Montfort’s Last Sermon
Fr. Donald Macdonald, SMM
On Palm Sunday, 1716, Father de Montfort was to begin sharing the word of God with the people of St. Laurent-sur-Sevre. He arrived there on April 1, and as usual chose to stay in the poorest and most unacceptable house . .. small attic fully to his liking, since it had no other bed than a little straw and hardly any furniture . . .” (271). (Footnote: 1).
The Cross was being carried in procession, before the Palm Sunday High Mass at which Father de Montfort was to preach. He stood before Our Lady’s altar waiting for it to pass. When the man carrying the Cross came near, Montfort found it irresistible. So “he took it from his hands in a great surge of love” (273) and carried it until the end of the procession.
That spontaneous act reflected his attachment to “the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Gal. 6:14). It showed what Fr. de Montfort was like and who indeed he was. The gesture was part of the man.
CHOSEN . . .
As he worked hard at a well attended mission, word came that the bishop of La Rochelle was soon to visit the area. He was a firm supporter of Fr. de Montfort at a time when very little support was on offer. A procession was organized to welcome the bishop, “but this time he overdid it, and collapsed . . . he should have spared himself a little” (274). He had come to the parish after a long hard journey, and did not spare himself as he worked with the people.
He had pleurisy. Furthermore, he was unable to attend lunch with the bishop and clergy. He was due to preach that afternoon and was advised against it, “worn out as he was and with his breathing so labored . ..” (274). He felt that he must preach. As a travelling preacher, the preaching of the word was everything to him, “in fact . . . I am under compulsion and should be in trouble if I failed to do it”. (1 Cor.9:16). He knew also that if he did not preach, many of his critics would assume that he was afraid to preach before the bishop. His integrity as a preacher was at risk.
. . . TO PREACH
That afternoon he gathered all of his strength and faith to offer the word to the people, “ready to share with you not only the gospel of God, but also our own selves . . .”. (I Th.2:8). He chose to speak of “The Gentleness of Jesus” in what was to be his last sermon.
As he spoke of Jesus allowing Judas to kiss him, in the hope of reaching his heart, the company was in tears. The preacher’s being was engaged. They would know Fr. de Montfort was a very ill man. And that his every breath was to offer them the word of God in Christ. It meant everything to him, preaching “not ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your slaves for Jesus’ sake”. (1 Cor.4:5).
As others had found when listening at this level, what they were hearing was not just the word of an articulate, imaginative preacher, “but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers”(I Th.2:3).
He left the pulpit for his death-bed, receiving the sacraments of the Church and writing his will. He died about 8 o’clock in the evening of the 28 April 1716. Montfort was 43 years old.
PARADOXICAL INSIGHT
Fr. de Montfort lived for his Lord to the limits of folly in the opinion of many. He was held by what he saw of the glory of God on the face of Christ and so knew that he could do no other. It was a life of paradox, and in dying as he did, he echoed the experience of an earlier fool for Christ, who too was so often treated “as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything”. (2 Cor.6:10).
Two years after the original publication of this article, and the use of this image, it was used once again. Originally, on July 1947, a banner of this image hung from the front of St. Peter’s on the day of St. Louis de Montfort’ canonization. In July 1997, to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of his canonization, a color version of the image was used as the cover of the original magazine. See the Covers and Artwork website for a color version of this image (July 1997 artwork: use this link to display the artwork of the 1990s. You’ll need to scroll down to the July 1997 cover).
For a travelling preacher literally to give his life to his people while speaking of the gentleness of Jesus, seems a superb summary of a Gospel- based life. If his last memory on earth among those who heard him was of one “gentle among you, like a nurse taking care of her children”, it seems certain, as indeed it proved, that the gentle Jesus would welcome him.
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This poor man continues to enrich many today worldwide. Many who have come to thank God that they were providentially introduced to him. His attachment to the Cross of Christ and the graced company of Our Lady – to excess as some consider it – makes of his personality today just as much of a paradox as in his life on earth.
Perhaps the key is found in his last day on earth in April 1716. He died as he lived. For a travelling preacher literally to give his life to his people while speaking of the gentleness of Jesus, seems a superb summary of a Gospel- based life. If his last memory on earth among those who heard him was of one “gentle among you, like a nurse taking care of her children” (I ‘th.2:7), it seems certain, as indeed it proved, that the gentle Jesus would welcome him. In the end perhaps the fool for Christ is wiser than any of us?
FOOTNOTE
Charles Bernard, The Life of Mr. Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort, Priest, Apostolic Missionary, 1785. Translated by Brother Amace S. G. (Boys T0wm, Singapore 1985). All references are to pages in this edition. The author, born in the year after St. Louis Marie died, was his third successor.
