Intercessory Prayer

I had another thought about our discussion of Protestants questioning the Catholic practice of praying to saints instead of directly to God.
On May 5th, 1917 Pope Benedict publicly appealed to the Virgin Mary, asking her to help bring peace on earth. Eight days later Our Lady appeared to the children at Fatima and said “I shall come to ask the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart …. If they (the pope and the bishops of the Church) heed my request, Russia will be converted, and there will be peace. If not, she will spread her errors throughout the world … and the Holy Father will have much to suffer for.” She again appeared to Sister Lucia on June 13th, 1929 after Sr. Lucia was in the Dorothean convent. She was holding her Immaculate Heart and told Sr. Lucia “The moment has come in which God asks the Holy Father in union with all the bishops of the world to make the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart.” Sr. Lucia gave the message to her spiritual director, who in turn passed it on to the local bishop who passed it on to Rome. We aren’t sure if Pius XI was made aware of the request but the consecration wasn’t done as Heaven asked. Pius XII consecrated Russia on October 31st, 1942 and it is worth noting the prayer included specific language about the war, “Peace in truth, justice and the charity of Christ. Give them peace of the arms and peace of mind he asks from the Conqueress in God’s battlefield.” The Allies won a significant number of battles on both fronts and the war’s momentum changed in our favor literally overnight. (The Battle of El Alamein in N. Africa stopped the German advance on the Suez Canal, think oil, and General Rommel ordered his retreat on Nov. 4th. Winston Churchill said that before El Alamein “we never won a battle and after it we never lost.” In the Pacific theater we won the Battle of the Solomon Islands a few days after the consecration and in Europe the Russians completed surrounding the German army at Stalingrad on Nov 19th, 1942 after which they started their long offensive from the east.)
The fascinating thing is that the Pope appealed to Mary, not God directly. And she answered by appearing to these children and asked for prayers, intercessions. Clearly God knew what was needed and He could have moved forward, rescued us, etc., but He did not. In fact, He said you “need to pray to Me through Mary’s Immaculate Heart.” It is noteworthy that He didn’t directly reply to the Pope, He sent His mother with a message to 3 peasant kids who were to pass it along up the chain from priest to bishop to Pope. It seems rather clear that He wanted (s) His people to participate in communion when we pray. There must be something about the communion of His Church praying that increases the efficacy of prayer. No doubt God heard all the prayers of His children prior to the Consecration but He had a form and a format that He wanted fulfilled and it started with intercession and includes the communion of His Church.
On May 31st, 1931 at Fatima 300,000 people witnessed the Portuguese bishops consecrate their nation to Mary’s Immaculate Heart. There were a number of immediate tangible blessings which followed not least of which was Portugal remaining neutral in World War II. Sr. Lucia wrote Pope Pius II on Dec. 2nd, 1940 telling him that Portugal was receiving special protection which other nations would enjoy if they were consecrated. It has also been reported that the Bishop of Seville in Spain consecrated his diocese and it did not suffer any violent deaths during the Spanish Civil War.