part at the end of Mass, which was celebrated by the Archbishop of Westminster and attended by priests from several dioceses.
The Mass began with the procession of the National Pilgrim Virgin Statue, borne by Knights of St Columba and accompanied by children dressed as Lucia dos Santos and Blessed Jacinta and Francisco Marto, carrying the crown and the relics of Blessed Jacinta and Franciso Marto, and joined by members of the World Apostolate of Fatima.
In May 1917, the Virgin Mary is reported to have appeared to three shepherd children in Fatima, Portugal on several occasions. She is said to have told the children to pray the rosary and make sacrifices for sinners.
The church has officially declared the Fatima revelations “worthy of belief”, and Our Lady of Fatima has a central place in Marian devotion.
In his homily, Cardinal Nichols said the apparitions presented a “considerable challenge”, and that Catholics must ask themselves: “How well do we express our discipleship of Christ every day? How are we getting on in those two ways of giving time to the Lord and to others: in those areas of prayer and sacrifice?”
The cardinal recommended the rosary as a prayer to help one to say “yes” to God, which was, he said the essence of devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
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