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Saint Louis de Montfort
Saint Louis de Montfort

Saint Louis de Montfort

Feast Day
Apr 28, 2013
Patronage
Ecumenism, Rejection
<p>St. Louis de Montfort was born on January 31, 1673.&nbsp; He was a French Catholic Priest and Confessor.&nbsp; He was known in his time as a preacher, and was made a Missionary Apostolic by Pope Clement XI.&nbsp; He authored several classic Catholic books that influenced Popes.&nbsp; He is best known for his devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and the practice of consistently praying the Rosary.&nbsp; He is accredited as one of the early proponents of the field of Mariology as it is known today.&nbsp; He is a candidate of becoming a Doctor of the Church.&nbsp; His most notable works are &ldquo;The Secret of Mary&rdquo; and the &ldquo;True Devotion to Mary&rdquo;. &nbsp;</p> <p>He was born in Montfort-sur-Meu, and was the oldest surviving child of a large family.&nbsp; His parents were known for being deeply Catholic.&nbsp; He worked on his father&rsquo;s farm, and at age the age of twelve, he entered the Jesuit College of St. Thomas Becket in Rennes.&nbsp; It is here that he began his studies of philosophy and theology.&nbsp; He became inspired to preach among the very poor.&nbsp; Under the guidance of some of the Priests there, he began to develop his strong devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Soon through a benefactor he was sent to Paris to study at the renowned Seminary of St. Sulpice towards the end of 1693.&nbsp; He was appointed as the librarian, so he had the opportunity to study spiritual writings, and especially the Christian life of the Virgin Mary. &nbsp;</p> <p>Louis was known for his veneration toward the angels.&nbsp; He urged others to show respect and tenderness towards their guardian angels.&nbsp; His devotion to the angels was propagated, through his Jesuit teachers, and from his desire to venerate pure spirits.&nbsp; Also, there were many publications in his time on this practice.&nbsp; He was ordained a Priest in June 1700.&nbsp; He was assigned to Nantes.&nbsp; Five months after his ordination he joined the Third Order of the Dominicans and asked permission not only to preach the Rosary, but to also form Rosary Confraternities.&nbsp; His prayer was, &ldquo;I am continually asking in my prayers for a poor and small company of good Priests to preach missions and retreats under the standard and protection of the Blessed Virgin&rdquo;.&nbsp; This led to the formation of the Company of Mary.&nbsp; He became frustrated with the local Bishops and made a pilgrimage to Rome to ask Pope Clement XI what he should do.&nbsp; The Pope recognized his real vocation, and sent him back to France under the title of &ldquo;Apostolic Missionary&rdquo;. &nbsp;</p> <p>For several years he preached in missions from Brittany to Nantes, and his reputation as a Missionary Preacher grew. &nbsp; He then left Nantes, and the next several years were spent in preaching missions, always traveling on foot.&nbsp; He also found time to write, &ldquo;True Devotion to Mary&rdquo;, &ldquo;The Secret of Mary&rdquo;, &ldquo;The Secret of the Rosary&rdquo;, and rules for the Company of Mary.&nbsp; Just before writing True Devotion he became a Dominican Tertiary.&nbsp; Someone poisoned him for his heated style of preaching, but it was not fatal.&nbsp; He went on preaching and established schools for poor boys and girls.&nbsp; The Bishop of La Rochelle, had been impressed with Louis&rsquo;s work for sometime, and asked him to open a school for him there.&nbsp; In a short time, they had over 400 students. &nbsp;</p> <p>In April 1716, Louis worn out by hard work and sickness came to Saint-Laurent-sur-Sevre, to begin his last mission.&nbsp; He became ill and died on April 28<sup>th</sup> of that same year.&nbsp; He was 43 years old, and had been a priest for only sixteen years.&nbsp; His last sermon was the tenderness of Jesus and the Incarnate Wisdom of the Father.&nbsp; Thousands gathered for his burial in the parish church.&nbsp; Almost immediately there were reports of miracles performed at his tomb.&nbsp; On September 19, 1996, Pope John Paul II came to his tomb to meditate and pray.&nbsp; Pope Pius XII canonized St. Louis de Montfort on July 20, 1947. &nbsp;</p> <p><span style="font-size: medium;"><strong>Practical Take Away</strong></span></p> <p>St. Louis de Montfort was born on January 31, 1673.&nbsp; He was a French Catholic Priest and Confessor.&nbsp; He was known in his time as a preacher, and was made a Missionary Apostolic by Pope Clement XI.&nbsp; He authored several classic Catholic books that influenced many Popes.&nbsp; He is best known for his devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and the practice of consistently praying the Rosary.&nbsp; He is accredited as one of the early proponents of the field of Mariology as it is known today.&nbsp; He is a candidate of becoming a Doctor of the Church.&nbsp; His most notable works are &ldquo;The Secret of Mary&rdquo; and the &ldquo;True Devotion to Mary&rdquo;.&nbsp; Truly &ndash; he set the example for each of us to have a personal relationship with Mary, the mother of our Lord. &nbsp;</p>