Archbishop Bernard Hebda prays in front of the Blessed Sacrament during a Holy Hour and Consecration of Ukraine and Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary March 25 at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul. Next to him is Father Tom Margevicius, director of the archdiocesan Office of Worship.

Archbishop Bernard Hebda prays in front of the Blessed Sacrament during a Holy Hour and Consecration of Ukraine and Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary March 25 at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul. Next to him is Father Tom Margevicius, director of the archdiocesan Office of Worship. DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Archbishop Bernard Hebda and Bishop Joseph Williams joined Pope Francis, brother bishops and the faithful around the world March 25 in prayers for peace and the consecration of Ukraine and Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

“Indeed, there is a need to cry, as we see human life being taken,” Archbishop Hebda said, referring to Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion and continued bombardment of Ukraine, in his homily at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul during an 11 a.m. Holy Hour with eucharistic adoration and Benediction.

“I’m so grateful for Pope Francis” calling the world to prayer, the archbishop said. “Also, to consecrate Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.”

The archbishop noted that the gatherings, held simultaneously with Pope Francis in Rome and bishops across the globe sharing the same prayer of consecration, also was held on the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord, when Mary said “yes” to God’s call to bear his Son.

It was Mary’s “yes” that brought Jesus so close to all people, taking on human flesh, and in turn brings all people closer to one another, the archbishop said.

Special prayers are needed in this time of violence, the archbishop said, “as brothers turn on brothers and sisters turn on sisters. We need that ‘fiat’ that says ‘yes.’”

The Holy Hour included a reading from chapter 17 in the Gospel according to John, with Christ praying “‘Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are.’” It is a reminder that “we are not alone in praying for unity,” the archbishop said. “Indeed, it is Jesus’ prayer that ‘all may be one.’”

Caileen Yost of St. Agnes in St. Paul prays the rosary with the congregation during the Holy Hour.

Caileen Yost of St. Agnes in St. Paul prays the rosary with the congregation during the Holy Hour. DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

The Holy Hour began with somber notes from the organ that flowed into the procession and the opening hymn, “All You Who Seek a Comfort Sure,” and the words “All you who labor come to me, and I will give you rest.”

A reading from Ephesians proclaimed Jesus as “our peace, he who made both one and broke down the dividing wall of enmity,” and a chant of Psalm 102, one of the seven penitential psalms, included the words, “Oh Lord, listen to my prayer, and let my cry for help reach you. Do not hide your face from me in the day of my distress. Turn your ear towards me and answer me quickly when I call.”

The Act of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, prayed by Pope Francis and by bishops worldwide, turned the faithful to the intercession of “Mary, Mother of God and our Mother, in this time of trial.” It addressed the world’s straying from the path of peace, forgetting the wars of the past, and disregarding the commitments made as a community of nations.

“The people of Ukraine and Russia, who venerate you with great love, now turn to you, even as your heart beats with compassion for them and for all those peoples decimated by war, hunger, injustice and poverty,” the prayer read. “Therefore, Mother of God and our Mother, to your Immaculate Heart we solemnly entrust and consecrate ourselves, the Church and all humanity, especially Ukraine and Russia.”

The Holy Hour at the Cathedral included a hymn titled “Prayer for Ukraine,” which was published in 1885, when the Ukrainian language was suppressed by the government of Imperial Russia, and is now the main nominee for the spiritual anthem of Ukraine. It includes the words: “We pray, O Lord, Almighty, help our beloved Ukraine, grant our people and country, all your kindness and grace. Bless us with freedom, bless us with wisdom, bless us with good fortune; bless us, Lord, with your mercy, for bless us both now and forevermore.”

Aksana Muratalieva, 48, attended the Holy Hour wearing a traditional dress and headwear from her native Kyrgyzstan in central Asia, which was formerly part of the Soviet Union. With her was her 12-year-old son, Kamilljan, his friend, and another friend from Ukraine.

She was deeply moved by the Holy Hour and believes that prayer is powerful. It gives her hope, she said.

“It’s so hard to grasp the sacredness of the message,” said Muratalieva, who worships at the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis. “What’s happening in Ukraine is a mass bringing-to-the-knees” of all humankind. “We are one human race and we absolutely must acknowledge that our ways have turned not into God’s ways, because … God does not want us to be in war against each other. God wants us to be in union.”

Barb Peterson, who worships at the Cathedral and nearby St. Agnes, spoke with emotion in her voice about the importance of joining with others to pray for an end to Russia’s attack on Ukraine.

“The pope composed such a beautiful prayer, and to see so many people praying for peace — I can only hope that it (the violence) will end and Our Lady will take care of it,” said Peterson, 52, a special education teacher.

“It’s difficult to watch the innocents be destroyed, and it’s clearly the innocents he’s going after,” she continued, speaking of Russian President Vladimir Putin and news of children injured and killed in the Russian army’s attacks. “It’s very difficult to watch nations stand by and do nothing.”

Elizabeth and Tom Feeney, parishioners of Holy Trinity in South St. Paul, were among the many parents who brought their children to the Holy Hour. With them were their six children, ages ranging from nearly 1 to 12.

They pray the rosary daily and love Our Lady of Fatima, said Elizabeth, 40.

“We’ve been praying and hoping for this consecration to happen,” she said, adding that she saw it as a fulfillment of Mary’s request to the children at Fatima in 1917. “It’s just history unfolding, just God’s divine providence.”

Curtis and Mary Osborne drove 45 minutes from Albertville, where they are parishioners of St. Albert, to the Cathedral with their three young children for the Holy Hour. Hearing the rosary prayed partly in Ukrainian “felt very unifying,” said Mary, 29.

“And being here is always so beautiful — the organs and everyone singing together,” added Curtis, 33, referring to the Cathedral. “It felt good.”

Maria Wiering contributed to this story.

THE HOLY ROSARY

Tatiana Melnik, who was born in Moldova but lived in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv before emigrating to the United States in 2012, helped lead the joyful mysteries of the rosary in Ukrainian at the Holy Hour and Consecration of Ukraine and Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary at the Cathedral of St. Paul.

Her parents, brother and sister and their families remain in Moldova, a sliver of a country that once was a Soviet Republic and is bordered by Ukraine and Romania. She has cousins and uncles living in several different areas of Ukraine.

None of them feel safe, said Melnik, 34, a member with her husband of the Cathedral in St. Paul.

Prayers of the universal Church, joined with Pope Francis, for peace and consecration of the world, particularly Ukraine and Russia, to the Virgin Mary are very important, she said. They help give her and her husband, Taras, whose father lives in Moldova, greater peace at this stressful time, Melnik said after the March 25 Holy Hour with Archbishop Bernard Hebda and Bishop Joseph Williams.

“It was beautiful,” she said. “The prayer time is always beautiful. You feel the strength, the grace that God gives us through the prayer. It really did feel it was not only people in the Cathedral, it was much more.”