The Consecration of the 52nd International Eucharistic Congress to Our Lady of Fatima

Ferenc Palánki, diocesan bishop of Debrecen-Nyíregyháza, solemnly consecrated the 2020 Budapest International Eucharistic Congress to Our Lady in Fatima, on October 28th, in Fatima in the Chapel of the Apparitions. Together with the concelebrating priests and kneeling before the statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary he spoke the words of a prayer asking her patronage, a prayer written by Cardinal Péter Erdő

“We fly to thy protection, Oh Holy Mother of God!” is the antiphon Christ’s Church has prayed for centuries, today again we stand here repeating the words of the antiphon, on this land chosen by you and so dear to You, Oh Mary, our Heavenly Mother.

We especially feel the strong ties that unite us to the successor of Saint Peter and of all the pastors of the Church, according to the will of Christ. This feeling of unity floods our hearts when with the words of the prayer of consecration, with the example of Saint Pope John Paul II before us, we bring before you the greatest “hopes and fears” of our Church and nation, especially the intention of the 2020 International Eucharistic Congress in September.

Holy Mother of Christ, before Your Immaculate Heart, together with the whole Church we would unite with the Holy Sacrifice of our Redeemer, who sacrificed Himself for the world and humanity. With this act His Divine Heart won for us the grace of reconciliation.

The power of Christ’s sacrifice shall not end before the end of time, it flows upon every person, every nation, it is greater than all evil, it is stronger than all evil, evil that the spirit of darkness has woken in the human heart throughout human history. The Church, the mystical body of Christ, unites herself to the sacrifice of her Redeemer. It is the Church herself that celebrates this Eucharist again and again. The Holy Mass makes present the sacrifice of Christ, and in Holy Communion we are able to partake of the Body and Blood given for us, and in Eucharistic adoration express our worship for God present before us. We profoundly sense how much we need this sacrifice today, so that together with Christ we too may become sacrifices for humanity and the world, and for our nation, one with such a rich spiritual heritage and that has suffered so much. The redeeming work of Christ must be taken forth to the world through the Church. How painful it must be for us all that opposes sanctity and sacrificing love in the Church and in ourselves! How painful must it be that the call to repent, convert and pray has not been heard and is not sufficiently heard amongst us! How much it must pain us that we partake of Christ’s redeeming work with such lukewarm hearts! How little there is in our own flesh that we are ready to fill up with what “are wanting of the sufferings of Christ” (Col 1, 24) Blessed be every soul who obediently follows the call of Eternal Love.

Blessed be those who day to day with untiring sacrifice follow Your motherly words, Oh Mary, and do what Your Son Jesus tell them to do (John 2, 5) They are the living heralds of the Gospel in the Church and the world. They become the enlivening force for all of humanity, for all the good they do, they do with the help of grace, and is from the redeeming sacrifice of Christ. And so, we pray at the Eucharistic Congress the words of the psalm “all my springs are in you” (Psalm 87, 7)

Blessed be You, Handmaiden of the Lord, who in most perfect obedience followed the call of God! Hail to You, who completely united Yourself to the salvific sacrifice of Your Holy Son! Mother of our Church! May Your light lead our Church and nation on the path of faith, hope and charity! Help us to be completely united with the sacrifice of Christ, that we may offer His true sacrifice for our nation and all of humanity in today’s world.

When we consecrated our homeland and nation to your motherly protection in October of 2006, here in Fatima, we prayed for spiritual renewal. We renew this consecration here and now and ask that you intercede for the 2020 International Eucharistic Congress, that it may truly serve our city’s, nation’s, Europe’s and the world’s spiritual renewal. We entrust our prayers to the love of Your motherly Heart.

Oh, Mother of Christ, hear our cries, in which the sufferings of all our nation and every person can be heard! Let the power of Merciful Love be manifest in the history of the world again! End evil! Form consciences! May the light of Hope and trust in the love of God shine for us in Your Immaculate Heart!

Our Lady of Hungary, patroness of our homeland, prayer for our nation! Amen.