St. Louis de Montfort - True Devotion to Mary with Preparation for Total Consecration

Francis Cardinal Spellman, D.D.

Copyright 2010 Saint Benedict Press, TAN Books.

TAN Books is an imprint of Saint Benedict Press, Charlotte, North Carolina.

Copyright 1941 by the Fathers of the Company of Mary. Retypeset in 2010 by Saint Benedict Press, TAN Books.

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Published with the assistance of The Livingstone Corporation. Cover and interior design by Mark Wainright, The Livingstone Corporation. Typeset by Saint Benedict Press, TAN Books.

Cover Image: The Virgin Annunciate by Pompeo Girolamo Batoni (1708-87) (after), Private Collection. Photo: Bonhams, London, UK/The Bridgeman Art Library.

ISBN:978-0-89555-961-6

Printed and bound in United States of America.

Pope Pius IX declared that St. Louis De Montforts devotion to Mary was the best and most acceptable form of devotion to Our Lady.

Pope Leo XIII granted a plenary indulgence to those who make St. Louis De Montforts act of consecration to the Blessed Virgin. On his deathbed he renewed the act himself and invoked the heavenly aid of St. Louis De Montfort, whom he had beatified in 1888.

Pope St. Pius X : I heartily recommend True Devotion to The Blessed Virgin , so admirably written by Blessed De Montfort, and to all who read it grant the Apostolic Benediction.

Pope Benedict XV : A book of high authority and unction.

Pope Pius XI : I have practiced this devotion ever since my youth.

Pope Pius XII : The greatest force behind all his [St. Louis De Montforts] apostolic ministry and his great secret for attracting and winning souls for Jesus was his devotion to Mary. ( From Canonization address, July 20, 1947 ).

Pope Paul VI : We are convinced without any doubt that devotion to Our Lady is essentially joined with devotion to Christ, that it assures a firmness of conviction to faith in Him and in His Church, a vital adherence to Him and to His Church which, without devotion to Mary, would be impoverished and compromised.

Pope John Paul II : The reading of this book was a decisive turning-point in my life. I say turning-point, but in fact it was a long inner journey. This perfect devotion is indispensable to anyone who means to give himself without reserve to Christ and to the work of redemption. It is from Montfort that I have taken my motto: Totus tuus (I am all thine). Someday Ill have to tell you Montfortians how I discovered De Montforts Treatise on True Devotion to Mary , and how often I had to reread it to understand it.

Vatican Council II : The maternal duty of Mary toward men in no way obscures or diminishes this unique mediation of Christ, but rather shows its power. All her saving influence on men originates not from some inner necessity, but from the divine pleasure. It flows forth from the superabundance of the merits of Christ, rests on His mediation, depends entirely on it and draws all its power from it. the practices and exercises of devotion to her recommended by the Church in the course of the centuries [are to] be treasured. ( Lumen Gentium : 60, 67).

Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary

Necessity of the Blessed Virgin and of Devotion to Her

Fundamental Truths of Devotion to the Blessed Virgin

Choice of True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin

Perfect Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary or
Perfect Consecration to Jesus Christ

Nature of Perfect Devotion to the Blessed Virgin, or Perfect Consecration to Jesus Christ

Motives of This Perfect Devotion

Wonderful Effects of This Devotion

Particular Practices of This Devotion

St. Louis Marie Grignion de la Bacheleraie, who abandoned his family name for that of his birthplace, was born on January 31, 1673 in the little town of Montfort-la-Canne, which is located in Brittany, France. He studied for the priesthood at St. Sulpice in Paris, having made the 200-mile journey there on foot. He was ordained a priest in 1700, at the age of 27.

St. Louis De Montfort had wanted to become a missionary in Canada, but he was advised to remain in France. There he traveled around the western part of the country, from diocese to diocese and from parish to parish, instructing the people, preaching, helping the poor, hearing confessions, giving retreats, opening schools and rebuilding church buildings. His labors were almost miraculously fruitful. He stated that never did a sinner resist after being touched by him with a Rosary.

But because he encountered great opposition from religious authoritiesin particular, being forbidden by the Bishop of Poitiers to preach in his diocesehe decided to travel to Rome to ask the Holy Father if he was doing Gods Will and whether he should continue as before. St. Louis De Montfort walked to Romea thousand milesand put his case to Pope Clement XI. The Pope told him to continue his traveling missionary work, and named him Missionary Apostolic, but told him always to be sure to work under obedience to the diocesan authorities.

One of St. Louis De Montforts greatest problems was the opposition he encountered from propagators of the Jansenist heresy, which was then very active in France. The Jansenists spread an atmosphere of harshness and moral rigorism, claiming that human nature was radically corrupted by Original Sin (as opposed to the Catholic teaching that human nature is still essentially good, though fallen, and although it has suffered a darkening of the intellect and weakening of the will). The Jansenists denied that Gods mercy is available to all, and they allowed only infrequent reception of the Sacraments of Penance and the Holy Eucharist, and only after long and severe preparationwith Holy Communion being looked upon as a reward rather than a remedy. Also, they taught that God should always be addressed with fear and trembling. These tenets resembled those of Calvinism. Although Jansenism had been condemned by the Church twice even before St. Louis De Montforts birth, its teachings continued to spread and to influence people for a century. In contrast, St. Louis De Montfort preached confidence in Mary and union with her Divine Son.

St. Louis De Montfort founded two religious orders: the Daughters of Wisdom, begun in 1703 from a number of poor and afflicted girls at the Hospital of Poitiers, where he was temporary chaplain, and the Missionaries of the Company of Mary (Montfort Fathers and Brothers), founded in 1715. The Brothers of St. Gabriel, a teaching order, also claim St. Louis De Montfort as their spiritual father.