The de Montfort Way: Saint of Our Times
St. Louis de Montfort was born in Western France over three hundred years ago. But he is definitely a Saint of Our Times. It is not a coincidence that he has been canonized and his doctrine brought into fuller prominence at a time when the Catholic turns to Our Lady as never before in its struggle against the powers of hell.
In some aspects, St. Louis de Montfort it would seem, belongs more to our age than he did to his own. He lived just long enough to make a profound study of the grandeurs of the Holy Mother of God and sow the seeds of his devotion to Mary. The body of doctrine he left behind was to be of such tremendous importance to the Church and to souls that, to use his own prophetic words: “I clearly foresee that raging beasts shall come in fury to tear with their diabolical teeth this little writing . . . or at least to smother it in the darkness and silence of a coffer that it may not appear.” “This little writing” was retrieved from its dark and silent coffer and published in 1842, at the very time that Karl Marx was giving to the world his theory of communism.
Mary vs Satan
I say that Saint Louis is a Saint of Our Times, for he lived and preached and wrote especially for our times. “Mary,” he exclaims, ”must shine forth more than ever in power against the enemies of God who shall rise in terrible revolt against Him to seduce all those who shall oppose them and to make them fall by promises and threats… Mary must be formidable to the devil principally in these latter times because the devil will every day redouble his efforts and his combats and will raise up terrible persecutions…. It is principally of these last and cruel persecutions of the devil that will go on increasing daily that we ought to understand the first prediction and curse of God pronounced against the devil:
“I will place enmities between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; she shall crush thy head and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel.’ The most terrible of all enemies which God has set up against the devil is His Holy Mother Mary.” (TD. 50)
It is important to remember this as we view with alarm the terrible scourge of atheistic communism. The nature and aims of communism are no secret. Marx, Lenin and Stalin, to say nothing of their disciples, have gone to great lengths to set forth in unmistakable terms what communism is and what it aims to achieve. It rules out the very existence of God as a fantastic myth and puts the State in His place. That man has been created with certain inalienable rights and that among these are the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, is just so much balderdash. It is no secret that communism seeks to dominate the world by whatever means at its command: hate, hypocrisy, promises, threats, lies, persecution, purge, famine, deportation, etc.
Breath of Hell
It is slightly more than a hundred years since the first communistic revolution and communism exists in approximately a third of the world and reigns over two billion souls. How can we account for its tremendous growth, the craftiness and efficiency of its organization, the fanatic zeal of its members? The genius of communism does not stem solely from the human mind. The strength of communism is not the sum total of human wickedness, human efficiency and Communism is the breadth of hell.
Is it any wonder then Our Lady should shine fourth in the power of these times? Is it any wonder that she who in the first hour of Satan’s triumph loomed forth in prophecy as his sworn enemy, should rise to take up the challenge of Satan? In the spring of 1917 Nicolai Lenin and Leon Trotsky met in Petrograd, Russia, to lay the groundwork of their Communistic revolution. In the fall of the same year the Kerensky government fell to the Bolshevists. It was between these two events that Our Lady stepped into the arena. She made six monthly appearances at Fatima in Portugal and declared in no uncertain terms that her peace plan alone would save the world.
We have but to conform to her wishes; and we have no better guide and teacher than her humble servant, St. Louis De Montfort, whose little books: ”True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary,” and the ”Secret of Mary,” signal him out, indeed, as a Saint of Our Times. These words of his written more than three hundred years ago would seem to be a commentary on our Lady’s Fatima message: “It is in the HEART OF MARY that the world will find again, true fraternity: it is by the HEART OF MARY that it will obtain pardon and mercy of God; it is with the HEART OF MARY that the new city will be built in truth and charity; it is the HEART OF MARY, for its honor and glory, that humanity, grateful and free, will in the near future increase its manifestations of love and filial gratitude.”
Author: Fr. Frances P. White, SMM
This is the third and concluding article in this series focusing on specific aspects and topics of St. Louis’ Spirituality, as well as giving insights into the man. The first article may be found here. The first two articles were written by Fr. Victor Devy, SMM. Fr. Frances P. White concludes the series with this article.
Editors Note: This article was originally published in January 1951, when the evil threat of communism and weapons of mass destruction was a daily fear. While perhaps one may argue nearly seventy years later the threat of communism is different, it is still nevertheless real as persecution still exists, countries strike out at other countries, and the threat of mass destruction weapons from communism based countries like North Korea and other countries still threaten mankind. The need for divine Wisdom from Our Lord and Our Lady rings true today as it did when this article was first written.
