Anecdotes about the Virgin Mary

"All to Jesus through Mary: Montfort and the origin of Totus Tuus"

Saint-Laurent-sur-Sèvre (France) (1673-1716)

Saint Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort (1673-1716), a Breton missionary buried in Saint- Laurent- sur- Sèvre, is one of the great teachers of modern Marian spirituality. In his «Tratado de la verdadera devoción a la Santísima Virgen» propuso una total consecration to Jesus Christ by Mary's hands: to give him all that one is and possesses, in a spirit of slavery of love, to belong at all to Christ. The text was for a little time spread, almost hidden; later rediscovered, it has had an enormous influence, especially in St. John Paul II.

This is a matter of strict detail. It's Historically documented that Montfort proposes in his treaty the total consecration to Mary as a safe and fast way to Jesus Christ, and that san Juan Pablo II declaró que su lema «Totus Tuus» se inspira directamente en esa doctrina. Instead, no consta que san Luis María usara exactamente la fórmula «Totus Tuus» como lema propio en el sentido en que la asumió el Papa; lo que sí consta es la idea montfortian of total membership. The ritual formula of consecration (with the preparation of 33 days) has its origin in Montfort; the concrete motto is synthesis and reception of the 20th century.

El vínculo con el Rosary He's central to his work. Montfort also wrote the «Secreto del Rosario», from where you present as compendium of the Evangelium and as a school of true devotion, because it teaches to look at Jesus with the eyes of Mary by contemplating the mysteries. For him, the Rosary is the practical means to persevere in consecration: who has given himself to Jesus by Mary supports it with the daily prayer and meditation of mysteries. It consists of his writings esta insistencia y su defensa del Rosario frente a quienes lo tenían por mera repetición. Los abundantes relatos de conversiones y milagros que recoge en el «Secreto» proceden en gran parte de la tradición dominicana anterior y la Iglesia los lee como Pious examples, not as verifiable chronicles on a case-by-case basis.