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THE ROMAN MARTYROLOGY FOR EACH MONTH OF THE YEAR
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MARTYRED SAINTS
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| St. Louis-Marie de Montfort | St. Dominic | St. John Eudes | St. Maximilian Kolbe | St. Bernard | St. Alphonsus Liguori | St. Ephrem |
| St. Catherine Laboure | St. Bernadette | St. Bridget | St. Catherine of Siena | Pope St. Pius X |
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| Saints of the Desert | St. Paul the Hermit | St. Anthony of Egypt | Desert Father Wisdom |
SAINTS FOR SINNERS
| St. Paul of Tarsus | St. Augustine | St. Mary Magdalen | Dismas the Good Thief |
(not all links are activated at this time)
THE ROMAN MARTYROLOGY FOR EACH MONTH OF THE YEAR
| January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November | December | All 365 Days on One Page |
MARTYRED SAINTS
| Your Daily Martyr | The Age of Martyrdom (20th & 21st centuries) | The School of Martyrdom | St. Peter the Apostle | St. Paul of Tarsus | St. James the Great |
| St. Andrew | St. John the Baptist | The North American Martyrs | St. Christina | St. Afra | The Seven Holy Sleepers | The Cristeros of Mexico |
SAINTS OF MARY
| St. Louis-Marie de Montfort | St. Dominic | St. John Eudes | St. Maximilian Kolbe | St. Bernard | St. Alphonsus Liguori | St. Ephrem |
| St. Catherine Laboure | St. Bernadette | St. Bridget | St. Catherine of Siena | Pope St. Pius X |
DESERT SAINTS
| Saints of the Desert | St. Paul the Hermit | St. Anthony of Egypt | Desert Father Wisdom |
SAINTS FOR SINNERS
| St. Paul of Tarsus | St. Augustine | St. Mary Magdalen | Dismas the Good Thief |
THE LIFE OF ST. LOUIS-MARIE DE MONTFORT
Part 1 of 2
Part 1 of 2
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LITANY TO ST. LOUIS-MARIE DE MONTFORT
 St. Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort 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, have mercy on us. Holy Trinity, One God, have mercy on us. Holy Mary, pray for us. Saint Louis-Marie de Montfort, pray for us. Ardent disciple of Jesus Christ the Incarnate Wisdom, pray for us. Eloquent preacher of the Cross, pray for us. Singer of the praises of the Sacred Heart, pray for us. Loving slave of Jesus in Mary, pray for us. Faithful son of the handmaid of the Lord, pray for us. Apostle of the Most Holy Rosary, pray for us. Preacher of the Mother of the Redeemer, pray for us. Servant of the poor and the afflicted, pray for us. Man of solitude and prayer, pray for us. Wonder of mortification, pray for us. Model of priests and missionaries, pray for us. Fervent minister of the Holy Eucharist, pray for us. Fearless champion of truth, pray for us. Restorer of devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, pray for us. Marvel of poverty and abandonment to Divine Providence, pray for us. Teacher of the God’s faithful, pray for us. Founder of Religious congregations, pray for us. Apostle of the end times, pray for us. Obedient collaborator with the Pope and Bishops, pray for us. You see the Face of God: obtain for us perseverance in the faith. You shine within Infinite Charity: obtain for us the gift of pure love. You live in the New Jerusalem: obtain for us the spirit of prayer. You stand before the throne of the Lamb: obtain for us the wisdom of the Cross. You contemplate the Mother of the Lord: obtain for us true devotion to Mary. You dwell with the Apostles of Christ: obtain for us missionary zeal. You share in the communion of Saints: obtain for us love for the Church. You are seated in the Kingdom of Heaven: obtain for us the crown of glory. Let us pray O God, Who by the power of the Holy Ghost, didst make Saint Louis-Marie de Montfort, an ardent apostle of Christ Crucified and a faithful son of the Virgin Mary; grant that through his example and intercession, we may be renewed in the spirit of our Baptism and be always faithful to Our Lord Jesus Christ, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, One God, forever and ever. Amen. |
The Name "Monfort"
The hamlet of Montfort, a Breton village about thirteen miles east of Rennes, is important in any biographical sketch of Louis-Marie Grignion. Yet its significance does not lie in the fact that it was there that he was born on January 31st, 1673. He linked himself by name to this town of Montfort because it was there that he was baptized into Christ Jesus. It is for this same reason that as an itinerant preacher he preferred to drop his surname, Grignion, and be called, simply, Louis-Marie of Montfort, or merely, the Father from Montfort, “le Père de Montfort.” His stress on Baptism, with its practical consequences of total consecration to the Eternal and Incarnate Wisdom, is the root characteristic of his vision of reality. Louis-Marie was born on January 31st, 1673, to John Baptist Grignion and Jeanne Robert, in a small town known as Montfort-sur-Meu, in the Province of Brittany in France. He was baptized on the following day. From 1673 to 1675, he stayed with Mother Andrea, a wet nurse. The second of eighteen children, Louis-Marie was one of the few who survived to adulthood. Among the ten children out 18, who lived beyond the age of ten years, Louis-Marie was the eldest. His stay at the village of Montfort was extremely brief: no more than the first two years of his short life-span of just over forty-three years. On July 16th, 1675 (incidentally, the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel), his father bought a new property known as Bois-Marquer within the parish of Iffendie, not far from Montfort and the whole family came to stay there. This is where Louis-Marie spent his youth at the family’s farmhouse, just a few miles from his birthplace. 
Fiery Father and Pious Mother
His father, a notary, was known for his fiery temper; his mother, for her deep piety. The Grignion family owned some property but was not considered well-off nor part of the upper-class. Louis-Marie was born into a family of deep Catholic Faith, in an area of France renowned for its dynamic Christian life. Three sons including Louis became priests and two daughters became nuns. Mrs. Jeanne taught prayers to Louis-Marie and Mr. John the “three R’s” ― (Reading, ‘Riting, and ‘Rithmetic). Louis-Marie proved to be a good elder brother to his brothers and sisters. He helped his father by coaching his brothers and sisters in their studies. As he was devoted to Blessed Virgin Mary, he often took his beloved sister Guyonne aside to recite the Rosary. At the age of eleven, Louis-Marie set out for Rennes, the capital of Brittany, to enroll in the Jesuit College of Thomas à Becket. The institution enjoyed an excellent reputation and had, therefore, approximately two thousand young men attending its classes. 
During the first year at the Jesuit College at Rennes, he stayed with his maternal uncle, Fr. Alain Robert, at the Church of St. Savior. Louis-Marie’s uncle―a priest of the Church of the Holy Savior in Rennes―became the youth’s close confidant. That church had an ancient statue of Our Lady of Miracles and Louis often prayed before it.
In 1685, after Louis’ first two years at the College in 1685, because his brothers also needed higher education, the Grignion family moved to the city of Rennes and Louis started staying with his parents. His family returned to the countryside home at Iffendie during the summers. The young student from the insignificant town of Montfort was considered by his teachers to be intelligent, studious, deeply religious, artistic in nature and somewhat shy. He was good at studies and he stood first in his class. From his childhood, he was indefatigably devoted to prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, and when, from his twelfth year, he was sent as a day pupil to the Jesuit College at Rennes, he never failed to visit the church before and after class. His Jesuit professors and spiritual directors became his life-long friends. Their residences throughout Western France would always be his refuge in difficult times―a place where he could find support, rest and spiritual renewal. It was here that Montfort formed lasting friendships, particularly with two fellow-students: Claude Poullart des Places, the first founder of the Holy Ghost Fathers, and especially with John Baptist Blain who also became the intimate friend of Saint John Baptist de la Salle, the founder of the Christian Brothers. One day seeing one poor student being made fun of by other students because of his torn clothes, Louis took a collection from the students themselves and got new clothes stitched for him. Louis had a strong physique and an artistic bent of mind. He showed a certain talent for sculpture and painting. His love for Mary made him join the sodality or society of young men, who, during holidays, ministered to the poor and to the incurables in the hospitals, and read for them edifying books during their meals. It was under the guidance of the Jesuits that Louis’ priestly vocation matured. The decision to enter the priesthood was made, so he tells us, at the shrine of Our Lady in the Carmelite Church in Rennes. Thanks especially to his Jesuit directors and those in charge of the Sodality of Our Lady at the College, Montfort’s solid devotion to the Mother of the Lord was already an integral part of his spiritual life. God Calls Sometime between the ages of 16 and 18, he had a deep experience of God and he felt being called to priesthood. After completing philosophy and at the beginning of the academic year in 1692, Louis started to learn theology. A certain Mademoiselle (Miss) Montigny, from Sainte-Sulpice parish in Paris, came to stay with the Grignions in order to get legal help from Mr. John Baptist Grignion, Louis’ father. She, on her return to Paris, got help from a rich lady and offered to get Louis admitted into Sainte-Sulpice Seminary. Louis preferred to walk the whole distance of 230 miles from Rennes to Paris. His father gave him some money and his mother a new set of clothes. On the day of departure Louis bade farewell to his parents and dear ones. His uncle Fr. Alain Robert, his brother Joseph, and perhaps his friend Blain, accompanied him as far as Cesson Bridge, some 2 miles from Rennes. On crossing the bridge, Louis knelt down and made the vow never to possess anything in his life. He gave away the money he had been given to a beggar he met, and then he exchanged his new clothes with the old ones of another beggar. Having given up all, he trusted God. Louis reached Paris absolutely worn out and met Mademoiselle (Miss) Montigny. Her friend was not able to pay the high fees in the Great Seminary of Sainte-Sulpice, and so she got Louis admitted into Fr. Barmondiere’s Community, a hostel meant for poor seminarians. As for his studies, he followed the theology course at the famous Sorbonne University. During the winter of 1693-94, Louis’ benefactress was not able to pay the fees. His director allowed Louis to ask for alms and get some money by keeping watch over dead bodies. Fr. Barmondiere died in September 1694 and his community was closed down. The students were divided into two groups: the richer ones joined the Little Seminary of Sainte-Sulpice and the poorer ones including Louis joined Fr. Boucher’s Community. The conditions there were very poor. As the winter of 1694 began, Louis got very ill. He was admitted into the General Hospital. He was on the point of death. Miraculously he regained health and a new benefactor, Mrs. Alegre, came forward to meet the major part of the fees in order to get him admitted into the Little Seminary of Sainte-Sulpice. The rest of the fees Louis got from a chaplaincy in Nantes and thus Louis was admitted into the Little Seminary of Sainte-Sulpice. |
Off to the Seminary in Paris
When he discerned he had a vocation, at the age of nineteen, he walked the 200 miles from Rennes to Paris, in order to study for the priesthood and follow the course in theology at the seminary of Sainte-Sulpice in Paris. His father gave him some money and his mother a new set of clothes.
On the day of departure Louis bade goodbye to his parents and dear ones. His uncle Fr. Alain Robert, his brother Joseph and, perhaps his friend, Blain, accompanied him as far as Cesson Bridge, about 2 miles from Rennes.
On crossing the bridge, Louis knelt down and made the vow never to possess anything in his life. He gave away the money he had to the beggar and then he exchanged his new clothes with the old ones of another beggar. Having given up all, he trusted God and made a vow to subsist thenceforth only on alms.
Louis reached Paris absolutely worn-out and met his benefactress, Mademoiselle Montigny. Her friend was not able to pay the high fees in the Great Seminary of Sainte-Sulpice and so she got Louis admitted into Fr. Barmondiere’s Community, a hostel meant for poor seminarians. As for his studies, he followed the theology course at the famous Sorbonne University.
During the winter of 1693-94, Louis’ benefactress was not able to pay the fees. His director allowed Louis to ask for alms and get some money by keeping watch over dead bodies.
Fr. Barmondiere died in September 1694 and his community was closed down. The students were divided into two groups: the richer ones joined the Little Seminary of Sainte-Sulpice and the poorer ones, including Louis, joined Fr. Boucher’s Community. The conditions there were very poor.
As the winter of 1694 began, Louis became very ill. He was admitted into the General Hospital. He was on the point of death. Miraculously, he regained health and a certain Mrs. Alegre came forward to take care of the major part of the fees in order to get him admitted into the Little Seminary of Sainte-Sulpice. The rest of the fees Louis got from a chaplaincy in Nantes and thus Louis was admitted into the Little Seminary of Sainte-Sulpice.
At the Seminary of St. Sulpice in Paris
The differences between the Great Seminary and the Little Seminary were only in fees and meals. Louis gave up his studies at the Sorbonne. He was not interested in further qualifications. Louis was not a seminarian like the rest and he was considered singular. He gave much time to prayer, penance, solitude, etc. His spiritual guides were not sure whether he was genuine or not, and, hence, they wanted to test him. Louis chose Fr. Leschassier, the Superior of the Great Seminary as his spiritual director. He restricted Louis in his practice of prayer and penance, but Louis always obeyed him. Later, Fr. Leschassier the Superior of the Great Seminary, asked another priest, Fr. Brenier, to be the spiritual director for Louis. Fr. Brenier tested Louis by humiliating him publicly before his companions and by curtailing all his initiatives. After six months he sent him back to Fr. Leschassier.
To distract Louis from his ‘over recollectedness’, his superiors appointed him Librarian of the Seminary of the Seminary. He made use of this appointment to read a large number of books especially those on Mary, the Bible and Spirituality. He did well as the Librarian.
In addition, he was appointed Master of Ceremonies and there too he did wonderfully well. His other duty was to teach catechism to children. By using simple stories, he successfully performed his duty and became an expert catechist. He wanted to be a preacher especially for the poor. While in the seminary he started preparing sermon notes. He also composed a large number of hymns.
It was here, in Paris, that he was introduced to the writings of Father Boudon on “Slavery to the Blessed Virgin.” This beautiful devotion consumed him throughout the future years and inspired him to later write his most famous treatise–”True Devotion to Mary.”
Even as a seminarian in Paris, Montfort was known for the veneration he had toward the angels: he “urged his confreres to show marks of respect and tenderness to their guardian angels.” He often ended his letters with a salutation to the guardian angel of the person to whom he was writing: “I salute your guardian angel!” He also saluted all the angels in the city of Nantes, a custom that, it appears, he repeated when he entered a new village or city.
One of the reasons why Saint Louis Marie de Montfort had such devotion to the angels is that veneration of the pure spirits was an integral part of his training and also of his culture. His college teachers, the Jesuits, were known for their zeal in propagating devotion to the angels. Montfort’s seminary training under the Sulpicians brought him into contact with the thought of Cardinal de Bérulle and Olier, both of whom had deep veneration for the angels. Furthermore, in the course of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, manuals of piety and treatises on the pure spirits were numerous.
When he discerned he had a vocation, at the age of nineteen, he walked the 200 miles from Rennes to Paris, in order to study for the priesthood and follow the course in theology at the seminary of Sainte-Sulpice in Paris. His father gave him some money and his mother a new set of clothes.
On the day of departure Louis bade goodbye to his parents and dear ones. His uncle Fr. Alain Robert, his brother Joseph and, perhaps his friend, Blain, accompanied him as far as Cesson Bridge, about 2 miles from Rennes.
On crossing the bridge, Louis knelt down and made the vow never to possess anything in his life. He gave away the money he had to the beggar and then he exchanged his new clothes with the old ones of another beggar. Having given up all, he trusted God and made a vow to subsist thenceforth only on alms.
Louis reached Paris absolutely worn-out and met his benefactress, Mademoiselle Montigny. Her friend was not able to pay the high fees in the Great Seminary of Sainte-Sulpice and so she got Louis admitted into Fr. Barmondiere’s Community, a hostel meant for poor seminarians. As for his studies, he followed the theology course at the famous Sorbonne University.
During the winter of 1693-94, Louis’ benefactress was not able to pay the fees. His director allowed Louis to ask for alms and get some money by keeping watch over dead bodies.
Fr. Barmondiere died in September 1694 and his community was closed down. The students were divided into two groups: the richer ones joined the Little Seminary of Sainte-Sulpice and the poorer ones, including Louis, joined Fr. Boucher’s Community. The conditions there were very poor.
As the winter of 1694 began, Louis became very ill. He was admitted into the General Hospital. He was on the point of death. Miraculously, he regained health and a certain Mrs. Alegre came forward to take care of the major part of the fees in order to get him admitted into the Little Seminary of Sainte-Sulpice. The rest of the fees Louis got from a chaplaincy in Nantes and thus Louis was admitted into the Little Seminary of Sainte-Sulpice.
At the Seminary of St. Sulpice in Paris
The differences between the Great Seminary and the Little Seminary were only in fees and meals. Louis gave up his studies at the Sorbonne. He was not interested in further qualifications. Louis was not a seminarian like the rest and he was considered singular. He gave much time to prayer, penance, solitude, etc. His spiritual guides were not sure whether he was genuine or not, and, hence, they wanted to test him. Louis chose Fr. Leschassier, the Superior of the Great Seminary as his spiritual director. He restricted Louis in his practice of prayer and penance, but Louis always obeyed him. Later, Fr. Leschassier the Superior of the Great Seminary, asked another priest, Fr. Brenier, to be the spiritual director for Louis. Fr. Brenier tested Louis by humiliating him publicly before his companions and by curtailing all his initiatives. After six months he sent him back to Fr. Leschassier.
To distract Louis from his ‘over recollectedness’, his superiors appointed him Librarian of the Seminary of the Seminary. He made use of this appointment to read a large number of books especially those on Mary, the Bible and Spirituality. He did well as the Librarian.
In addition, he was appointed Master of Ceremonies and there too he did wonderfully well. His other duty was to teach catechism to children. By using simple stories, he successfully performed his duty and became an expert catechist. He wanted to be a preacher especially for the poor. While in the seminary he started preparing sermon notes. He also composed a large number of hymns.
It was here, in Paris, that he was introduced to the writings of Father Boudon on “Slavery to the Blessed Virgin.” This beautiful devotion consumed him throughout the future years and inspired him to later write his most famous treatise–”True Devotion to Mary.”
Even as a seminarian in Paris, Montfort was known for the veneration he had toward the angels: he “urged his confreres to show marks of respect and tenderness to their guardian angels.” He often ended his letters with a salutation to the guardian angel of the person to whom he was writing: “I salute your guardian angel!” He also saluted all the angels in the city of Nantes, a custom that, it appears, he repeated when he entered a new village or city.
One of the reasons why Saint Louis Marie de Montfort had such devotion to the angels is that veneration of the pure spirits was an integral part of his training and also of his culture. His college teachers, the Jesuits, were known for their zeal in propagating devotion to the angels. Montfort’s seminary training under the Sulpicians brought him into contact with the thought of Cardinal de Bérulle and Olier, both of whom had deep veneration for the angels. Furthermore, in the course of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, manuals of piety and treatises on the pure spirits were numerous.
THE LIFE OF ST. LOUIS-MARIE DE MONTFORT
Part 2 of 2
Part 2 of 2
PILGRIMAGE TO CHARTRES
During the summer of 1699, Louis and another seminarian went on a pilgrimage to Our Lady of Chartres. On arriving in Chartres he spent much time before the picture of the Blessed Virgin. On June 5th, 1700, at the age of 27, he was ordained a priest and he celebrated the first Mass on the altar of Our Lady in the Sainte-Sulpice church.
After his ordination to the priesthood, full of zeal, Louis-Marie at first wanted to be a missionary in Canada, or some far off country, but he was advised to remain in France. During the spring of 1703, Louis-Marie had to face many problems in the Poorhouse and he left for Paris. There he joined the General Hospital of Salpetriere as a volunteer priest to help some 5000 poor people. His methods were not liked by other priests and he was force to leave. His friends in Sainte-Sulpice parish did not welcome him and, finally, he found shelter under the staircase of a dilapidated building, on the Pot-de-Fer Street, near the Jesuit novitiate.
He spent the greater part of his days and nights in prayer. He longed day and night to be united to divine Wisdom. His main book of study was the Bible, especially the Books of Wisdom of the Old Testament. He spent much time in contemplation. He was invited by his friend, Fr. Claude Poullart des Places, to give conferences in the Holy Spirit Seminary. He collected together the themes developed in the conferences and wrote his first book, “The Love of Eternal Wisdom”.
AUDIENCE WITH THE POPE
When he was thirty-two, he found his true vocation. Louis-Marie undertook the journey to Rome from Poitier on foot―which is around 700 miles one way, or 1,400 miles round trip. He had an audience with Pope Clement XI on June 6th, 1706. The pope told him to preach in France itself and conferred on him the title “Apostolic Missionary”.
Louis-Marie returned to Poitiers and the Bishop asked him to leave the diocese within 24 hours. He, along with Brother Mathurin, went on a pilgrimage to Our Lady of Ardilliers, in Saumur, and to Mount St. Michael.
While staying with the missionaries in Dinan one evening Louis-Marie found a leper. He took him on his shoulders and went to the Missionaries’ House. He knocked at the door and cried out: “Open to Jesus Christ!” He took the poor man in and made him take rest on his bed.
Louis-Marie would now embark upon over seventeen years of preaching the Gospel in countless towns and villages. As an orator he was highly gifted, his language being simple, but full of fire and divine love. His whole life was conspicuous for virtues that were too difficult for modern degenerate folk to understand―a life of constant prayer; a love of the poor; a personal poverty carried to an unheard-of degree; joy in humiliations and persecutions.
LOUIS IN THE DIOCESE OF NANTES
Louis-Marie started organizing missions by himself assisted by others. He was capable of speaking effectively the language of the ordinary people. He made use of visual aids like statues, paintings and banners. He organized processions well. He used his own hymns. Towards the end of the end of the mission, there was a solemn renewal of baptismal vows and the consecration of oneself to Jesus through Mary. Usually he built and blessed a Calvary at the end of the missions. In 1709, Louis-Marie preached a mission at Campbon. During the mission, he re-floored the church after removing the tombstones and he also removed the crest from the property of the Duke―who was not at all happy and waited for an opportunity to take revenge.
THE CALVARY OF PONTCHATEAU
In May, 1709, Louis-Marie preached a mission in Pontchateau. After consulting the local priests, he announced to the parishioners his desire to build a big Calvary there. He got the needed permission from the local Duke and prepared a nice plan. People of the neighboring parishes came and rendered free labor. Louis-Marie went around villages begging for food and fed them.
THE TRAGEDY OF PONTCHATEEAU
The Steward of Pontchateau was not happy with Louis-Marie and complained to the King that the Calvary could be used by enemies during wars as a hiding place by enemies. There was an enquiry and the King passed the order for the destruction of the Calvary. The solemn blessing was fixed for 14th September, 1710―which, incidentally, is the feast of the exaltation of the Holy Cross. The previous evening a priest from Nantes came and handed over to Louis-Marie a message, from the Bishop, forbidding him from blessing the Calvary. Louis-Marie was sad and he walked to Nantes and met the Bishop in vain. He came back to Pontchateau conveyed the sad news, consoled the people and resigned himself to this great tragedy. Later the Bishop forbade him from preaching in the diocese of Nantes. Mrs. Oliver offered Louis-Marie a small house in Cour Cathuit, Nantes. Louis-Marie stayed there from October to the spring of 1711 and, in it, started a hospital for the Incurables.
He left Nantes and the next several years were extraordinarily busy for him. He was constantly occupied in preaching missions, always traveling on foot between one and another. Yet he found time also to write ― his True Devotion to Mary, the Secret of Mary and the Secret of the Rosary, as well as Rules for the Company of Mary and the Daughters of Wisdom, and many Hymns. Just before writing True Devotion, he became a Dominican tertiary. His missions made a great impact, especially in the Vendée.
The heated style of his preaching was regarded by some people as somewhat strange and he was poisoned once. Although it did not prove fatal, it caused his health to deteriorate. Yet he continued, undeterred. He went on preaching and established free schools for the poor boys and girls.
DAUGHTERS OF WISDOM
The bishop of La Rochelle had been impressed with Montfort for some time and invited him to open a school there. Montfort enlisted the help of his follower Marie Louise Trichet who was then running the General Hospital in Poitiers. In 1715 Marie Louise and Catherine Brunet left Poitiers for La Rochelle to open the school there and in a short time it had 400 students.
On August 22nd, 1715, Blessed Marie Louise Trichet and Catherine Brunet, along with Marie Valleau and Marie Régnier from La Rochelle received the approbation of Bishop de Champflour of La Rochelle to perform their religious profession under the direction of Montfort. At the ceremony Montfort told them: “Call yourselves the Daughters of Wisdom, for the teaching of children and the care of the poor.” The Daughters of Wisdom grew into an international organization and the placing of Montfort’s founders’ statue in Saint Peter’s Basilica, was based on that organization.
DEATH AND BURIAL
Worn out by hard work and sickness, he finally came, in April 1716, to Saint-Laurent-sur-Sèvre, to begin the mission which was to be his last. During it, he fell ill and died on April 28th of that year. He was 43 years old, and had been a priest for only 16 years. His last sermon was on the tenderness of Jesus and the Incarnate Wisdom of the Father. Thousands gathered for his burial in the parish church, and very quickly there were stories of miracles performed at his tomb.
Exactly 43 years later, on April 28th, 1759, Marie Louise Trichet also died in Saint-Laurent-sur-Sèvre and was buried next to Montfort.
A YOUNG PRIEST WHO INFLUENCED THE POPES
In June 1700, when a young Louis de Montfort was ordained a priest, he was but another young and idealistic man who wanted to be the champion of the poor, having been inspired as a teenager to preach to the poor. But he also had a very strong devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and was prepared to risk his life for it. Centuries later, he influenced four popes (Pope Leo XIII, Pope Pius X, Pope Pius XII and Pope John Paul II), and is now being considered as a Doctor of the Church.
Pope Leo XIII and Pope Pius X both relied on de Montfort in their writings and promulgated his Marian vision. It has been said, that the Marian encyclical of Pius X, Ad Diem Illum, was not only influenced but penetrated by the Mariology of Montfort, and that both Leo XIII and Pius X applied the Marian analysis of Montfort to their analysis of the Church as a whole.
Pope Leo XIII
Pope Leo XIII was concerned about secular attempts to destroy the faith in Christ, and, if possible, to ban him from the face of the earth. In his analysis, the destruction of the ethical order would lead to disaster and war, so Leo XIII dedicated the human race to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. But in his analysis (based on Montfort’s writings) any re-Christianization was not possible without the Blessed Virgin Mary, so in ten encyclicals on the Rosary he promulgated Marian devotion. In his encyclical on the fiftieth anniversary of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, he stressed her role in the redemption of humanity, mentioning Mary as Mediatrix and Co-Redemptrix, in the spirit and words of Louis de Montfort.
Pope Leo XIII then beatified him in 1888, and, as a special honor selected for Montfort’s beatification the very day of his own Golden Jubilee as a priest.
Pope Pius X
The key Marian encyclical, Ad Diem Illum, was issued in 1904 in commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. It gave Pius X the opportunity to urge his intensified Marian devotion in his second encyclical, and relied heavily on the views expressed in Montfort’s book True Devotion to Mary.
In fact the language of both writings is strikingly similar, which is not surprising, since Saint Pius highly esteemed True Devotion and granted an Apostolic Blessing to all who read it. Echoing Montfort, Pius X wrote: “There is no surer or easier way than Mary in uniting all men with Christ.”
Pope Pius XII
Pope Pius XII was often called the most Marian pope. He was impressed by Montfort’s work God Alone and when he canonized Montfort on July 20th, 1947, he said: “God Alone was everything to him. Remain faithful to the precious heritage, which this great saint left you. It is a glorious inheritance, worthy, that you continue to sacrifice your strength and your life, as you have done until today”.
Pope John Paul II
Even the Liberal and Modernist popes felt the influence of St. Louis de Montfort. Pope John Paul II once recalled how as a young seminarian he “read and reread many times and with great spiritual profit” a work of de Montfort and that: “Then I understood that I could not exclude the Lord’s Mother from my life without neglecting the will of God.”
According to his Apostolic Letter, Rosarium Virginis Mariae, the pontiff’s personal motto “Totus Tuus” was inspired by St. Louis’ doctrine on the excellence of Marian devotion and total consecration, which he quoted:
“Our entire perfection consists in being conformed, united and consecrated to Jesus Christ. Hence the most perfect of all devotions is undoubtedly that which conforms, unites and consecrates us most perfectly to Jesus Christ. Now, since Mary is of all creatures the one most conformed to Jesus Christ, it follows that among all devotions that which most consecrates and conforms a soul to our Lord is devotion to Mary, his Holy Mother, and that the more a soul is consecrated to her the more will it be consecrated to Jesus Christ.”
The thoughts, writings, and example of St. Louis de Montfort, an example of the French school of spirituality, were also singled out by Pope John Paul II’s encyclical, Redemptoris Mater, as a distinctive witness of Marian spirituality in the Catholic tradition. In an address to the Montfortian Fathers, the pontiff also said that his reading the saint’s work True Devotion to Mary was a “decisive turning point” in his life.
PRIEST AND POET
While the saint is best known for his spiritual writings, he was also a poet and during his missions managed to compose more than 20,000 verses of hymns.
Saint Louis’s life coincided with some of the great highlights of French literature and Molière, Pierre Corneille and Jean Racine dominated the literature of his day. Yet Montfort believed that his battle-cry, “God Alone!” did not allow him to encourage his people to prefer classical works over sacred hymns. Montfort’s hymns and canticles were, for the most part, meant to be sung in village churches and in the homes of the poor. They were aimed at the masses and had a missionary motive above all. Some authors argue that a reading of Saint Louis’s hymns is essential for an understanding of him as a man and for appreciating his approach to spirituality.
Montfort was a missionary at heart and many of his hymns were addressed to the people whom he was evangelizing. He went from one parish to another with his ever-growing collection of hymns to be sung during the parish mission. But he also wrote hymns to express his own personal feelings, e.g. his numerous hymns in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Based on the analysis of Bishop Hendrik Frehen of the Company of Mary, Montfortian hymns fall into two major categories: “inspired” and “didactic.” The inspired canticles flow spontaneously, on the occasion of a pilgrimage to a Marian shrine, or on the occasion of a joyful celebration. The didactic hymns took more effort and time to compose, and focus on instructional and informative qualities: they teach the audience through the use of a moral and a theme.
After the Saint Louis’s death, the Company of Mary (which continued his work of preaching parish renewals) made great use of his hymns and used them as instruments of evangelization.
LEGACY AND IMPACT ON THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
Louis de Montfort was a priest and a preacher for only 16 years, often having risked everything along the way. Some years before his death, he wrote to the Blessed Marie Louise Trichet, the first Daughter of Wisdom: “If we do not risk anything for God we will never do anything great for Him.”
But it is worth noting that based on his autobiography, his sixteen years of priesthood include many months of solitude, perhaps as many as a total of four years: at the cave of Mervent, amidst the beauty of the forest, at the hermitage of Saint Lazarus near the village of Montfort, and at the hermitage of Saint Eloi in La Rochelle. On his return from his long pilgrimage to Rome, Montfort made a retreat at Mont Saint Michel “to pray to this Archangel to obtain from him the grace to win souls for God, to confirm those already in God’s grace, and to fight Satan and sin.” These occasions gave him time to think, contemplate and write.
RELIGIOUS CONGREGATIONS OF ST. LOUIS DE MONTFORT
The saint’s birthplace and tomb are now sites of “Montfortian pilgrimages” with about 25,000 visitors each year. The house in which he was born is at No. 15, Rue de la Saulnerie in Montfort-sur-Meu. It is now jointly owned by the three Montfortian congregations he formed: the Montfort Missionaries, the Daughters of Wisdom and the Brothers of St Gabriel. The Basilica of Saint Louis de Montfort, at Saint-Laurent-sur-Sèvre, is an impressive structure that attracts a good number of pilgrims each year.
The congregations de Montfort left behind, the Company of Mary, the Daughters of Wisdom, and the Brothers of Saint Gabriel (whose congregation developed from the group of lay-brothers gathered round him), grew and spread, first in France, then throughout the world.
GOD ALONE: MONTFORTIAN SPIRITUALITY
“God Alone” was the motto of Saint Louis and is repeated over 150 times in his writings. God Alone is also the title of his collected writings. Briefly speaking, based on his writings, Montfortian spirituality can be summed up via the formula: “To God Alone, by Christ Wisdom, in the Spirit, in communion with Mary, for the reign of God.”
Although St Louis is perhaps best known for his Mariology and devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, his spirituality is founded on the mystery of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, and is centered on Christ.
MONTFORTIAN MARIOLOGY
Grignion de Montfort’s approach of “total consecration to Jesus Christ through Mary” had a strong impact on Roman Catholic Mariology both in popular piety and in the spirituality of religious institutes. As one of the classical writers of Christian spirituality, Saint Louis de Montfort is a candidate to become a Doctor of the Church. His book True Devotion to Mary has been considered one of the most influential Marian books.
St. Louis was a strong believer in the power of the Rosary and his popular book The Secret of the Rosary provides specific methods for praying the Rosary with more devotion. It has been read by Catholics worldwide for over two centuries and is one of the earliest works to establish modern Mariology.
During the summer of 1699, Louis and another seminarian went on a pilgrimage to Our Lady of Chartres. On arriving in Chartres he spent much time before the picture of the Blessed Virgin. On June 5th, 1700, at the age of 27, he was ordained a priest and he celebrated the first Mass on the altar of Our Lady in the Sainte-Sulpice church.
After his ordination to the priesthood, full of zeal, Louis-Marie at first wanted to be a missionary in Canada, or some far off country, but he was advised to remain in France. During the spring of 1703, Louis-Marie had to face many problems in the Poorhouse and he left for Paris. There he joined the General Hospital of Salpetriere as a volunteer priest to help some 5000 poor people. His methods were not liked by other priests and he was force to leave. His friends in Sainte-Sulpice parish did not welcome him and, finally, he found shelter under the staircase of a dilapidated building, on the Pot-de-Fer Street, near the Jesuit novitiate.
He spent the greater part of his days and nights in prayer. He longed day and night to be united to divine Wisdom. His main book of study was the Bible, especially the Books of Wisdom of the Old Testament. He spent much time in contemplation. He was invited by his friend, Fr. Claude Poullart des Places, to give conferences in the Holy Spirit Seminary. He collected together the themes developed in the conferences and wrote his first book, “The Love of Eternal Wisdom”.
AUDIENCE WITH THE POPE
When he was thirty-two, he found his true vocation. Louis-Marie undertook the journey to Rome from Poitier on foot―which is around 700 miles one way, or 1,400 miles round trip. He had an audience with Pope Clement XI on June 6th, 1706. The pope told him to preach in France itself and conferred on him the title “Apostolic Missionary”.
Louis-Marie returned to Poitiers and the Bishop asked him to leave the diocese within 24 hours. He, along with Brother Mathurin, went on a pilgrimage to Our Lady of Ardilliers, in Saumur, and to Mount St. Michael.
While staying with the missionaries in Dinan one evening Louis-Marie found a leper. He took him on his shoulders and went to the Missionaries’ House. He knocked at the door and cried out: “Open to Jesus Christ!” He took the poor man in and made him take rest on his bed.
Louis-Marie would now embark upon over seventeen years of preaching the Gospel in countless towns and villages. As an orator he was highly gifted, his language being simple, but full of fire and divine love. His whole life was conspicuous for virtues that were too difficult for modern degenerate folk to understand―a life of constant prayer; a love of the poor; a personal poverty carried to an unheard-of degree; joy in humiliations and persecutions.
LOUIS IN THE DIOCESE OF NANTES
Louis-Marie started organizing missions by himself assisted by others. He was capable of speaking effectively the language of the ordinary people. He made use of visual aids like statues, paintings and banners. He organized processions well. He used his own hymns. Towards the end of the end of the mission, there was a solemn renewal of baptismal vows and the consecration of oneself to Jesus through Mary. Usually he built and blessed a Calvary at the end of the missions. In 1709, Louis-Marie preached a mission at Campbon. During the mission, he re-floored the church after removing the tombstones and he also removed the crest from the property of the Duke―who was not at all happy and waited for an opportunity to take revenge.
THE CALVARY OF PONTCHATEAU
In May, 1709, Louis-Marie preached a mission in Pontchateau. After consulting the local priests, he announced to the parishioners his desire to build a big Calvary there. He got the needed permission from the local Duke and prepared a nice plan. People of the neighboring parishes came and rendered free labor. Louis-Marie went around villages begging for food and fed them.
THE TRAGEDY OF PONTCHATEEAU
The Steward of Pontchateau was not happy with Louis-Marie and complained to the King that the Calvary could be used by enemies during wars as a hiding place by enemies. There was an enquiry and the King passed the order for the destruction of the Calvary. The solemn blessing was fixed for 14th September, 1710―which, incidentally, is the feast of the exaltation of the Holy Cross. The previous evening a priest from Nantes came and handed over to Louis-Marie a message, from the Bishop, forbidding him from blessing the Calvary. Louis-Marie was sad and he walked to Nantes and met the Bishop in vain. He came back to Pontchateau conveyed the sad news, consoled the people and resigned himself to this great tragedy. Later the Bishop forbade him from preaching in the diocese of Nantes. Mrs. Oliver offered Louis-Marie a small house in Cour Cathuit, Nantes. Louis-Marie stayed there from October to the spring of 1711 and, in it, started a hospital for the Incurables.
He left Nantes and the next several years were extraordinarily busy for him. He was constantly occupied in preaching missions, always traveling on foot between one and another. Yet he found time also to write ― his True Devotion to Mary, the Secret of Mary and the Secret of the Rosary, as well as Rules for the Company of Mary and the Daughters of Wisdom, and many Hymns. Just before writing True Devotion, he became a Dominican tertiary. His missions made a great impact, especially in the Vendée.
The heated style of his preaching was regarded by some people as somewhat strange and he was poisoned once. Although it did not prove fatal, it caused his health to deteriorate. Yet he continued, undeterred. He went on preaching and established free schools for the poor boys and girls.
DAUGHTERS OF WISDOM
The bishop of La Rochelle had been impressed with Montfort for some time and invited him to open a school there. Montfort enlisted the help of his follower Marie Louise Trichet who was then running the General Hospital in Poitiers. In 1715 Marie Louise and Catherine Brunet left Poitiers for La Rochelle to open the school there and in a short time it had 400 students.
On August 22nd, 1715, Blessed Marie Louise Trichet and Catherine Brunet, along with Marie Valleau and Marie Régnier from La Rochelle received the approbation of Bishop de Champflour of La Rochelle to perform their religious profession under the direction of Montfort. At the ceremony Montfort told them: “Call yourselves the Daughters of Wisdom, for the teaching of children and the care of the poor.” The Daughters of Wisdom grew into an international organization and the placing of Montfort’s founders’ statue in Saint Peter’s Basilica, was based on that organization.
DEATH AND BURIAL
Worn out by hard work and sickness, he finally came, in April 1716, to Saint-Laurent-sur-Sèvre, to begin the mission which was to be his last. During it, he fell ill and died on April 28th of that year. He was 43 years old, and had been a priest for only 16 years. His last sermon was on the tenderness of Jesus and the Incarnate Wisdom of the Father. Thousands gathered for his burial in the parish church, and very quickly there were stories of miracles performed at his tomb.
Exactly 43 years later, on April 28th, 1759, Marie Louise Trichet also died in Saint-Laurent-sur-Sèvre and was buried next to Montfort.
A YOUNG PRIEST WHO INFLUENCED THE POPES
In June 1700, when a young Louis de Montfort was ordained a priest, he was but another young and idealistic man who wanted to be the champion of the poor, having been inspired as a teenager to preach to the poor. But he also had a very strong devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and was prepared to risk his life for it. Centuries later, he influenced four popes (Pope Leo XIII, Pope Pius X, Pope Pius XII and Pope John Paul II), and is now being considered as a Doctor of the Church.
Pope Leo XIII and Pope Pius X both relied on de Montfort in their writings and promulgated his Marian vision. It has been said, that the Marian encyclical of Pius X, Ad Diem Illum, was not only influenced but penetrated by the Mariology of Montfort, and that both Leo XIII and Pius X applied the Marian analysis of Montfort to their analysis of the Church as a whole.
Pope Leo XIII
Pope Leo XIII was concerned about secular attempts to destroy the faith in Christ, and, if possible, to ban him from the face of the earth. In his analysis, the destruction of the ethical order would lead to disaster and war, so Leo XIII dedicated the human race to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. But in his analysis (based on Montfort’s writings) any re-Christianization was not possible without the Blessed Virgin Mary, so in ten encyclicals on the Rosary he promulgated Marian devotion. In his encyclical on the fiftieth anniversary of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, he stressed her role in the redemption of humanity, mentioning Mary as Mediatrix and Co-Redemptrix, in the spirit and words of Louis de Montfort.
Pope Leo XIII then beatified him in 1888, and, as a special honor selected for Montfort’s beatification the very day of his own Golden Jubilee as a priest.
Pope Pius X
The key Marian encyclical, Ad Diem Illum, was issued in 1904 in commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. It gave Pius X the opportunity to urge his intensified Marian devotion in his second encyclical, and relied heavily on the views expressed in Montfort’s book True Devotion to Mary.
In fact the language of both writings is strikingly similar, which is not surprising, since Saint Pius highly esteemed True Devotion and granted an Apostolic Blessing to all who read it. Echoing Montfort, Pius X wrote: “There is no surer or easier way than Mary in uniting all men with Christ.”
Pope Pius XII
Pope Pius XII was often called the most Marian pope. He was impressed by Montfort’s work God Alone and when he canonized Montfort on July 20th, 1947, he said: “God Alone was everything to him. Remain faithful to the precious heritage, which this great saint left you. It is a glorious inheritance, worthy, that you continue to sacrifice your strength and your life, as you have done until today”.
Pope John Paul II
Even the Liberal and Modernist popes felt the influence of St. Louis de Montfort. Pope John Paul II once recalled how as a young seminarian he “read and reread many times and with great spiritual profit” a work of de Montfort and that: “Then I understood that I could not exclude the Lord’s Mother from my life without neglecting the will of God.”
According to his Apostolic Letter, Rosarium Virginis Mariae, the pontiff’s personal motto “Totus Tuus” was inspired by St. Louis’ doctrine on the excellence of Marian devotion and total consecration, which he quoted:
“Our entire perfection consists in being conformed, united and consecrated to Jesus Christ. Hence the most perfect of all devotions is undoubtedly that which conforms, unites and consecrates us most perfectly to Jesus Christ. Now, since Mary is of all creatures the one most conformed to Jesus Christ, it follows that among all devotions that which most consecrates and conforms a soul to our Lord is devotion to Mary, his Holy Mother, and that the more a soul is consecrated to her the more will it be consecrated to Jesus Christ.”
The thoughts, writings, and example of St. Louis de Montfort, an example of the French school of spirituality, were also singled out by Pope John Paul II’s encyclical, Redemptoris Mater, as a distinctive witness of Marian spirituality in the Catholic tradition. In an address to the Montfortian Fathers, the pontiff also said that his reading the saint’s work True Devotion to Mary was a “decisive turning point” in his life.
PRIEST AND POET
While the saint is best known for his spiritual writings, he was also a poet and during his missions managed to compose more than 20,000 verses of hymns.
Saint Louis’s life coincided with some of the great highlights of French literature and Molière, Pierre Corneille and Jean Racine dominated the literature of his day. Yet Montfort believed that his battle-cry, “God Alone!” did not allow him to encourage his people to prefer classical works over sacred hymns. Montfort’s hymns and canticles were, for the most part, meant to be sung in village churches and in the homes of the poor. They were aimed at the masses and had a missionary motive above all. Some authors argue that a reading of Saint Louis’s hymns is essential for an understanding of him as a man and for appreciating his approach to spirituality.
Montfort was a missionary at heart and many of his hymns were addressed to the people whom he was evangelizing. He went from one parish to another with his ever-growing collection of hymns to be sung during the parish mission. But he also wrote hymns to express his own personal feelings, e.g. his numerous hymns in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Based on the analysis of Bishop Hendrik Frehen of the Company of Mary, Montfortian hymns fall into two major categories: “inspired” and “didactic.” The inspired canticles flow spontaneously, on the occasion of a pilgrimage to a Marian shrine, or on the occasion of a joyful celebration. The didactic hymns took more effort and time to compose, and focus on instructional and informative qualities: they teach the audience through the use of a moral and a theme.
After the Saint Louis’s death, the Company of Mary (which continued his work of preaching parish renewals) made great use of his hymns and used them as instruments of evangelization.
LEGACY AND IMPACT ON THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
Louis de Montfort was a priest and a preacher for only 16 years, often having risked everything along the way. Some years before his death, he wrote to the Blessed Marie Louise Trichet, the first Daughter of Wisdom: “If we do not risk anything for God we will never do anything great for Him.”
But it is worth noting that based on his autobiography, his sixteen years of priesthood include many months of solitude, perhaps as many as a total of four years: at the cave of Mervent, amidst the beauty of the forest, at the hermitage of Saint Lazarus near the village of Montfort, and at the hermitage of Saint Eloi in La Rochelle. On his return from his long pilgrimage to Rome, Montfort made a retreat at Mont Saint Michel “to pray to this Archangel to obtain from him the grace to win souls for God, to confirm those already in God’s grace, and to fight Satan and sin.” These occasions gave him time to think, contemplate and write.
RELIGIOUS CONGREGATIONS OF ST. LOUIS DE MONTFORT
The saint’s birthplace and tomb are now sites of “Montfortian pilgrimages” with about 25,000 visitors each year. The house in which he was born is at No. 15, Rue de la Saulnerie in Montfort-sur-Meu. It is now jointly owned by the three Montfortian congregations he formed: the Montfort Missionaries, the Daughters of Wisdom and the Brothers of St Gabriel. The Basilica of Saint Louis de Montfort, at Saint-Laurent-sur-Sèvre, is an impressive structure that attracts a good number of pilgrims each year.
The congregations de Montfort left behind, the Company of Mary, the Daughters of Wisdom, and the Brothers of Saint Gabriel (whose congregation developed from the group of lay-brothers gathered round him), grew and spread, first in France, then throughout the world.
GOD ALONE: MONTFORTIAN SPIRITUALITY
“God Alone” was the motto of Saint Louis and is repeated over 150 times in his writings. God Alone is also the title of his collected writings. Briefly speaking, based on his writings, Montfortian spirituality can be summed up via the formula: “To God Alone, by Christ Wisdom, in the Spirit, in communion with Mary, for the reign of God.”
Although St Louis is perhaps best known for his Mariology and devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, his spirituality is founded on the mystery of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, and is centered on Christ.
MONTFORTIAN MARIOLOGY
Grignion de Montfort’s approach of “total consecration to Jesus Christ through Mary” had a strong impact on Roman Catholic Mariology both in popular piety and in the spirituality of religious institutes. As one of the classical writers of Christian spirituality, Saint Louis de Montfort is a candidate to become a Doctor of the Church. His book True Devotion to Mary has been considered one of the most influential Marian books.
St. Louis was a strong believer in the power of the Rosary and his popular book The Secret of the Rosary provides specific methods for praying the Rosary with more devotion. It has been read by Catholics worldwide for over two centuries and is one of the earliest works to establish modern Mariology.