Q&A: Montfort wants us to believe that total consecration to Mary is in imitation of the Trinity? That was the principal reason for me to put his book aside. He appears to make God Himself dependent on Mary, which sounds like blasphemy to me.
Father J. Patrick Gaffney, SMM
Imitation of the Trinity
Yes, Saint Louis de Montfort states categorically that total consecration is in imitation of the Trinity. Read TD 14 & 39 and his summary in TD 140, where he writes; “Let me remind you again of the dependence shown by the three divine Persons on our Blessed Lady.
Theirs is the example which fully justifies our dependence on her . . . With such a compelling example of the three divine Persons before us, we would be extremely perverse to ignore her and not consecrate ourselves to her . ”
Father de Montfort explains the meaning of this Trinitarian dependence several times, e.g., in #14 and #39 of the True Devotion. He writes: “With the whole Church I acknowledge that Mary, being a mere creature fashioned by the hands of God is, compared to His infinite Majesty, less than an atom or rather, she is simply nothing . . . consequently this great Lord who is ever independent and self-sufficient never had and does not now have any absolute need of the Blessed Virgin Mary for the accomplishment of His will and the manifestation of His Glory. To do all things He has only to will them . . . However, God has decided to begin and accomplish his greatest works through the Blessed Virgin.”
God has Freely Willed to Join this Woman in the Work of Salvation
Saint Louis-Marie thoroughly and constantly insists that God has no absolute need of Mary. By “absolute,” the saint means that God could certainly have accomplished all things without her; in itself, there is no necessity whatsoever for God to begin and accomplish his works through Mary. However, the Triune God has freely willed to join this woman in the work of salvation. He did not have to do so, but He willed to do so. Montfort puts it this way: “We must conclude that, being necessary to God by a necessity which is called ‘hypothetical’ (that is, because God so willed it), the Blessed Virgin is all the more necessary for men to attain their final goal.”
How do we know that God has freely willed the participation of our Lady in His plan of salvation? The Gospels clearly attest to it and the Church has always proclaimed this truth. Meditate on the Annunciation narrative found in Luke 1:26-38. The Father sends the angel Gabriel to Mary in order to request her consent to the greatest event in the history of the cosmos, the Incarnation of the eternal Word of God. The Word wills to be born of Mary, although as Montfort tells us, He could have come among us as a grown man if He so wanted. The Holy Spirit overshadows Mary so that through her the Eternal Second Person of the Trinity may be conceived in her womb, thereby entering the human family.
Mary, the Path that the Almighty has Freely Chosen to Come to Us
In other words, God has freely willed to depend on the Yes, the surrender of this woman. Now if that is the path that the Almighty has freely chosen to come to us, who can dare invent a better path to go to Him? We should imitate the Trinity and rely on her effective maternal influence so that we may be more intimately, more directly united with the Father, through the Incarnate Son, in the power of the Spirit.
