CONGREGATION OF MARY QUEEN - AMERICAN REGION
Dòng Trinh Vương - Chi Dòng Hoa Kỳ
St. Louis de Montfort
“I belong entirely to you, and all that I have is yours. I take you for my all. O Mary, give me your heart”
St. Louis Marie Grignion de la Bacheleraie was a French priest who was ordained at the age of 27. He lived an extremely pious life. At the age of 19, he walked 200 miles to Paris to study to be a priest. On the way he gave all his money and possessions to the poor. He vowed never to have any worldly attachments, even giving up his family name for Louis Marie de Montfort (his birthplace).
He traveled throughout France preaching, hearing confessions, and giving retreats with an almost unnatural zeal and energy. His labors were “almost miraculously fruitful.” He suffered many enemies especially the Jansenists (a heretical group) who tormented him wherever he went and even tried to kill him several times. Yet despite this he was neither discouraged nor distraught, rather these terrible acts renewed him with even greater fervor.
Date of Birth:
January 31, 1673
Date of Death:
April 28, 1716
Ordination to Priesthood:
1700
Canonization:
July 20, 1947
True Devotion to Mary
The Congregation of Mary, Queen has him as our spiritual guide for devotion to Mary. His masterpiece, "True Devotion to Mary," was found 126 years after his death, describes this perfect devotion. It involves a “total consecration to Jesus through Mary.” Prior to novitiate, a sister consecrates herself to Mary and renews her consecration weekly.
Why?
In his words:
“It is through the most holy Virgin Mary that Jesus came into the world, it is also through her that He has to reign in the world” (True Devotion to Mary, 1)
“So then we establish solid Devotion to our Blessed Lady, it is only to establish more perfectly Devotion to Jesus Christ and to provide an easy and secure means for finding Jesus Christ" (TDM, 62)
“They will see clearly that she is the safest, easiest, shortest and most perfect way of approaching Jesus and will surrender themselves to her, body and soul, without reserve in order to belong entirely to Jesus” (TDM, 55)
“Totus tuus ego sum, et omnia mea tua sunt. Accipio te in mea omnia. Praebe mihi cor tuum, Maria” (“I belong entirely to you, and all that I have is yours. I take you for my all. O Mary, give me your heart”)
This devotion has been endorsed by 5 popes: Pope Pius IX, Pope Leo XIII, Pope Pius X, Pope Pius XII, and Pope St. John Paul II
“[The greatest force behind all his {Montfort’s] apostolic ministry and his great secret for attracting and winning souls for Jesus was his devotion to Mary” - Pope Pius XII, who later consecrated the entire world to Mary
“Reading this book (St. Louis de Montfort’s True Devotion to Mary) was to be a turning point in my life… This Marian devotion.. has remained a part of me. It is an integral part of my interior life and my spiritual theology.” Pope St. John Paul II
Sources:
TDM True Devotion to Mary. Trans. Frederick Faber, D.D. Rockford, Illinois: TAN books and Publishers Inc.,1941.