Q&A: I am a theology major at a Catholic university. A QoAH member recently told me that your founder, Saint Louis de Montfort, had little use for theologians. I find that hard to believe. Is it true?
Father J. Patrick Gaffney, SMM
It cannot be said that Father de Montfort had little use for theologians! After all, he himself was, as Pope John Paul states in his book Gift and Mystery, “an excellent theologian.” As a seminarian in Paris, Louis-Marie Grignion did some of his theological studies at the Sorbonne, surely a top-notch academic center. He himself was recognized as a highly intelligent student. However, one of the reasons Montfort left the Sorbonne for studies at the seminary itself, is because he did not want to know God only with his head. His heart, his whole being had to be involved. And strictly speaking, theology is not in itself a discipline of the heart although it should enable the theologian to advance in the path to the Trinity. Spending one’s days in the study of the Lord should have as a spin-off, praise and love of God. But bursting with praise is not in itself theology, moreover, it appears to many theologians to be – what’s the word? – uncouth, not proper to their profession which is an academic study of God’s revelation of Himself.
It is especially about devotion to Our Lady that Montfort chastises his fellow theologians, especially those who live in the gated-community of the ivory tower. Some do have “deep down in their hearts, a vague sort of devotion to Mary.” But they have fallen into the trap of their profession: overly critical, especially of those who do not share their learning and degrees. Again, Montfort hits the nail on the head: “they criticize nearly all forms of devotion to Mary which simple and pious people use to honor their good Mother just because such practices do not appeal to them.”
What we read about in TD #109 is Louis de Montfort’s response to the academic world of his time: it is not involved – or not enough involved – in adoration, praise, ministry among the simple folk, which are, in the saint’s mind, integral to a full notion of theologian. Theology itself is not prayer but it should lead to it. Theology low some is no more than – and must be no more than – a head-trip. “Get a life,” is what this saint seems to be telling some of the great profs at the Sorbonne whose dry, speculative, critical classes were, in his mind, so divorced from Catholic life.
But there are also quite a few theologians – and Montfort would agree to this – whose classes, at the same time academic and faith-filled, have truly been the means of drawing out of the students a deeper, vital commitment to Jesus the Lord and to His Mother. Certainly in the eyes of Saint Louis de Montfort, these theologians should be praised.
Statue of Saint Louis de Montfort
This statue hangs on a wall above the entrance of Montfort Spiritual Center.
