Editorial: The Pope at the Tomb of St. Louis de Montfort

E specially since the time of Pope Leo XIII, the Bishops of Rome have been enthusiastic in their admiration for Saint Louis de Montfort and his teachings. A few examples: Leo XIII not only granted a plenary indulgence to all who made the consecration as taught by Montfort, but he also renewed his consecration on his deathbed, invoking the aid of “Blessed de Montfort” whom he had beatified. Saint Pius X, as Pope, enrolled in the confraternity of priests who live the spirituality of Montfort (the Priests of Mary); Pius XI lived Montfort’s doctrine from his youth; Pius XII canonized the Breton missionary [Fr. de Montfort] and kept a reliquary of the saint in his private chapel; when Nuncio to France, John XXIII made a pilgrimage to the parish church at St. Laurent-sur-Sevre which encloses the tomb of Saint Louis Marie and when Pope, named the church a Basilica.

Although many more examples of papal devotion to Saint Louis de Montfort could be given, it is evident that no Pope has shown such veneration for this vagabond priest as His Holiness, John Paul II. In his encyclical, Mother of the Redeemer, he extolled Montfort: “I would like to recall, among the many witnesses and teachers of this [Marian] spirituality, the figure of Saint Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort, who proposes consecration to Christ through the hands of Mary as an elective means for Christians to live faithfully their baptismal commitments.”

In his best-se!ler, Crossing the Threshold of Hope, he again spoke of the saint: “Thanks to Saint Louis of Montfort, I came to understand that true devotion to the Mother of God is actually Christocentric, indeed, it is very profoundly rooted in the mystery
at the Blessed Trinity and the mysteries of the Incarnation and Redemption.” André Frossard, in “Be Not Afraid,” Conversations with John Paul II, quotes the present Holy Father at length, citing these enthusiastic words at John Paul: “Grignion de Montfort introduces us into the very heart of the mysteries on which our faith lives and grows and bears fruit. The more my spiritual life was centered on the reality of the Redemption, the more abandoning myself to Mary in the spirit of St. Louis Marie de Montfort appeared to me to be the best way to share fully and effectively in this reality, in order to draw out for myself and to share with others its unspeakable benefits.” The … Pontiff goes on to call his encounter with Montfort spirituality “the decisive turning point” in his life. He terms it “indispensable to anyone who means to give himself without reserve to Christ.”

These magnificent praises of Montfort do not lessen the surprise that … the Holy Father will be journeying to the tiny, out-of-the-way Breton village of Saint Laurent-sur-Sévre to kneel at the saint’s tomb. It was almost 300 years ago that the young priest, the Father from Montfort, went on foot to the Holy City to kneel before Pope Clement XI, seeking direction from the successor of Peter. Who would have ever dreamed that one day another Pope, John Paul II, would make a pilgrimage from Rome to the tomb of this humble troubadour of Jesus and Mary, requesting his intercession before God.

The incredible impact of this pilgrimage springs from its symbolic value. No matter what the Pope may say while at St. Laurent-sur-Sévre, no matter what may be printed in L’Osservatore Ramano concerning this visit, the fact of the pilgrimage has greater power than any words could bear. How often the present Holy Father speaks through symbols. His inter-faith prayer service at Assisi, his gracious visit to the Rome Synagogue, his loving embrace of the man who tried lo kill him, his many pilgrimages to Marian shrines through-out the world: all these actions are powerful symbols which speak more eloquently than human lips.

What is being proclaimed to the entire Church by this extraordinary visit of the Pope to Montfort’s tomb? A most powerful papal endorsement of Saint Louis de Montfort and his teachings, without doubt. When pictures of the Holy Father at the tomb of Montfort are hashed throughout the world, more and more people will ask: “Who is this saint whom the Holy Father so venerates?” This visit of the Pope to St. Laurent-sur-Sévre will probably be a decisive turning point in the propagation of Montfort’s Christ-centered Marian spirituality.

Many – among whom are priests and religious – who years ago made Montfort’s consecration to Jesus-Wisdom through Mary, have left it aside because of a deeply erroneous understanding of the so-called “spirit of Vatican II.” Others have let it become no more than a weak influence on their lives. The visit of the Holy Father to Montfort’s tomb is a rallying call of the Supreme Pastor to the entire Church to listen to this vagabond priest, to live his Gospel spirituality and thereby renew the face of the earth and reform the Church.