On April 28, the universal Church celebrates the feast day
of Louis-Marie de Monfort, a 17th century saint who is revered for his intense
devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
St. Louis-Marie is perhaps most famously known for his
prayer of entrustment to Our Lady, “Totus Tuus ego sum,” which means, “I
am all yours.” The late-Pope John Paul II took the phrase “Totus
Tuus” as his episcopal motto.
Born in Montfort, Brittany, on January 31, 1673, St.
Louis-Marie possessed a strong devotion to the Blessed Sacrament as a child,
and was also intimately devoted to the Blessed Virgin, especially through
the Rosary. He took the name Marie at his confirmation.
The saint manifested a love for the poor while he was at
school and joined a society of young men who ministered to the poor and the
sick on school holidays. When he was 19, he walked 130 miles to Paris to study
theology, gave all he had to the poor that he met along the way and made a vow
to live only on alms. After his ordination at 27, he served as a hospital chaplain
until the management of the hospital resented his reorganization of the staff
and sent him away.
St. Louis-Marie discovered his great gift for preaching at
the age of 32, and committed himself to it for the rest of his life. He met
with such great success that he often drew crowds of thousands to hear his
sermons in which he encouraged frequent communion and devotion to Mary.
But he also met with opposition, especially from the
Jansenists, a heretical movement within the Church that believed in absolute
Predestination, in which only a chosen few are saved, and the rest damned. Much
of France was influenced by Jansenism, including many bishops, who banished St.
Loius-Marie from preaching in their dioceses. He was even poisoned by
Jansenists in La Rochelle, but survived, though he suffered ill health after.
While recuperating from the effects of the poisoning, he
wrote the masterpiece of Marian piety, "True Devotion to the Blessed
Virgin," which he correctly prophesied would be hidden by the devil for a
time. His seminal work was discovered 200 years after his death.
One year before he died, St. Louis-Marie
founded two congregations: the Daughters of Divine Wisdom – which tended to the
sick in hospitals and the education of poor girls, and the Company of Mary,
missionaries devoted to preaching and to spreading devotion to Mary.
Catholic News Agency: http://ow.ly/wf9Bk
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| Home of St. Louis de Montfort |
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| Interior of St. Louis' home |
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| Baptism Record |
