Mary, Spouse of the Holy Spirit
Fr. Roger M. Charest , SMM
Mary, Spouse of the Holy Spirit
I n his June 21, 1997, letter addressed to the Montfort Religious Family, on the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of the Canonization of St. Louis Marie de Montfort, the Holy Father gave us his own personal assessment of the Saint’s spirituality: “Before all else,” he wrote, “Saint Louis Marie impresses us by his theocentric (God centered) Spirituality. He has ‘a taste for God and His Truth’ (Love of Eternal Wisdom, No. 13), and knows how to communicate his faith in God, speaking at one and the same time of the majesty and of the gentleness of God.”
Mystery of the Trinity
Describing how de Montfort has the gift of communicating the central truths of Christianity, even to the humblest of people, Pope John Paul says: “Father de Montfort does not hesitate to unveil, even to the humblest of persons, the Mystery of the Trinity which inspires his prayer and reflection on the redemptive Incarnation, the work of the divine Persons. He wants us to grasp the reality of the divine presence in the time of the Church. In a re-markable way he writes: ’the plan adopted by the three persons of the Blessed Trinity in the Incarnation, the First Coming of Jesus Christ, they adhere to each day in an invisible manner throughout the Church and they will pursue it to the end of time, until the Last Coming of Jesus Christ.’ (T.D. No. 22)
The Holy Father then goes on to say: “In our time, his witness can help us base our Christian existence on faith, in the living God, on a warm relationship with God and on a solid ecclesial experience, thanks to the Spirit of the Father and the Son, whose reign continues in the present.” (Cf. Prayer for Missionaries, No. 16)
We Need to Develop a Relationship with the Triune God
It may be profitable for us to take a brief walk through some of the writings of St. Louis de Montfort in order to better acquaint ourselves with the role of the Holy Spirit, In and Through Mary, in Montfort’s Marian Spirituality. Pope John Paul II repeatedly characterizes Montfort’s spirituality as Trinitarian. Thus stressing the importance of the personal relationship each one of us should strive to develop in our own lives with the Triune God.
The perfect model of that relationship, of course, is Mary – the Daughter of God the Father, Mother of God the Son and Spouse of the Holy Spirit.
The Annunciation: painter Sandro Botticelli: likely 1490
This is one of at least three Annunciation paintings this artist created. Others, which reside in Scotland, were painted in 1485. This painting resides in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
“When the Holy Spirit, her spouse, finds Mary in a soul, he hastens there and enters fully into it. He gives Himself generously to that soul according to the place it has given to his spouse.”
In the introductory chapter of his “True Devotion to Mary,” St. Louis Marie succinctly describes Mary’s relationship to the Trinity in terms of the workings of the Three Divine Persons In and Through Mary, in the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Redeemer.
- The External God the Father gave his only Son to the world only through Mary …
- God the Son became man for our salvation, but only in Mary and through Mary …
- God the Holy Spirit formed Jesus Christ in Mary, but only after having asked her consent through one of the chief ministers of his court. (No. 16)
Montfort’s Spirituality Anchored on God’s Plan of Redemption
Montfort’s Marian Spirituality is firmly anchored on God’s plan for man’s redemption. It is centered on the great mystery of the Incarnation; the Son of God taking on our human nature from the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary – Jesus Living in Mary. Since the creation of man, the most important event in the history of the world! – an event that was to climax with Christ’s redemptive suffering and death on The Cross. And Mary has been chosen by God to play the role of a leading lady, Our Lady of Sorrows. Sharing, in her own subordinate way, in Christ’s redemptive Sacrifice. She was asked to repeat her fiat as she stood at the foot of The Cross and she heard Jesus proclaim her the Spiritual Mother of All God’s Children.
Brining Christ into Souls
Practical preacher and theologian that he is, Father de Montfort knows that, following upon her Divine Motherhood, her spiritual Motherhood of souls entails her bringing Christ into the world of souls. That is why, the opening lines of his True Devotion to Mary are; “It was through the Blessed Virgin Mary that Jesus Christ came into the world. And it is also through her that he must reign in the world” (No. 7). He also knows that this work of sanctification of souls is the work of the Holy Spirit living in Mary. So he writes:
“God the Holy Spirit wishes to fashion his chosen ones In and Through Mary. He tells her: “My well-beloved, my spouse, let all your virtues take root in my chosen ones that they may grow from strength to strength and from grace to grace. When you were living on earth, practicing the most sublime virtues, I was so pleased with you. I still desire to find you on earth without your ceasing to be in heaven’. ”
Mary, Spouse of the Holy Spirit
Further on, he writes: “Together with the Holy Spirit, Mary produced the greatest thing that ever was or ever will be – a God-man. She will consequently produce the marvels which will be seen in the latter times. The formation and the education of the great saints who will come at the end of the world are reserved to her. For only this singular and wondrous virgin can produce in union with the Holy Spirit singular and wondrous things.
Mary, Spouse of the Holy Spirit. “When the Holy Spirit, her spouse, finds Mary in a soul, he hastens there and enters fully into it. He gives Himself generously to that soul according to the place it has given to his spouse.”
Finally, Father de Montfort, the shepherd of souls writes; “One of the main reasons why the Holy Spirit does not now work striking wonders in souls is that he fails to find in them a sufficiently close union with his faithful and inseparable spouse.” (No. 36)
