St. Louis de Montfort - The Power of the Rosary
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- By Hannah Lanier
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Today is the feast day of St. Louis de Montfort, a French priest, and confessor, with a special dedication to Our Lady, especially the promulgation and faithfulness to the Most Holy Rosary. St. Louis devoted most of his life to preaching the importance of praying the Rosary. Totus Tuus was his motto, a motto that St. Pope John Paul II took as his episcopal motto, bringing an even wider notice to St. Louis and his philosophy of life. He wrote the book True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin, where he stresses the importance of Marian devotion. With a life so completely dedicated to Our Lady, how could this priest not achieve sainthood? And he spent his existence on earth doing the best he could to bring others to eternal happiness as well, through the most well-known, and one of the most loved devotions of our faith. "We never give more honor to Jesus than when we honor his Mother, and we honor her simply and solely to honor him all the more perfectly. We go to her only as a way leading to the goal we seek - Jesus, her Son." To Jesus through Mary. "Mary is the safest, easiest, shortest, and most perfect way of approaching Jesus and will surrender themselves to her, body and soul, without reserve in order to belong entirely to Jesus." All of our sufferings, all of our prayers, if given to Our Lady, go straight to Christ, and give us a more perfect chance of eternal happiness. Mary is a mother through and through. She ardently desires to cover us with her mantle and bring us closer to her Son. When we pray the Rosary, we are one step closer to Heaven. Let us all offer a Rosary today for the intentions of the Most Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. Through the intercession of St. Louis de Montfort may we too live totally for God. St. Louis de Montfort, pray for us!
Prayer of St. Louis de Montfort to Our Lady
Hail Mary, beloved Daughter of the Eternal Father! Hail Mary, admirable Mother of the Son! Hail Mary, faithful spouse of the Holy Ghost! Hail Mary, my dear Mother, my loving Mistress, my powerful sovereign! Hail my joy, my glory, my heart, and my soul! Thou art all mine by mercy, and I am all thine by justice. But I am not yet sufficiently thine. I now give myself wholly to thee without keeping anything back for myself or others. If thou still seest in me anything which does not belong to thee, I beseech thee to take it and to make thyself the absolute Mistress of all that is mine. Destroy in me all that may be displeasing to God; root it up and bring it to naught; place and cultivate in me everything that is pleasing to thee.
May the light of thy faith dispel the darkness of my mind; may thy profound humility take the place of my pride; may thy sublime contemplation check the distractions of my wandering imagination; may thy continuous sight of God fill my memory with His presence; may the burning love of thy heart inflame the lukewarmness of mine; may thy virtues take the place of my sins; may thy merits be my only adornment in the sight of God and make up for all that is wanting in me.
Finally, dearly beloved Mother, grant, if it be possible, that I may have no other spirit but thine, to know Jesus and His divine will; that I may have no other soul but thine, to praise and glorify the Lord; that I may have no other heart but thine, to love God with a love as pure and ardent as thine.
I do not ask thee for visions, revelations, sensible devotion, or spiritual pleasures. It is thy privilege to see God clearly; it is thy privilege to enjoy heavenly bliss; it is thy privilege to triumph gloriously in Heaven at the right hand of thy Son and to hold absolute sway over angels, men and demons; it is thy privilege to dispose of all the gifts of God just as thou willest.
Such is, O heavenly Mary, the “best part,” which the Lord has given thee and which shall never be taken away from thee—and this thought fills my heart with joy. As for my part here below, I wish for no other than that which was thine: to believe sincerely without spiritual pleasures; to suffer joyfully without human consolation; to die continually to myself without respite; and to work zealously and unselfishly for thee until death as the humblest of thy servants.
The only grace I beg thee to obtain for me is that every day and every moment of my life I may say “Amen; so be it”—to all that thou didst do while on earth; “Amen; so be it”—to all that thou art now doing in Heaven; “Amen; so be it”—to all that thou art doing in my soul, so that thou alone mayest fully glorify Jesus in me for time and eternity. Amen.
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