Q&A: It appears that Saint Louis de Montfort goes overboard in describing Mary. His praise of her is such that it is easy to believe that he adores Jesus AND Mary. The saying that Catholics consider Mary to be the fourth person of the Trinity is not so far-fetched after reading Montfort.
Fr. Gaffney, SMM
Submitted by JB of Tallahassee, FL
Adores Mary?
Montfort ADORES Mary? He insinuates that Mary is the “fourth person of the Trinity?” Absolute nonsense.
He insists, rather, that no earthly creature may receive the adoration of men/women. And the Virgin Mary is no exception. On this point, Montfort’s teaching is categorical. Mary is certainly “the living tabernacle of God, in whom Eternal Wisdom willed to receive the adoration of both men and angels”. (LEW 224).
Montfort invites us to consider her this way. “Let us adore Jesus living / In the bosom of Mary“. (H 87, 1). Mary also promotes adoration; she is a means and model of adoration. “It is through her / That I adore and love”. (H 82, 6). It is Mary who invites us to adore the Lord (H 85, 2). She is the perfect adorer of Jesus, and especially at the moment of Eucharistic communion; she will “adore him profoundly . . . embrace him intimately in spirit and in truth . . .“. (TD 270).
“Adoration” is for God Alone
However, Montfort is extremely careful not to confer this adoring worship – even what is called relative adoration which is given to the true cross – upon Mary herself; “The cross is adorable / Mary herself is not“. (H 102, 23). While Suarez adopts the language of “adoration” for Mary with the qualifier “of dulia” (i.e., of veneration), Montfort unequivocally reserves the term “adoration” for God alone. Indeed, “it is not his wish (i.e., the wish of Wisdom) that the honor even of a relative adoration be given to any other creature however exalted, such as his most Blessed Mother”. (LEW 172). The saint consistently distinguishes between “adorable Jesus“ – he uses the same adjective to describe the Heart, the Blood, the Cross of Jesus – and the “admirable Mary” (H 28, 17; 40, 33; 63, 1; 127, 70).
Saint Louis de Montfort’s determination and rigor on the subject of worship is significant. The triune God alone is the recipient of adoration.
Mary also promotes adoration; she is a means and model of adoration. “It is through her / That I adore and love”. It is Mary who invites us to adore the Lord. She is the perfect adorer of Jesus, and especially at the moment of Eucharistic communion; she will “adore him profoundly . . . embrace him intimately in spirit and in truth . . .“.
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