ST. LOUIS-MARIE de MONFORT (1673-1716) was born in 1673 in Montfort-sur-Meu,
the eldest surviving child of eighteen born to Jean-Baptiste and Jeanne
Robert Grignion. His father was a notary. Louis-Marie passed most of
his infancy and early childhood in Iffendic, a few kilometers from Montfort, where his father had bought a farm. At the age of twelve, he entered the Jesuit College of St Thomas Becket in Rennes, where his uncle was parish priest.
At the end of his ordinary schooling, he began his studies of
philosophy and theology, still at St Thomas in Rennes.
Listening to the stories of a local priest named Abbé Julien Bellier
about life as an itinerant missionary, he was inspired to preach
missions among the very poor. Also, under the guidance of other
priests he began to develop his strong devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
St. Monfort studied at the renowned Seminary of Saint-Sulpice in Paris
towards the end of 1693. When he arrived in Paris, it was to find that
his benefactor had not provided enough money for him, so he lodged in a
succession of boarding houses, living among the very poor, in the
meantime attending the Sorbonne University for lectures in theology.
After less than two years, he became very ill and had to be
hospitalized.
Upon his release from the hospital he found
himself with a place reserved at the Little Saint-Sulpice, which he
entered in July 1695. He was appointed the librarian, his time at Saint-Sulpice
gave him the opportunity to study most of the available works on
spirituality and, in particular, on the Virgin Mary's place in the
Christian life. This later led to his focus on the Holy Rosary and his acclaimed book the "Secret of the Rosary".
Montfort is considered as one of the early writers in the field of Mariology. Another of his most famous works is "True Devotion to Mary".
He was ordained a priest in June 1700 and assigned to Nantes in Brittany.
His great desire was to go to the foreign missions, preferably to the
new French colony of Canada, but his spiritual director advised against
it, which frustarted him as he felt called to be a missionary praecher.
In November 1700 he joined the Third Order of the Dominicans and
asked permission not only to preach the rosary, but also to form rosary
confraternities. He began to consider the formation of a small company of priests to
preach missions and retreats under the standard and protection of the
Blessed Virgin, which eventually led to the formation of the Company of Mary. At around this time, when he was appointed the chaplain of the hospital of Poitiers, he first met Blessed Marie Louise Trichet. That meeting became the beginning of Blessed Marie Louise's 34 years of service to the poor.
Still yearning to become a missionary preacher, Montfort set off to make a pilgrimage to Rome to ask Pope Clement XI
for guiadance. The Pope recognized his true vocation and telling
him there was plenty of need for missionary work in his homeland of France, missions were not just for pagan lands alone but that Christians also need to be strengthened in the Faith. The pope recognised he was needed to combat the heresy of Jansenism and sent him back
with the title of Apostolic Missionary.
For several years St. Monfort preached in missions from Brittany to Nantes. As his reputation as a missionary preacher grew, he became known as "the good Father from Montfort". As well as preaching, Montfort found time to write a number of
books, several of which have been mentioned above that went on to become classic Catholic titles and influenced
several popes.
The bishop of La Rochelle eventually invited him to open a
school in his diocese. St. Montfort enlisted the help of his follower Marie Louise
Trichet, who left Poiters in 1715 with Catherine Brune
to open the school there and in a short time it had 400 students. On August 22, of that same year, Trichet and Brunet, along with Marie Valleau
and Marie Régnier from La Rochelle, received the approbation of Bishop
de Champflour of La Rochelle to make their religious profession under
the direction of St. Montfort, the teaching congregation was called the Daughters of Wisdom, which grew into an international organisation.
Exhausted by hard work and sickness, St. Monfort finally came in April 1716 to Saint-Laurent-sur-Sèvre
to begin the mission which was to be his last. During it, he fell ill
and died on 28 April of that year. He was 43 years old, and had been a
priest for only 16 years. His last sermon was on the tenderness of Jesus
and the Incarnate Wisdom of the Father. Thousands gathered for his
burial in the parish church, and very quickly there were stories of
miracles performed at his tomb.
The Roman Catholic Church, under the pontificate of Pope Pius XII, canonized Montfort on July 20, 1947. The cause for declaring him a Doctor of the Church is under consideration.
His Prophecies:
While his saintly fame rests on his preaching, especialy on the devotion to Our Lady, it appears St. Monfort had a prophetic spirit. About his book "True Devotion to Mary" he declared: "I clearly foresee that raging brutes will come in fury to tear with their diabolical teeth this little writing and him whom the Holy Ghost has made use of to write it; or at least to envelop it in the silence of a coffer, in order that it might not appear." The prophecy if it being lost was fulfilled - St. Monfort died in 1716, and the text was not discovered until well over a hundred years later by accident in 1842 by one of the priests in his congregation.
While he did not make any Great Monarch or Anglec Pontiff prophecies per se, St. Monfort did declare there would be the need for great saints near the end of time that God and His Mother will raise up that will be greater than other saints in order to battle the enemies of that age, having to fight with one hand and build up with the other, and the Great Monarch and Angelic Pontiff would certainly count in that category.
St. Monfort did predict a great period of conversion and triumph for Christ near the end times, and it will be through Our Lady this will be brought about. This is completely in keeping with the other Great Monarch and Angelic Pontiff prophecies that state the arrival of the Great Monarch and Angelic Pontiff will be left up to the discretion of Mary, it is She who will decide when the Age of Peace commences.
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St Monfort: "If we examine closely the rest of Our Blessed Lord's life, we shall see that it was His will to begin His miracles by Mary. He sanctified St. John in the womb of his mother, St. Elizabeth, but it was by Mary's word. No sooner had she spoken than John was sanctified; and this was His first miracle of grace. At the marriage of Cana He changed the water into wine, but it was at Mary's humble prayer; and this was his first miracle of nature. He began and continued His miracles by Mary, and He will continue them to the end of ages by Mary." (True Devotion to Mary)
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"The power of Mary over all evils will be particularly outstanding in the last period of time.
She will extend the Kingdom of Christ over the idolaters and Muslims, and there will come a
glorious era when Mary is the Ruler and Queen of Hearts…” (Yves Dupont, Catholic Prophecy,
Tan Books and Publishers, 1970, p 33)
She will extend the Kingdom of Christ over the idolaters and Muslims, and there will come a
glorious era when Mary is the Ruler and Queen of Hearts…” (Yves Dupont, Catholic Prophecy,
Tan Books and Publishers, 1970, p 33)
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“I have said that this would come to pass, particularly at the end of the world and indeed presently, because the Most High and His most Holy Mother has to form for Himself great saints who shall surpass most of the other saints in sanctity as much as the cedars of Lebanon outgrow the little shrubs. These great souls, full of grace and zeal shall be chosen to match themselves against the enemies of God, who shall rage on all sides; and they shall be singularly devoted to Our Blessed Lady, illuminated by her light, strengthened by her nourishment, led by her spirit, supported by her arm and sheltered under her protection, so that they shall fight with one hand and build with another. With the one hand they shall fight and overthrow and crush the heretics with their heresies, the schismatics with their schisms, the idolaters with their idolatries and the sinners with their impieties…by their words and examples they shall draw the whole world to true devotion to Mary. This shall bring upon them many enemies but also bring many victories and much Glory for God alone.” (Montford, True Devotion to Mary).
