Louis de Montfort

thumb|Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort, SMM (31 January 1673 – 28 April 1716) was a French Catholic priest known for his influence on Catholic Mariology. He wrote a number of books that went on to become classic Catholic titles, including Secret of the Rosary and True Devotion to Mary, and influenced several popes. He also founded several religious communities, including the Company of Mary. Quotes Whoever is with the Lord, come to me! All the good priests scattered throughout the Christian world, whether they are still in full combat or have retreated from the fray into deserts and solitudes, come and join us. Let us form together, under the banner of the cross, an army deployed and ready for battle, to attack compactly the enemies of God who have already given the alarm: they sound the alarm, they tremble, they gnash their teeth, they are ever more numerous. «Let us break their chains, let us throw away their bonds». He who dwells in the heavens laughs at them, the Lord taunts them from above. May God arise, his enemies scatter! Wake up, why are you sleeping, Lord? Destati! Lord, get up! Why are you pretending to sleep? Arise with all your omnipotence, mercy and justice. Form a select company of bodyguards, to protect your home, defend your glory, and save souls, so that there may be one fold and one shepherd, and all may glorify you in your temple. Amen. GOD ONLY! Quoted in Preghiera infuocata - Allo Spirito Santo, in Suppliche, reginamundi.info. "God alone" was a motto by Grignion de Montfort (m "La Spirituality", "monfortani.it") and was later also used by other religious people such as Giovanna Antida Thouret and Clelia Merloni. True Devotion to Mary Luigi Maria Grignion de Montfort, Trattato della vera devozione alla Santa Vergine e il segreto di Maria, translation by Guido Pettinati, San Paolo, Cinisello Balsamo, 1987. ISBN 88-215-0172-8 (in Italian) Incipit It is through the Holy Virgin Mary that Jesus Christ came into the world and it is still through her that he must reign in the world. Mary has lived a very hidden life: for this reason she is called Alma Mater, a hidden and secret Mother, by the Holy Spirit and the Church. Her humility was so profound that she had no other stronger and more continuous desire on earth than to hide herself and everyone, to be known solely by God alone. Quotes What Lucifer lost through pride, Mary gained through humility; what Eve damned and lost through disobedience, Mary saved through obedience. As a reward for her profound humility, God gave her the power and commission to fill with saints the empty thrones from which the rebellious angels fell out of pride. [Jesus] He began and continued his miracles through Mary; and he will continue them until the end of the ages through Mary. It is better not to burden oneself with so many prayers and practices of devotion, and to do so few with love and fidelity, despite the world, the devil and the flesh. Jesus Christ gave more glory to God the Father by submission to his Mother for thirty years than he would have given him by converting the whole world by working the greatest wonders. The most infallible and most indubitable sign to distinguish a heretic, a man of bad doctrine, a reprobate, from a predestined one, is that the heretic and the reprobate have only contempt or indifference for the most holy Virgin, trying, with their words and examples, to belittle her cult and love, openly or secretly, sometimes under specious pretexts. I do not believe that a person can acquire an intimate union with Our Lord and perfect fidelity to the Holy Spirit, without a very great union with the most holy Virgin and a great dependence on her help. Mary is the sanctuary and rest of the Holy Trinity, where God is more sublimely and divinely found than anywhere else in the universe, not excluding his dwelling place above the cherubim and seraphim; and no creature, however pure, is permitted to enter it without great privilege. Mary, being all transformed into God by the grace and glory that transforms all the saints into him, neither asks, nor wants, nor does anything that is contrary to the eternal and immutable will of God. In the second coming of Jesus Christ, Mary must be known and revealed by the Holy Spirit, so that through her Jesus Christ may be known, loved and served, the reasons that led the Holy Spirit to hide his Bride during his life, and not to reveal her that very shortly after the preaching of the Gospel, no longer exist. When Mary has laid her roots in a soul, she produces wonders of grace in it that she alone can produce because she alone is the fruitful Virgin who has never had nor will ever have like her in purity and fruitfulness. If, then, as is certain, the knowledge and kingdom of Jesus Christ are to come into the world, this will be necessary as a consequence of the knowledge and kingdom of the most holy Virgin Mary, who brought him into the world the first time and will make him shine the second time. External links Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort Montfort, Louis de Category:1673 births Category:1716 deaths Category:Mystics Category:Mariology Category:Roman Catholic priests Category:Catholics from France Category:Religious leaders Category:Catholic saints