a holy Marian
Saint Louis is the founder of the Montfortian Fathers and the Sisters of Wisdom. He was born in Montfort, France, in 1673. He was the oldest in a family of eight children. From a very young age he was a great devotee of the Blessed Virgin, and at the age of 12, people already saw him spend long periods of time kneeling before the statue of the Mother of God.
The defense of truth against the Jansenist heresy
He fought tirelessly against Jansenism, a religious movement of the Catholic Church, mainly popular in Europe, during the 17th century and later. His name comes from the theologian and bishop Cornelius Jansenius (1585-1638).
A prayerful soul, he devoted much of his time and pastoral work to evangelizing and defending the Catholic faith from other currents such as rationalism, Protestantism and Jansenism.
His work focused primarily on charitable missions with the poorest and most forgotten in society.
Pilgrimage on foot to see the Pope and his mission with the people
On foot and on alms he went to Rome, asking God for the efficacy of the word, and he obtained it in such a way that hearing his sermons converted even the most hardened sinners. Pope Clement XI received him very kindly and granted him the title of “Apostolic Missionary”, with permission to preach everywhere.
Likewise, he founded one of the religious communities that have done great works for the conversion of souls: the Monfortian Fathers, whose community he named “Company of Mary”, and the Sisters of Wisdom.
all you
Saint Louis also wrote one of the books that, together with “The Glories of Mary” by Saint Alphonsus, has become one of the most famous books that have been written about the devotion to the Virgin Mary: the “Treaty of the true devotion to the Virgin Mary”, a work that has spread throughout the world with enormous benefit to its readers. Even Pope John Paul II took as a motto a phrase that our great saint repeated a lot as a formula for consecration to Mary, Totus tuus:
“I am all yours, oh Mary, and everything I have is yours.”
St. Louis died on April 28, 1716, at the age of 43 from a sudden illness.
“Whom God wants to make very holy, he makes him very devoted to the Blessed Virgin.” Saint Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort