WHAT MAKES SAINTS TICK?

What Makes Them Tick?

T he more one hears about the apostolic accomplishments of Pope John Paul II, or Mother Teresa of Calcutta, or the late beloved Frank Duff, founder of the Legion of Mary, or of Mother Angelica of Eternal Word Television Network, to name but a few 20th Century giants of the Apostolate, we are inclined to ask: What makes them tick?

Without being facetious, we must say: it’s the heart! Yes, the heart of a human being in love with God and neighbor. And how is this best acquired? I will let Pope John Paul speak for himself and for the three others mentioned above. Because they too are ardent disciples of St. Louis Marie de Montfort’s Marian spirituality.

“The ‘perfect devotion’ to Mary, according to St. Louis de Montfort, leads to a  perfect knowledge and confident abandonment of ourselves into her (Mary’s) hands. It increases with our knowledge of Christ and the confident abandonment of ourselves into his hands. In addition, this ‘perfect devotion’ is indispensable. Indispensable for the one who wishes to give himself unreservedly to Christ and to the work of the Redemption.

“Grignion de Montfort introduces us into the very heart of the mysteries on which our faith lives, and grows and bears fruit. The more my spiritual life was centered on the reality of the Redemption, the more abandoning myself to Mary, in the spirit of St. Louis Marie de Montfort, appeared to me to be the best way to share fully and effectively in the reality. In order to draw out for myself and to share with others its unspeakable benefits.

Montfort Spirituality

“This Marian devotion – which I am simply outlining to you today – has since remained a part of me. It is an integral part of my interior life and of my spiritual theology” (From: “Do Not Be Afraid, ” by Andre Frossard, Conversations with John Paul II, Ed. Laffont, 1982).

I trust that the reader will now have a better insight. Not only into the spiritual life of our Holy Father, but what makes him and the other 20th century Marian Apostles tick! I also think you will agree with me when I say: St. Louis Marie de Montfort’s Marian Spirituality still remains one of the Church’s best kept secrets. A secret of sanctity, despite the Holy Father’s open disclosure of his personal interior life and theology.