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Dear Friends,
While in Paris, the figure of St Louis de Montfort kept springing to mind as we visited the various shrines there.
He did extensive mission work throughout western France, preaching consecration to the Lord Jesus through the Most Holy Mother of God.
He was something of a "Fool for Christ's Sake" and bishops sometimes refused to receive him into their dioceses.
He went to Rome and had a meeting with the Pope who gave him a letter authorising his missions.
St Louis kept a crucifix in one hand and a large rosary in the other and this is how he is usually depicted.
His followers likewise carry both with them.
My point in raising this is that after his death, the French Revolution came around and with it, its violent anti-Christian persecutions.
Priests were shot wholesale and blasphemous outrages against churches and shrines became the order of the day (even in the great Notre Dame cathedral in Paris).
But in the west of France in the region of the Vendee, a revolt arose against the "enlightened revolution."
The Vendeans and others grouped together into a "Catholic and Royal Army."
They had no firearms, but each had a rosary and a crucifix. They also wore a white badge with a symbol of the Sacred Heart on it - also from St Louis de Montfort's inspiration.
After early successes in battle, they suffered major defeats. Taken prisoner, the French revolutionary government had them placed in groups on rafts so as to drown them . . .
To this day, the Vendee region's flag bears the Heart symbol that the Vendean rebels wore.
The moral of the story is that some sermons are more effective than others in instilling strong faith in Christian values and principles . . .
Perhaps Montfort's witness is relevant today as well.
Alex
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Glory to Jesus Christ!
As an ex-member of the Legion of Mary, St. Louis has a very special place in my heart still. Now that I consider myself part of the Eastern Church, few Western saints in truth really inspire me. St. Louis Marie de Monfort is one of them. My favorite anecdote from his life is when he, one night, entered a brothel and plopped himself down in the middle of the sinful revelry, and began to recite the Sorrowful Mysteries of the rosary. At first, the clients and prostitutes taunted him, hit him, and called him names. But after a while, the clients, one by one, began to leave, and some of the ladies knelt down right beside him, praying along. After he was finished, he got up and left.
Being such a Marian saint, I suppose he is one that the East could particularily identify with. Although I have a great love for the Roman liturgy, compared to the Byzantine, it truly lacks the profound Marian emphasis that the Orthodox liturgy has always had.
As one Orthodox monk once told me, "He who does not believe in the Mother of God really does not believe in God." Harsh words, but for me, they ring very true.
Arturo
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Well, Alex, you ARE a great guy, aren't you!!  VIVE LA VENDEE!!!!! One minor correction--I believe the Vendeans did have guns. They were quite successful for a while, but in the end succumbed to the greater fire power of the diabolical enemy.  VIVE LE ROI VIVE LA RELIGION DOWN WITH REVOLUTION!!!!!!!!!!!
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Their's a good book on the Vendee uprising, but for some reason I can't remember the author's name. I'll try and locate it.
Not all revolutions are bad, certainly not those that began at Lexington in 1775, or Dublin in 1916.
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The book is "For Altar And Throne" by Michael Davies.
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Originally posted by Lawrence:
Not all revolutions are bad, certainly not those that began at Lexington in 1775[...]. I am not convinced of that. Jason
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Have mercy on me, O God, according to Thy great mercy.
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Dear Alex: As you and I share together in our Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary, symbolized in the wearing of a little chain and the Miraculous Medal, I was pleased to see your post. I have begun re-reading the works of De Montfort, especially after the Holy Father's exhortation and praise of these works. Also, in my private prayer, I surely ask the Lord to grant the title of "Doctor of the Church" upon His glorious servant, Saint Louis. As a side: Have you read the writings of Saint Maximilian Kolbe? This Saint-Martyr followed in the footsteps of de Montfort. There is a magnificent volume entitled "Mary's Knight" by professor Charles Foster from West Chester State University in Pennsylvania. This is the "complete source book" for the life and message of Father Kolbe. It is rather expensive at $66.00 US but it is also about 900 pages and filled with color and B&W photos. Professor Foster spent many years in Poland researching his book and spoke with many friars and laity who personally knew Saint Maximilian. Just yeaterday I received a birthday present (a bit early as my b'day is June 4th) of a volume entitled "Fire of Mercy, Heart of the Word" by Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis. It is a meditation on the Gospel of Matthew using the original Greek text and putting it into today's English. It is published by Ignatius Press. Just thought you would like to know. The few pages that I have used for my Lectio are beyond any words that I can find at the moment. Wow! What a long and probably most boring post! Sorry I am so long-winded. Blessings + Silouan, her monk
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Glory to Jesus Christ! Since the subject has come up, I thought that I would post this prayer by Saint Louis de Montfort, I copped it off of another website, I hope you all appreciate it! Prayer to Jesus
O most loving Jesus, deign to let me pour forth my gratitude before Thee, for the grace Thou hast bestowed upon me in giving me to Thy holy Mother through the devotion of Holy Bondage, that she may be my advocate in the presence of Thy majesty and my support in my extreme misery. Alas, 0 Lord! I am so wretched that without this dear Mother I should be certainly lost. Yes, Mary is necessary for me at Thy side and everywhere: that she may appease Thy just wrath, because I have so often offended Thee; that she may save me from the eternal punishment of Thy justice, which I deserve; that she may contemplate Thee, speak to Thee, pray to Thee, approach Thee and please Thee; that she may help me to save my soul and the souls of others; in short, Mary is necessary for me that I may always do Thy holy will and seek Thy greater glory in all things. Ah, would that I could proclaim throughout the whole world the mercy that Thou hast shown to me! Would that everyone might know I should be already damned, were it not for Mary! Would that I might offer worthy thanksgiving for so great a blessing! Mary is in me. Oh, what a treasure! Oh, what a consolation! And shall I not be entirely hers'? Oh, what ingratitude! My dear Saviour, send me death rather than such a calamity, for I would rather die than live without belonging entirely to Mary. With St. John the Evangelist at the foot of the Cross, I have taken her a thousand times for my own and as many times have given myself to her; but if I have not yet done it as Thou, dear Jesus, dost wish, I now renew this offering as Thou dost desire me to renew it. And if Thou seest in my soul or my body anything that does not belong to this august princess, I pray Thee to take it and cast it far from me, for whatever in me does not belong to Mary is unworthy of Thee.
O Holy Spirit, grant me all these graces. Plant in my soul the Tree of true Life, which is Mary; cultivate it and tend it so that it may grow and blossom and bring forth the fruit of life in abundance. 0 Holy Spirit, give me great devotion to Mary, Thy faithful spouse; give me great confidence in her maternal heart and an abiding refuge in her mercy, so that by her Thou mayest truly form in me Jesus Christ, great and mighty, unto the fullness of His perfect age.
Amen.
Is that the same for St Louis de Montfort as what some people describe as the Mediatrix of all Graces? He states that he is "entirely hers" and appears to be thrusting all of his efforts, sufferings and thoughts toward Saint Mary. If I am reading that correctly, is that also a common devotional attitude among eastern Orthodox or oriental Orthodox?
I appreciate the help, am confused because I was never exposed to this devotion when I was younger.
In Christ Our Lord,
Michael
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Confession time!  I have never been able to develop an appreciation of this great saint. I suspect that some of my "distaste" comes from the fact that I don't read or understand French, so I'm limited to what I suspect are some pretty dreadful translations. I keep feeling that I'm likely missing something quite valuable.... Sharon
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Dear Latin Trad, I'm sure some of the Vendeans had fire-arms, but they generally didn't . . . However, their battle tactics more than made up for this lack. The descendants of the Vendeans, to this day, consider what happened to be a war-crime and it annoys the French government no end. The Vendean flag still has the Heart symbol on it - actually two Hearts. In 1993, the Legitimistes got together and issued a pin in honour of the 200th anniversary of the Vendean revolt - it has a Sacred Heart with the thre Fleurs-de-lys on it in the middle of two primitive implements used by the Vendeans to fight the anti-Christian ravages of the French Revolution. That's one I have and wear. In fact, as we know, the social oppression of the people following the French Revolution was much worse than anything they experienced under the kings - and when the revolutionary government in Paris asked for thousands of new conscripts to fight the "enemy without," the people decided to go and fight the "enemy within." In addition to butchering priests and monastics, the Reign of Terror committed all sorts of anti-Christian blasphemies, including going around on carts with Crucifixes hung upside down while the soldiers ordered people to spit at them - and if they didn't, they would be beaten etc. (!) Even the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris was turned into a "Temple of Reason" (former feast-day: June 21 ). St Louis de Montfort asked his followers to wear a Red Cross and the Heart Symbol of the Vendeans was certainly a response to that request. Alex
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Bless, Father Silouan! Yes, I took my little chain and touched it to the place at St Sulpice where St Louis said his first Mass - there's a statue of him there in the sanctuary. There is just something about him, holding his Cross and long Rosary in all simplicity, that just draws one to him. There are Byzantine icons of him on this site: www.montfortmissionaries.com [ montfortmissionaries.com] His associate, Bl. Marie-Louise Trichet, died on the same day as he, exactly 43 years later (St Louis-Marie died at the age of 43). They are both buried together and the Pope has visited their tomb - he raised St Louis' feast to a universal one and is a devotee of his spirituality, as we know. Fr. Mulot is up for canonization too, and St Louis' priests were often called "Mulotins." There are also six of his society that were martyred during the Revolution. St Louis urged his followers to meditate on the Lord Jesus living in the Most Holy Virgin Mary - and the Eastern icon that springs to mind is that of the "Sign." He often quoted Eastern fathers in his writings and his favourite Eastern Marian quote was: "God gives devotion to the Mother of God to those whom He wishes to save!" Alex
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Originally posted by Orthodox Catholic:
He often quoted Eastern fathers in his writings and his favourite Eastern Marian quote was: "God gives devotion to the Mother of God to those whom He wishes to save!"
Alex Glory to Jesus Christ! Is this to say that Saint Louis is teaching a form of pre-destination? This sounds interesting but I am not sure in what sense he means this. Is practice of True Devotion to Mary supposed to be a mark of Salvation? Michael, that sinner
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Dear Michael,
Well, St Louis certainly did use the phrase, "O predestinate soul" quite often in his writings.
Commentators have said that he meant that a soul consecrated to Christ through Mary and living that life of consecration and prayer was sure to reach heaven etc.
He denied the Calvinist understanding of predestination - indeed one French Protestant even tried to poison him to death.
St Louis survived the attempt, but it destroyed his health from then on.
He brought many souls to intimacy with Jesus through Mary and this upset not only Protestants and contemporary agnostics, but also some church authorities who refused to give him permission to preach missions in their dioceses, despite his Papal letter of approval!
His work to erect a life-size "Calvary" was interrupted by a local bishop who was advised that it could somehow be used by the enemies of France (?) and he ordered St Louis to dismantle it - which Louis did in total obedience.
My favourite episode in his life is when he ascended the pulpit to preach in a new parish.
At that moment, he took out his crucifix that he always carried with him and began to study it.
He was then overtaken by such great grief at the sight of Christ's sufferings that he began to weep openly.
Soon everyone in their pews began to cry as St Louis did.
And they cried for a while . . .
Everyone then got up and started to line up for confession, still crying and weeping over the Passion of Christ . . .
St Louis then celebrated the Mass and everyone went to Communion - many still in tears.
He spoke not one word during his sermon - but was there ever a sermon so powerful?
Alex
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Dear Alex,
Thank you for an interesting post!
In Christ,
Alice
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