Saint Louis de Montfort

Feast day : 28 April

Today the Church celebrates the feast of Saint Louis de Montfort, a Catholic Priest and Missionary who lived during the period AD 1673 to AD 1716. He was a renowned missionary priest and preacher of the Gospel. He was also the author of several books, some of which later became classics that were followed by several Popes in their times. His most famous works include his two books on his devotion to Blessed Virgin Mary namely ‘Secret of the Rosary’ and ‘A Treatise on the True Devotion to Mary’. He is considered as one of the pioneers in the subject of Mariology through his spiritual thoughts and writings on the Blessed Virgin Mary. He is also the founder of two religious congregations 'The Missionaries of the Company of Mary' and 'Daughters of Wisdom'. He was canonized by Pope Pius XII on July 20, 1947.

Early life: Saint Louis de Montfort, was the eleventh child born to Jean-Baptiste and Jeanne Robert Grignio. From his early childhood he was devoted to prayer and spent time praying before the Blessed Sacrament. At the age of 12 he was sent to study at the Jesuit College of St Thomas Becket in Rennes as a day pupil. At that time too he never failed to visit the church before and after class. There he joined a society of young men, who during their holidays ministered to the poor, and to the incurables in the hospitals, and read for them books during their meals. At the age of 19, he was sent to study at the renowned Saint Sulpice seminary in Paris with the support of a benefactor. Whilst studying theology in Paris, he lived a very pious life of poverty and found great happiness in sufferings. He was appointed as the librarian at the seminary of Saint Sulpice which gave him access to most of the Catholic classics including books that led him on to contemplating the role of the Virgin Mary in Christian life.

Vocational life: He was ordained as a priest in June 1700 at the age of 27 and was assigned to Nantes. However, he often felt that his real calling was to preach the Gospel as a missionary and soon in November of the same year he joined the Third Order of the Dominicans and asked permission to form rosary groups and preach the rosary. Soon small groups of priests were formed who preached the rosary and carried out retreats. In 1705, this was formalised into the Missionaries of the Company of Mary, a missionary religious congregation of priests who took devotion to the Virgin Mary as an integral part of their spiritual life. When he was appointed as the chaplain of the hospital at Poitiers, he met Blessed Marie Louise Trichet who served the sick in the hospital. This association later led to the formation of the Daughters of Wisdom, a congregation of women religious who serve the sick and poor and provide instruction to poor girls.
On one of his pilgrimage to Rome, he met the Pope and sought guidance on his vocation which he strongly believed was to preach the Gospel as a missionary. Pope Clement XI recognised his real calling and gave him the title ‘Apostolic Missionary’. From thereon, for several years he preached in missions from Brittany to Nantes. Amidst all the travels, he also found time to write his literary classics – A Treatise on the True Devotion to Mary', 'The Secret of Mary' and the 'Secret of the Rosary', rules for the Missionaries of the Company of Mary and the Daughters of Wisdom, and many hymns.

Inspite of all the good work he did, he also had several trials and faced opposition from several sects. The Jansenists, a heretical sect were irritated with his success and banished him from their district. At La Rochelle some people put poison into his cup of broth and despite the antidote he took, his health was impaired forever. On another occasion, some malefactors hid in a narrow street with the intention of assassinating him, but he had a presentiment of danger and escaped by going down another street. But all this did not deter him from continuing his preaching and missions.

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 28 April of that year. He was only 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. On April 28, 1759, Marie Louise Trichet also died in Saint-Laurent-sur-Sèvre, the same day and location where Louis de Montfort had died 43 years earlier on 28 April 1716. The two are buried in adjacent tombs. On September 19, 1996, Pope John Paul II (who beatified Trichet) came to the same site to meditate and pray at their adjacent tombs.

Montfort is the patron saint of a number of prestigious schools that educate youths from all walks of life. The congregations Montfort left behind, the Company of Mary, the Daughters of Wisdom, and the Brothers of Saint Gabriel (which congregation developed from the group of lay-brothers gathered around him), grew and spread, first in France, then throughout the world. The Servants of the Lord and the Virgin of Matará follow the spirituality of Louis de Montfort. The saint's birthplace and tomb are now sites of "Montfortian pilgrimages" with thousands of 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 Basilica of Saint Louis de Montfort at Saint-Laurent-sur-Sèvre attracts a number of pilgrims each year.