St.
Louis Marie Grignon de Montfort
John Paul II
To the Participants in the 8th International
Mariological Colloquium
October 13, 2000
Dear Brothers and Sisters!
1. I am pleased to welcome you today during the
Eighth International Mariological Colloquium on
the theme: "St Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort:
Trinitarian Spirituality in Communion with
Mary". An affectionate greeting to you all: the
organizers, moderators and participants. I
extend special thanks to Bishop François Garnier
of Luçon for his cordial words expressing the
sentiments you all share.
Today's meeting recalls the one held here in
Rome in 1706 between my venerable predecessor
Clement XI and the Breton missionary, Grignion
de Montfort, who had come to ask the Successor
of Peter for light and strength in the
apostolate he had undertaken. I also remember
with gratitude the pilgrimage to the tomb of
this great saint in Saint-Laurent-sur-Sèvre,
which Providence allowed me to make on 19
September 1996.
For me, St Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort is a
significant person of reference who has
enlightened me at important moments in life.
When I was working as a clandestine seminarian
at the Solvay factory in Kraków, my spiritual
director advised me to meditate on the True
Devotion to the Blessed Virgin. Many times and
with great spiritual profit I read and reread
this precious little ascetical book with the
blue, soda-stained cover. By relating the Mother
of Christ to the Trinitarian mystery, Montfort
helped me to understand that the Virgin belongs
to the plan of salvation, by the Father's will,
as the Mother of the incarnate Word, who was
conceived by her through the power of the Holy
Spirit. Mary's every intervention in the work of
the regeneration of the faithful is not in
competition with Christ, but derives from him
and is at his service. Mary's action in the plan
of salvation is always Christocentric, that is,
it is directly related to a mediation that takes
place in Christ. I then realized that I could
not exclude the Mother of the Lord from my life
without disregarding the will of
God-the-Trinity, who wanted to "begin and
complete" the great mysteries of salvation
history with the responsible and faithful
collaboration of the humble Handmaid of
Nazareth.
Now I also thank the Lord for enabling me to
experience what you too have had the opportunity
to study at this colloquium, i.e., that when the
believer accepts Mary into his life in Christ
and the Spirit, he is brought into the very
heart of the Trinitarian mystery.
2. Dear brothers and sisters, during your
symposium you have reflected on Trinitarian
spirituality in communion with Mary: an aspect
which is characteristic of Montfort's teaching.
He does not, in fact, offer a theology without
influence on practical life, nor a Christianity
"by proxy" without the personal acceptance of
the commitments stemming from Baptism. On the
contrary, he invites us to an intensely lived
spirituality; he encourages us to make a free
and conscious gift of ourselves to Christ and,
through him, to the Holy Spirit and to the
Father. In this light, we understand how
reference to Mary makes the renewal of our
baptismal promises perfect, since Mary is indeed
the creature "most conformed to Jesus Christ"
(True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin, n. 120).
Yes, the whole Christocentric and Marian
spirituality taught by Montfort flows from the
Trinity and leads back to it. In this
connection, we are struck by his insistence on
the action of the three divine Persons in Mary's
regard. God the Father "gave his Only-begotten
Son to the world only through Mary" and "wishes
to have children through Mary until the end of
the world" (ibid., nn. 16, 29). God the Son
"became man for our salvation but only in Mary
and through Mary" and "wishes to form himself
and, so to speak, incarnate himself every day in
his members through his dear Mother" (ibid., nn.
16, 31). God the Holy Spirit "has communicated
his unspeakable gifts to Mary, his faithful
Spouse" and "wishes to form elect for himself in
her and through her" (ibid., nn. 25, 34).
3. Mary therefore appears as the place of the
love and action of the Persons of the Trinity,
and Montfort presents her in a relational
perspective: "Mary is entirely relative to God.
Indeed, I might well call her the relation to
God. She exists only with reference to God"
(ibid., n. 225). For this reason, the All-Holy
One leads us to the Trinity. By repeating "Totus
tuus" to her every day and living in harmony
with her, we can attain an experience of the
Father in confidence and boundless love (cf.
ibid., nn. 169, 215), docility to the Spirit
(cf. ibid., n. 258) and transformation of self
into the likeness of Christ (cf. ibid., nn.
218-221).
It sometimes happens that in catechesis and
exercises of piety "the Trinitarian and
Christological note that is intrinsic and
essential to them" remains implicit (Apostolic
Exhortation Marialis cultus, n. 25). In Grignion
de Montfort's vision, however, Trinitarian faith
totally pervades his prayers to Mary: "Hail
Mary, well-beloved daughter of the eternal
Father, admirable Mother of the Son, most
faithful spouse of the Holy Spirit, glorious
temple of the Blessed Trinity" (Methods for
Saying the Rosary, n. 15). Similarly, in the
Prayer for Missionaries, addressed to the three
divine Persons and focused on the last times of
the Church, Mary is contemplated as "the
mountain of God" (n. 25), the place of holiness
that lifts us up to God and transforms us in
Christ.
May every Christian make his own the doxology
that Montfort puts on Mary's lips in the
Magnificat: "May our one true God / be adored
and blessed! / May the universe resound / and
everyone sing: / Glory to the eternal Father, /
glory to the adorable Word! / The same glory to
the Holy Spirit / who unites them with his love
in an unspeakable bond" (Canticles, 85, 6).
As I implore for each of you the constant help
of the Blessed Virgin, so that you can live your
vocation in communion with her, our Mother and
model, I cordially give you a special Apostolic
Blessing.
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