St. Louis De Montfort was born on January 31, 1673 in a little town called Montfort-la-Canne, located in Brittany, France. His family name was Louis Marie Grignion de la Bacheleraie. He journeyed two hundred miles on foot to a place called St. Sulpice in Paris where he studied for the priesthood. In 1700, at 27 years of age, he was ordained a priest.
Although he wanted to go to Canada to become a missionary, St. Louis De Montfort was advised to instead remain in France. From one diocese to another and from parish to parish, he traveled throughout the western part of the country, making himself available to people in need. He instructed them, preached to them, and assisted the poor. He opened schools, rebuilt church buildings, held retreats, and heard confessions. His efforts were rewarded with almost miraculous outcomes. He said that no sinner ever resisted after he touched that person with a Rosary.
Religious authorities gave St. Louis De Montfort a difficult time, most particularly the Bishop of Poitiers, who forbid him to preach in his diocese. Because of that opposition, he traveled a thousand miles on foot to Rome to ask Pope Clement XI if he was doing the Will of God and to inquire whether or not he should continue in the way that he had been. In response, the Pope instructed him to continue his traveling missionary work, and he named him Missionary Apostolic, but he told him to obey the diocesan authorities.
One of the biggest problems St. Louis De Montfort faced was the opposition from people who promoted the Jansenist heresy, which was very active in France at that time. The Jansenists propagated a climate of severity and extreme moral strictness. They claimed that Original Sin had radically corrupted human nature. This belief went against the Catholic teaching that although human nature is fallen, it is basically good. The Jansenists’ teaching was that God’s mercy is not available to all people, and the Sacraments of Penance and Holy Communion were only allowed to be received infrequently. They believed that The Holy Eucharist could only be received after a challenging and lengthy preparation, and they viewed the Sacrament of Holy Communion as a reward rather than a spiritual cure. Additionally, they spread the idea of approaching God with fear and trembling, which was a belief of Calvinism, a major branch of Protestantism. Before St. Louis De Montfort was born, Jansenism had been condemned by the Catholic Church two different times. However, it continued to spread and be an influence over people for a whole century. (This saint taught confidence in the Blessed Virgin Mary and union with Jesus Christ, her Divine Son.)
Two religious orders that St. Louis De Montfort founded were the Daughters of Wisdom, founded in 1703, and the Missionaries of the Company of Mary (Montfort Fathers and Brothers), founded in 1715. The Daughters of Wisdom was comprised of poor and troubled girls at the Hospital of Poitiers where St. Louis De Montfort was a temporary chaplain. A teaching order called the Brothers of St. Gabriel also has its roots with this saint, claiming him as their spiritual father.
The most famous of St. Louis De Montfort’s writings, of which there are several, are The Secret of the Rosary, The Secret of Mary, and True Devotion to Mary. All three of these books were based on his sermons from his days of traveling around France. As he spread devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, he taught people to love her, the devil’s greatest enemy. Interestingly, at his beatification investigation there were many witnesses who testified that throughout his life they heard him grappling with the devil, and they spoke of hearing the sounds of punching fists and the lashing of whips.
On April 28, 1716, at the age of 43, St. Louis De Montfort died a peaceful death in Sainte-Laurent-sur-Sèvre. It is said that he kissed the crucifix and a statue of the Virgin Mary, speaking to the devil these words: “In vain do you attack me; I am between Jesus and Mary! I have finished my course: All is over. I shall sin no more!” His feast day is the day of his death, April 28, the day that he was born in Heaven. The Holy See examined his writings and pronounced that nothing in them would obstruct his path toward beatification and canonization. In 1947 he was canonized a saint.
What Is True Devotion to Mary?
St. Louis De Montfort predicted that his manuscript, which later became known as True Devotion to Mary, would be attacked by evil ones and kept from public view. He said:
I clearly foresee that raging beasts shall come in fury to tear with their diabolical teeth this little writing and him whom the Holy Spirit has made use of to write it—or at least to smother it in the darkness and silence of a coffer, that it may not appear. They shall even attack and persecute those who shall read it and carry it out in practice. (T.D., no. 114)
Sure enough, his prediction came true. Throughout the entire 18th century, the Jansenists persecuted the spiritual sons of this great saint who were zealously spreading this devotion, and his True Devotion manuscript remained hidden from the public during the era of the French Revolution. It wasn’t until the year 1842 that it was finally uncovered by a Montfort Father who had found it in a chest of old books.
In his book, St. Louis De Montfort shows the reader that the perfect path to Jesus is through Mary. He discusses the way in which to make this devotion a permanent part of one’s spiritual journey, and he explains how it is centered around complete dependence on Mary—not just during random prayers or religious acts, but throughout a person’s entire life. It has been said that True Devotion to Mary is one of the most magnificent spiritual books ever written. Some believe that the Holy Spirit Himself inspired it. Throughout the centuries, True Devotion has led many souls to the Lord Jesus, and in some ways it is even more relevant now in this present day than in ages past. The Age of Mary is upon us! It is time to make the 21st century aware of the second greatest story ever told!
