THE LITANY OF THE
IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY

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This litany to the Immaculate heart of Mary, printed below, is a wonderful way to pay tribute to our Blessed Mother in prayer! As always it's important to remember that we do not worship Mary but we honor her in our prayers.

And as the immaculately conceived mother of God free from the stain of original sin and wonderfully devoted to her Divine son our Lord Jesus Christ, she is a mediatrix par excellence with Jesus.

Mary’s intercession with Him on behalf of our prayers is quite powerful. And numerous popes have stated that the graces God gives to us come through her. These include Popes Benedict XIV, Leo XIII, Pius XI, and Pius XII.

Thus, we need to keep in mind as well that she is an intercessor with God and by no means an interloper. This fact sadly escapes many good well meaning non-Catholic Christians who think of our devotion to her as somehow something Pagan.

Her last spoken words in scripture can very well be her credo. As she says to the waiters at the wedding feast in Cana in the beginning of John's gospel, Chapter 2, Verse 5, after she pleads with her son to make more wine available when it's run out, so as not to perhaps embarrass the bride and groom, “Do whatever He tells you”, referring to Jesus.

And what is amazing of course in this particular situation is how Jesus then thinks water into wine and not just any wine but good wine, of course! And, as at Cana, the God of heaven and earth Incarnate will not refuse his mother's heartfelt holy entreaties on our behalf.

Remember as well when Jesus was dying on the cross, he said to Mary, referring to Saint John, “Woman, behold your son”, and then to St. John, “Son, behold your mother”. This is taken from St. John's Gospel (19:26-27). By this wondrous gesture Mary became our Spiritual Mother as well.

The litany itself follows. Remember, as with all litanies, this can be prayed in a group setting or for your own private devotion. In a group setting the congregation would say the words printed in italics below, in response to each of these descriptions of our Blessed Mother’s Immaculate Heart which is so closely united to her son's Sacred Heart!

Lord have mercy on us.
Christ have mercy on us.
Lord have mercy on us. Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
God the Father of heaven, have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us
God the Holy Ghost, Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on us
Heart of Mary, pray for us. (Repeat at the end of each phrase)
Heart of Mary, delight of the Heart of God,
Heart of Mary, united to the heart of Jesus,
Heart of Mary, masterpiece of the Holy Spirit,
Heart of Mary, sanctuary of the Blessed Trinity,
Heart of Mary, Tabernacle of God Incarnate,
Heart of Mary, Immaculate from your creation,
Heart of Mary, full of grace,
Heart of Mary, blessed among all hearts,
Heart of Mary, throne of glory,
Heart of Mary, abyss of humility,
Heart of Mary, sacrifice of divine love,
Heart of Mary, fastened to the cross with Jesus Crucified,
Heart of Mary, comfort of the afflicted,
Heart of Mary, refuge of sinners,
Heart of Mary, hope of those in their agony,
Heart of Mary, seat of mercy,
Lamb of God who takest away the sins of the world,
Spare us, O Lord,
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world,
Graciously hear us, O Lord
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world,
Have mercy on us.
Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
V. Immaculate Mary, meek and humble of heart,
R. Make our hearts like to the Heart of Jesus.

Let us pray:
Most merciful God, who, for the salvation of sinners and the refuge of the miserable, have made the Immaculate heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary most like the divine Heart of Your Son in love and mercy, granted by the merits and intercession of the same Blessed Virgin, that we who commemorate this most sweet and loving heart, may live according to the Heart of Jesus. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.

Our Lady of Fatima in 1917 told the three Shepherd children Lucia, Jacinta, and Francisco that she wished for the consecration of Russia to her Immaculate Heart, for that nation’s conversion and for world peace.

She further stated that, if this request was not heeded in a timely manner Russia would spread her errors (in this case Communism) throughout the world “causing wars and persecutions against the Church”, along with various nations being annihilated.

Nonetheless she held out the great hope that “In the end, My Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to Me, and she will be converted, and a period of peace will be granted to the world.”

The Fatima visionary Lucia, when she became Sister Lucia, once asked Jesus why He would not convert Russia except through that Consecration. Our Lord replied:

“Because I want My whole Church to recognize that Consecration as a triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, so that later on My Church will extend the devotion to the Immaculate Heart and place this devotion beside devotion to My Sacred Heart.”

Given the current state of things, with wars and rumors of wars (Matt 24:6) with even World War III perhaps lurking in the not too distant future, one can well speculate that the consecration done by Pope Francis in 2022 was not efficacious enough in the manner in which it was done to stave off the turmoil that might just lie ahead.

On the website fatima.org, we find an explanation as to why that would be the case. The authors write that “The only way to convert Russia is for the Pope and the bishops, in union, at one specific time to Consecrate specifically Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary” This was not done in 2022, nor in this particularly specific manner in previous papal consecrations.

Yet the consecration of Russia will be done this way, sadly, the way things look now, most likely after a period of great upheaval and Divine chastisements considering the state of things in our current times. It will be followed by our Lord’s much desired Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and a period of true world peace.

Now is an especially good time to pray to our Blessed Mother, with prayers such as this litany, for her help and intercession so that we may better navigate the storms up ahead for ourselves, our loved ones, and those people we may not even know.

We can nonetheless have hope and find strength in Mary’s sound prophecy that in the end her Immaculate Heart will Triumph, followed by that much Blessed period of true peace. May as many of us as possible in this life, as well as those deceased enjoying the splendors of heaven, and even those in Purgatory, be able to rejoice in that Triumph! Amen!