Saint Louis de Montfort

Louis-Marie Grignion was born in 1673 at Montfort-sur-Meu in Brittany. Educated by the Jesuits at Rennes, he walked to Paris to study for the priesthood and was ordained in 1700. After serving as a hospital chaplain in Poitiers, he went to Rome in 1706, where Pope Clement XI named him an apostolic missionary.

For the rest of his short life he preached parish missions throughout western France, especially Brittany and the Vendée, renewing faith among poor country people with hymns, processions, the Rosary and great outdoor crosses. Often opposed by Jansenist clergy and authorities, he persevered with humility and joy. He founded the Daughters of Wisdom, with Blessed Marie-Louise Trichet, and the Company of Mary priests. His writings, especially True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin and The Secret of the Rosary, became spiritual classics. Exhausted by his labors, he died at Saint-Laurent-sur-Sèvre on April 28, 1716, at forty-three. He was canonized in 1947.

Many Catholics prepare for 33 days and then make his total consecration to Jesus through Mary, often renewing it on Marian feasts. Saint John Paul II took his motto Totus Tuus from Montfort's writings.

The Montfortian family of priests, brothers and sisters serves in Latin America, the Philippines and around the world.