JESUS LIVING IN MARY:
HANDBOOK OF THE SPIRITUALITY OF ST. LOUIS DE MONTFORT
PRIEST
Summary
I. Typology of the Priest in the Time of Montfort:
1. The characteristics of the priest in the post-Tridentine
Church:
a. "New priests for new faithful";
b. Situation of the clergy before the tridentine renewal.
2. The reformers of the French clergy;
a. The Oratorian School;
b. Saint Sulpice;
c. Other artisans.
3. Identity and mission of the priest;
4. The Dimensions of priestly spirituality;
a. Theocentrism;
b. Christ the mediator;
c. Mary;
d. Mystical orientation;
e. Separation from the world.
II. Montfort, a Priest Both Mystic And Missionary:
1. As seminarian and young priest:
a. At Rennes;
b. At Saint Sulpice in Paris.
2. Priestly life:
a. Priest, both mystic and missionary;
b. Christ Wisdom and devotion to Mary;
c. Poverty;
d. Pastoral sense.
3. Relations with the clergy of his day.
III. The Priest in the Thought of Montfort:
1. Jesus, priest and victim;
2. The type of priest desired by Montfort;
3. The offering of the Eucharist in union with Mary;
4. The universal priesthood.
IV. The Priestly Dimension in Montfort Spirituality:
1. Vows of Baptism and priestly promises;
2. Baptismal life and sacerdotal commitment;
3. Mary, bearer of the priestly spirit of the risen Christ;
4. The heavenly priesthood.
I. TYPOLOGY OF THE PRIEST IN THE TIME OF MONTFORT
Without any doubt, Montfort is "a man of his century" said [H. Daniel-
Rops]. He is also one of the best witnesses of his century’s Sulpician
and Berullian spirituality, which he modified and enriched by his life
and writings.1 Montfort was a priest both mystic and missionary, a
combination not well known and in need of additional study.
1. The Characteristics of the Priest in the Post-Tridentine Church
a. "New priests for new faithful".
Fifty years after the closing of the Council of Trent (1545–1563),
France appeared to be "a mission country without missionaries."2 With
the assembly of the clergy of 1615, a pastoral ideal was put in place
which demanded "new priests for new faithful."3 By 1640 the Tridentine
reform was underway in France and seminaries were opened.
If the first half of the seventeenth century was the generation of
pioneer priests, the second was the time of holy priests who possessed
the grace to touch hearts both in preaching and in the celebration of
the liturgy.4 As a consequence, pastoral work improved: catechizing
insisted upon the sacraments and preaching on the pedagogy of prayer and
the renewal of the vows of baptism.
b. Situation of the clergy before the Tridentine renewal.
Around 1600, the clergy was extremely numerous in France, but its
lifestyle was decadent, its moral sense deficient, and its cultural
preparation limited. Pastorally, the priest was underemployed. He was
attentive to benefices but lacking in zeal and piety. In addition to
being a notable person and a leader within his own jurisdiction, a
priest was "a man apart," more feared than loved, more endured than
accepted. In 1659, Vincent de Paul told the priests of his community:
"The church has no worse enemies than its priests."5 And, taking into
account the overabundance of priests and the lack of priestly service to
the faithful, he concluded: "There are too many bad priests."6 The
situation clearly got better under Louis XV (d. 1774) and his successor,
Louis XVI (d. 1793). Little by little the corrupt and over-privileged
clergy, typical of the epoch of the Council of Trent, was reduced to
such a few that at the beginning of the French revolution in 1789, the
priest was a man fully trusted by his parishioners.7
2. The Reformers of the French Clergy
"The formation of good priests is really a masterpiece of this world,"
affirmed Vincent de Paul.8 The principal artisans of this masterpiece
were Bérulle and the Oratory, and Saint Sulpice Seminary, which lived
within the halo of the Berullian school.9
a. The Oratorian School.
The goal of the Oratory was "to raise up the state of the priesthood"
with a program not so much of reform as of sanctification. Its founder,
Cardinal de Bérulle (1575–1629), desired to rehabilitate the priesthood
in the eyes of the faithful, who feared or faulted priests. Charles de
Condren (1588–1641), who succeed Bérulle as superior of the Oratory, was
very attentive to the spiritual discipline needed for a minister of God.
Saint John Eudes (1601–1680), an authentic Bérullian, was a man of
action and of recognized holiness, a true missionary and the founder of
several religious institutes. He dedicated himself to the formation of
the clergy. In his mind, the seminary was "a school of piety and an
academy of holiness" more than a school of theology.10 He promoted the
annual clergy retreats of eight to ten days.
b. Saint Sulpice.
The "Land of Saints," Saint Sulpice is the matrix and the nursery of the
French clergy. The seminary was founded by J. J. Olier (1608–1657), a
priest and mystic, a missionary and reformer. With its four communities
of seminarians, Saint Sulpice’s purpose was the spiritual and
theological formation of candidates for the priesthood. The second
director of this work was A. de Bretonvilliers (1621–1671), a guardian
and faithful interpreter of the apostolic ideal of the founder. However,
the pedagogical orientation changed with L. Tronson (1622–1700), who
bent Sulpician spirituality towards a spiritual and moral psychologism.
He attributed the primacy of all priestly virtues to obedience and
insisted on the observance of the slightest details of the rules. With
the collaboration of Brenier and Baüyn, he founded, around 1684, the
"Minor Seminary" for the less fortunate aspirants to the priesthood.11
He was the superior general when Montfort entered the seminary at Paris.
With A. Brenier (1641–1714)—the same priest who tested the vocation of
Louis Marie—the psychologism of Tronson attained its greatest
development. A true champion of mortification, Brenier enjoyed a
reputation of sanctity among the seminarians. J. J. Baüyn (1641–1696), a
convert from Calvinsism, displayed another orientation: that of a man
"so full of God and so empty of everything else."12 He had a great
esteem for the priesthood which he considered as an angelic dignity and
a source of responsibility towards the Church. He renewed in the
seminary of Saint Sulpice the examples and the ideals of Olier. Montfort
received from Baüyn, his spiritual director from 1692 to 1696, a clear
mystical and missionary orientation. Father Leschassier (1641–1725), the
successor of Tronson in the direction of Saint Sulpice, was a person of
extraordinary virtue enjoying a reputation of prudence and wisdom.
Chosen by the seminarian Montfort as spiritual director, he took great
interest in Montfort for some time, guiding him along a spiritual and
apostolic path.
c. Other artisans.
Among those who gave themselves to the formation of the clergy, the
figure of Vincent de Paul (1581–1660) stands out. He believed it
necessary to give Christian instruction to the poor and therefore, first
of all, to reform clerics in order to be able to reach the people
through them.13 Montfort wanted his missionary priests to model
themselves on those of Vincent de Paul (RM 7, 66). Claude Poullart des
Places (1679–1709), founder of Holy Spirit seminary, dedicated his
resources to the support of poor candidates looking for the possibility
of studying for the priesthood. Louis Marie de Montfort asked his
missionaries of the Company of Mary to prepare themselves both in
knowledge and virtue in des Places’s seminary in Paris (RM 1). Along
with the founders of seminaries are the Jesuits (instituted in 1543) who
also collaborated in priestly formation as spiritual directors and in
various other ways. They were always the friends of Montfort (TD 161; RM
15, 19).
3. Identity and Mission of the Priest
In the context of the French school, there developed a profound
understanding of the nature of the priesthood and its functions. "To
govern a soul is to govern the world,"14 and the sacerdotal mission is
to form Christ in souls. The priest is the sacrament of Jesus, the one
High Priest. It is in the name of Christ that the priest acts and works,
having been clothed with salvific divine authority. In the celebration
of the Eucharist, the priest cooperates with God the Father in the
Father’s glorious generation of the Son in time. The source of the
incomprehensible dignity of the priesthood is in its function: priests
are called "with reason, not only angels but also gods since they
represent, near to us, the immortal power and sublimity of God."15
Therefore, a holiness greater than that of a religious is demanded of
a priest; his life must be a total immolation. The young aspirant to the
priesthood must prepare himself in the house of formation at least like
a novice in the cloister pursuing religious life.
At Saint Sulpice the priestly spiritual formation was carried out with
vigor. Brenier partially lost the intuition of Olier since he gave so
much attention to the smallest practices, to blind obedience, to total
disdain of the world; but Baüyn accentuated the responsibility the
priest takes on in relation to the mystical Body. The Treatise on the
Duties of a Good Parish Priest (F. V. Hersé, 1660) exhorts priests in
charge of souls to cultivate "the heart of a mother," while Olier
himself yearns that the heart of a priest be as large as the Church in
the world.
4. The Dimensions of Priestly Spirituality
a. Theocentrism.
For Bérulle and his school, priestly spirituality is theocentric: "In
the first place, it is absolutely necessary to consider God and not
oneself . . . and to act only for the pure honor of God."16 To be a
priest signifies, before all else, to put first in one’s own life the
love of God and service to one’s neighbor. Olier accepted to be a parish
priest at the end of a spiritual retreat, during which he consecrated
himself to God by a special vow of service towards every member of the
Church.
b. Christ the mediator.
Bérulle made a vow of perpetual service to Christ-mediator—Son, servant
and adorer of the Father—since Jesus himself is "in the service of the
Father." Following their founder, the priests of the Oratory pronounced
a vow of perpetual service to the Lord. In like manner, Charles de
Condren and Olier consecrated themselves to Christ by the formula: "I
offer myself in the person of Jesus, perfect victim and faithful
servant, to live and to die in following his example, in the continual
dispositions of victim and of service."17 The consecration of oneself in
union with Jesus flows from the "consummatum est" of the passion and
from two sacraments of the covenant: Baptism and Eucharist.
c. Mary.
Devotion to the Blessed Mother is one of the great theological themes of
the seventeenth century (TD 161). Bérulle’s vow of servitude to Mary
follows on the vow of service to Jesus Christ, which is theologically
founded on the vows of Baptism. Montfort better unites the perspective
of Bérulle and identifies consecration to Mary as the perfect renewal of
the baptismal promises (TD 120, 162).
Olier, who calls himself a slave of Mary (TD 170), affirms that Our
Lady carried in her womb all creatures; in her God forms the Son in all
of his extension—Christ the Head and his entire ecclesial body.18 He
decided that the patronal feast of the Sulpician seminary be the
Presentation of Mary in the temple, November 21. This is a feast day of
the clergy (as is February 2, the Presentation of Jesus in the temple)
on which the clergy present at the seminary renewed their priestly
promises through the hands of Mary, a practice which Eudes successfully
adopted.
Tronson suggested to Montfort that he modify the formula "slave of
Mary to slave of Jesus in Mary" (TD 244).19 Brenier taught dependence on
Our Lady and Baüyn adhered personally to the practice of holy slavery;
Leschassier, although not fully adhering to the slavery of love, did
profess devotion to Our Blessed Mother. This clear Marian dimension
explains the innovation of Charles de Condren and of Olier concerning
the celebration of the Eucharist for the intentions of Mary.
d. Mystical orientation.
While Olier insisted simultaneously on the mystical and apostolic
aspect, the seminary of Saint Sulpice stressed the profound piety
required of the minister of God, even if this meant placing limits on
preaching and pastoral work. Tronson accentuated the dignity of the
priest and his sanctification by means of eucharistic devotion and
separation from the world. For him, the observance of the rule is
preferable to any personal charisms.20 Even Bérulle and de Condren,
although with different nuances, chose obedience and total oblation to
the will of God as the principle of holiness, fed by eucharistic
devotion and the Mass, the center of all devotion. Boudon and J. B.
Saint-Jure recommended the love of the cross which is the masterpiece of
the Wisdom of God.21 The priest, therefore, must suffer with Christ in
order to make reparation with him for sin. Brenier preferred little
practices, blind obedience, disdain for the world, and finally, Baüyn
enclosed spiritual direction around the Mass, confession, fidelity to
the little rules. In conclusion, the new type of priest had to be
modest, obedient, charitable, zealous, and pious.
e. Separation from the world.
Olier wanted priests to live separated from the world in order to busy
themselves only with heavenly realities. Not without reason he requested
"the profession of death to the world, and the profession of the folly
of the gospel."22 Leschassier echoes his sentiments in recommending to
the priest trained at St. Sulpice seminary the love of a life withdrawn
from the world, consumed in eucharistic adoration, and in the service of
the liturgy: outside of his own community, the priest is in a frightful
state and far from his own center. He taught that "suffering is worth
more than acting."23 The perfection of the priesthood consisted above
all in abnegation: he will be attentive to the rule and, if necessary,
keep in check pastoral work.
II. MONTFORT, A PRIEST BOTH MYSTIC AND MISSIONARY
1. As seminarian and young priest
a. At Rennes (1684–1692).
In 1684, Louis Marie entered the college of the Jesuits at Rennes and
for eight consecutive years followed the complete course of the
humanities. The college counted about two thousand students, all non-
boarders, and from a variety of social backgrounds. The courses were
free. The spiritual director, Father Descartes, opened up to the young
Louis Marie the ideal of divine love which is to be found in abandonment
of any human supports. The example and the conferences of J. Bellier
oriented him towards the service of the poor,24 an apostolate made even
more attractive by the example of his uncle priests, Gilles and Alain
Robert. Contact with Father Provost and his friendship with his fellow
student, Claude Poullart des Places, developed within him devotion to
the Virgin Mary.
During this period, an ideal of piety and of apostolic commitment in
the context of evangelical poverty and mortification begin to mature in
Montfort. The priestly vocation appeared to him not like climbing the
ladder to a higher social class that enjoys special privileges, but as a
ministry lived in poverty and in abandonment to Providence. He had
already left his family in order to seek virtue and to serve God
freely.25
b. At Saint Sulpice in Paris.
In 1692, at the age of 19, Louis Grignion went to Paris in order to
prepare for the priesthood. He was welcomed among "the poor students"
of Claude Bottu de la Barmondière and then among those of Father
Boucher, where the extreme poverty touched on misery. As if in
compensation, their love for studies was intense. Finally, he was
admitted to the Little Seminary of Saint Sulpice, which was reserved for
students with little or no money. He began his theological studies at
the Sorbonne, but chose to continue his education at the seminary
itself: he intended to study exclusively because of his yearning for
God.26 He never did doctoral work for he chose to remain among "the
simple folk": he would be a preacher to the masses, while also being "a
humanist and poet, . . . a master of classical language."27 At the
seminary, he was given the task of librarian, a charge which gave him
the opportunity of reading and transcribing into his notebook many
citations concerning Christ and the Virgin Mary. It also was the
occasion to begin composing hymns, which he would utilize in his future
apostolate.
In the course of these eight years, during which he matured in his
desire for missionary life, he intensified his prayer and mortification
and deepened his devotion to Mary, who would guide his spiritual life
and ministry. While assimilating the works of certain masters of
spirituality, he was distancing himself—without even realizing it—from
the orientation of Tronson, so measured, so filled with prudence and
moderation.
2. Priestly Life
In June, 1700, Louis Marie was ordained a priest. His priestly life would
unfold for a period of sixteen years. After a rather slow beginning,
which lasted six years, and a pilgrimage to Rome (1706), where the Holy
Father named him "missionary apostolic," he at last became the preacher
of parish missions in the west of France.
a. Priest, both mystic and missionary.
After leaving Saint Sulpice, where he felt as though he were living "in
a shell" (L 4), Montfort passed from contemplative spirituality—to be
more precise, the spirituality of the hidden life of the seminary—to an
apostolic spirituality. He refused all offers to be part of the
formation team in charge of seminarians, so that he could fully dedicate
himself to catechizing and preaching. In the eyes of Montfort, the
apostolic life is not a danger, but a means of holiness and of growth in
perfection (H 22:23). He began his apostolate in the midst of the
rejects of Poitiers society at the city hospice. With the permission of
the bishop he went to Paris, where he experienced absolute solitude and
total abandonment to Providence. During the summer of 1703, in a closet
under the stairway of Pot-du-fer Street in Paris, while he deepened his
thought on Wisdom, he discovered again his vocation as an itinerant
missionary and he balanced his yearning for a hidden life with his
missionary calling. He liberated himself from scrupulous subjection to a
multitude of little obligations in order to give priority to the
interior movements of the spirit. He thereby restored the mystical and
missionary value of the priesthood: he immersed himself in the midst of
society even if it were at the price of an extremely poor life and
subject to misunderstandings and persecutions.28
b. Christ Wisdom and devotion to Mary.
"I have espoused Wisdom and the cross where are all my treasures" (L
20), Father Louis Marie wrote to his mother on August 28, 1704. The
mystical marriage with Christ, Wisdom crucified, constituted henceforth
the foundation of his prayer; even his innate "singularity" was now
defined as a "wisdom." In reality, the way or path of Jesus Wisdom was
illuminated by a secret: the maternal presence of Mary permitted him to
live the "slavery of love" as the offering of his own life to God. He
thus conformed himself to the obedience of the Son of God continuing in
his flesh the offering of Jesus, who wished to depend on his Mother. The
art of living was based on an abandonment or forgetfulness of self. The
soul, stripped of everything but regenerated in the womb of Mary,
received the characteristics of the Lord, the crucified servant. Living
with Jesus in Mary, Montfort the priest accepted the rigorous discipline
of renouncing his own will in order to live as the humble sacrament of
ecclesial service.
c. Poverty.
The discovery of Christ Wisdom led Montfort the priest to abandon
himself to Providence in voluntary poverty, which he believed necessary
both for the spiritual life and for the apostolate (H 22:1). The poor
priest is a king who is filled with the possession of God (PM 25; ACM
5:7; TD 135) and enriched with spiritual goods. Poverty is a free choice
in a social and ecclesiastical system which could strongly affect his
priestly life.29 Following the example of J. B. de la Salle, he refused
a canonry which Madame de Montespan offered him (L 6:9) and he affirmed
that he would never exchange Providence for any benefice (L 6) because,
so he wrote, "If God has risked his life, should not I risk mine?" (LPM
6; cf. H 91:6).
Love for poverty called him to the service of the outcasts. In March
1704, the poor of Poitiers welcomed him with a great festival. He was as
poor as the poor; he dressed and ate like them and became a beggar for
them. On their part, they never hesitated to proclaim him "their true
priest." They defined him, so to speak, as "the one who so loves the
poor."30 Gifted with the grace to touch hearts, "he possesses a heart so
tender that it is found in none other." He took care of the poor and the
rejects of society with the hands of a mother: he is "the good Father
from Montfort."
d. Pastoral sense.
He not only esteemed catechizing, preaching, and the renewal of the vows
of baptism by the means of slavery of love, but Montfort also revealed
gifts of being a missionary organizer and an innovator in pastoral work.
He restored churches, erected crosses and calvaries, painted banners,
organized processions and pilgrimages, instituted or restored
confraternities (L 11 and n. 1), founded religious communities, composed
methods of popular prayer, and wrote hymns to be sung during the
celebrations of the mission. In sum: he constructed a method of
preaching and a style of pastoral work unique in their form and
content.31
3. Relations with the Clergy of His Day
In general, Louis Marie was not accepted by the bourgeois and lay world.
That should not surprise anyone; but what does cause surprise are the
disputes and frequent refusals on the part of different bishops, of
priests and even of his friends and collaborators who became hostile or
even defiant. Some examples stand out: Leschassier, his director, who
pushed him aside without listening to him; or Blain, who, when accusing
him of wanting to canonize his own ideas, begged him to be more
condescending to the common rules of social life.
Montfort was rebuffed by the well-settled clergy because of his
"singularity,"32 misunderstood because of his evangelical radicalism. In
reality, he was a priest who was upsetting and disturbing,33 for the
very reason of his "originality" which followed him everywhere. Up to
the end, he carried with him the hair shirt of his singularity. But to
be singular is his wisdom, which makes him apt to preach "like the
apostles" (RM 60–61).
He sought especially in his last years to converse and collaborate
with everyone, even if for a poor priest like him there was no
institutional mediation that could protect him. It is not without reason
that he describes himself like a ball in a game of tennis: no sooner am
I hurled to one side than I am whacked back to the other" (L 26).
By conscious choice, he tended to dissociate himself from priests who
loved tranquillity and a sedentary life (RM 2, 12; L 5), from
fashionable preachers who actually did no more than beat the breeze (RM
2, 60), from priests quite secure and worldly (RM 6). We can then
understand more easily his reply to Blain: "Let me walk in my own way;
more so because it is the road which Jesus Christ taught by his example
and his counsels."34 He himself chose his own collaborators, priests,
and lay people,35 and he invited good priests everywhere to unite with
him in his missions (L 5; PM 29).
III. The Priest in the Thought of Montfort
1. Jesus, Priest and Victim
According to the French School, Jesus is the true and principal priest
since he is the mediator and the victim, the offerer and the victim of
God most high. For Louis de Montfort, Christ is the high priest who
enters and leaves this world by the eastern gate who is Mary (TD 262).
In the Wisdom of the Cross (LEW 159; FC 45; H 19:1), Jesus is the priest
and victim who offers himself to the Father by the hands of Mary. In
truth, God the Son wanted his Mother present at Calvary in order to be
able "to make with him but one and the same sacrifice and in order to be
immolated by her consent to the eternal Father as formerly Isaac was
offered by the consent of Abraham to the will of God. It is Mary who fed
him, nourished him, took care of him, raised him and sacrificed him for
us" (TD 18; cf. LG 61).
2. The Type of Priest Desired by Montfort
Having assimilated Sulpician spirituality in the line of Olier, Montfort
considered as central in the life of a priest the sacrament of the
altar: the celebration of Mass (L 33), thanksgiving, preparation for the
Eucharist, administration of Communion (S 338). He is conscious of the
sacerdotal commitment required by the sacrament of Confession (RM 56,
58–59). Naturally, the sacramental life is accompanied and preceded by
the preaching of the word of God (RM 2, 50, 60–65; H 22), to which
Montfort gives priority in his pastoral method. He therefore asks God to
raise up poor missionaries, courageous and disinterested (PM 21). The
type of priest that Montfort yearned for had to be a missionary (L 5), a
preacher according to divine Wisdom (LEW 97; H 4:12), one who gives to
souls the Word Incarnate.
Six months after his ordination—December, 1700—he begged God to create
"a little and poor company" of itinerant apostles who, free from the
system of benefices, live abandoned to Providence (L5, 6; RM 7, 19; LS
320).36 They are to be priests filled with fire who, like the apostles
(RM 2), dedicate themselves to preaching the word in order to renew the
spirit of Christianity. He requests from them a style of life that
corresponds to their commitments: they are to love the Eucharist (RM
30), to obey the bishops (RM 22), not to accept parishes (RM 2), to fly
from a sedentary and quiet life in community (RM 7, 66). Above all, the
members of the community must cultivate study and prayer in order to
taste and to make others taste the divine word (RM 60). In conclusion,
the missionary priest as seen by Montfort "leads a life so poor, so
hard, so abandoned to Providence," that such a life is not possible
except for "extraordinary men."37
Montfort also treats of "wicked" priests of his time: "ministers who
are poor in the midst of the great divine treasures" (LS 296), who
consider the priesthood a means of obtaining honors and fortune;
fashionable preachers—false prophets—who trust in their own
capabilities. The good priests—good preachers (RM 61–65) formed and
inspired by Wisdom (LEW 47, 90, 119, 122), worthy ministers who uphold
the Church by the holiness of their life (S 290)—should not mix in with
them (H 32, 31, 34).
3. The Offering of the Eucharist in Union with Mary
The Marian dimension of priestly spirituality of the French School has
already been touched upon. Against this background, Montfort does not
speak of the priesthood of Mary; he does declare that she has immolated
and sacrificed her Son by her loving surrender, by "her consent to the
eternal Father" (TD 18). This thought is based upon F. Poiré and also
Bernardine of Paris (N 285–92), authors who deepened the theme of
communion with Mary at the moment when the priest at the Eucharist
receives the body of her Son in sacramental communion.38 The innovation
of founding masses to be applied to the intentions of Mary comes
directly from Charles de Condren: only this godlike Mother is prepared
to offer Christ in a continual, new, and perfect manner.39 Olier spread
this practice, exhorting priests to offer Mass—especially on Saturdays—
for the intentions of Mary. He disclosed that it was the Mother of the
Lord herself who requested this service.40
Montfort says nothing explicitly concerning this, but he does write
that because of Our Lady’s hypothetically necessary fiat, Christ
immolates himself by means of Mary (H 49:3) from the beginning of
redemption, since his sacrifice to the Father begins at the incarnation
in the womb of his Mother. He teaches that by consecration to Jesus
through Mary, one entrusts to Mary the liberty, the rights and the
merits of one’s soul, since she is the depository of spiritual goods (SM
40; TD 176, 216) and the treasury of all divine grace (LEW 207; SM 19;
TD 24, 28, 44, 206, 20).
He declares that the consecration to Jesus through Mary respects the
obligations of a priest who has to celebrate Mass for a particular
intention (TD 124; cf. H 139:18). Granted that the Eucharist of the
priest continues the one and the same sacrifice of Christ, the Son of
Mary, it could be held that it is according to the spirit of Montfort to
celebrate the Eucharist, in the measure that is possible, for the
intentions of Our Lady.
4. The Universal Priesthood
Montfort treats only in an indirect manner of baptismal priesthood.
Moreover, this theme does not appear, at least in any explicit fashion,
in the writings of the masters of the French School (although Bérulle,
in his Rule of the Oratory makes allusion to the priesthood of the
faithful41). In the thought of Olier, the priest is quite different from
a lay person. And Montfort, following his masters on this point, copied
a note in his Book of Sermons which declared that the minister of God is
above the people (LS 295, 298).
However. there is another affirmation of Bérulle, upheld in part by
Olier and even by Quesnel, which says, "Each Christian can and must
offer his very self at the Mass."42 This assertion is, perhaps, a
reaction to the Protestant critique which, basing itself on 1 Pt 2:5.9;
1 Cor 12:12–27, undervalues the hierarchical priesthood defining it as a
"specialized caste."43 Catholics did not completely reject the
Protestant affirmations, but they affirmed that the priest does not bear
the title of "priest" (sacerdos) except in Christ and through Christ,
the one priest of the NT; one theologian stressed the scriptural
appellation "royal priesthood," applying it to all the faithful.44
Montfort does the same when he directly refers to the royal priesthood:
"You are a chosen race, the royal priesthood" (FC 4) and "You are kings
and priests of God . . . by your Christianity and your priesthood" (LCM
5). The Friends of the Cross, therefore, are within royal priesthood of
the Lord.
The baptismal priesthood in Montfort is articulated in the context of
the universal vocation to holiness (FC 28; SM 2–5; LS 169–80): the word
of God, by the Incarnation, has come to divinize the human race, the
masterpiece of His hands, and to take to himself a holy people (TD 68;
LS 170).
The pastoral method of Montfort the priest must not be neglected. In
his missions he had the simple people participate materially and
economically and also in liturgical or devotional collaboration which he
requests of the people (Mass and Communion, processions, hymns, Rosary,
and especially the renewal of the vows of Baptism in the Covenant
Contract). Nonetheless, the substantial difference remains between the
hierarchical priesthood and the universal priesthood. But Montfort
considers the dignity of the priest from a pastoral point of view, that
is to say, in service to the people. He does not speculate on the
priesthood in itself and never considers the priesthood as founding the
specialized and privileged caste of ecclesiastics. The dignity Montfort
attributes to the baptized heightens the worth of both the universal
priesthood and of the ministerial priesthood.
It should be remembered that as a priest, Montfort belonged to the
first estate; he had contacts with the nobility, the second estate; his
family was of the bourgeoisie; yet he freely opted to identify with the
common people, and especially with the poorest of the poor.
IV. THE PRIESTLY DIMENSION IN MONTFORT SPIRITUALITY
Montfort did not develop the sacerdotal dimension of Christian
spirituality, although he did indicate its substance in delineating the
practical realties of living the consecration to Christ through Mary.
Today, this dimension must be explicated not only for ordained priests
(for the baptismal promises cannot be separated from priestly promises),
but also for each Christian called through Baptism to participate in
Christ’s prophetic and royal sacerdotal dignity. The exercise of this
priestly function unites both ordained ministers and other faithful with
the heavenly priesthood of Christ and with the glorious heavenly
community, in the midst of which emerges the figure of the Mother of
Jesus.
1. Vows of Baptism and Priestly Promises
Saint John Eudes taught that baptismal life prolongs in the faithful the
Incarnation, or sacerdotal life of Christ. The Sulpician school affirmed
that through Baptism all are inserted into Christ the priest. In order
to make Christ the priest live in Christians—priests of God by Baptism
(LCM 5)—Montfort prescribes the renewal of baptismal promises as the
conclusion of the parish mission (CG; RM 56). The Sacrament of Orders
(episcopacy, priesthood, diaconate) consecrates certain Christians as
ministers of Christ-Priest so that the baptized, by the intermediary of
the ordained ministry, may live their royal priesthood.
But what relation is there between the baptismal vows and the
presbyterial promises? The renewal of the baptismal promises has for its
goal to make Christians live as daughters and sons of God (H 109:8), to
make them living members of the Body of Christ (TD 68; LS 158–68), to
help them to become servants and collaborators of the Spirit (TD 73,
126). The priestly promises—Montfort does not speak precisely of them—
require celibacy (in the Latin rite), obedience to and collaboration
with the bishops, the ministry of the word, the celebration of the
mysteries of Christ, particularly the Eucharist and sacramental
reconciliation, the ministry of prayer and a more intense union with
Christ, the supreme pastor and sovereign priest.45
The two types of promises are complementary precisely because they are
functionally diverse. The ordained ministers are exhorted to live their
priestly promises generously in order to announce and celebrate the
Lord, so that the duties of sacramental life and the gift of prayer may
be awakened in the faithful. In this manner, because they are baptized,
the faithful are assured of their rights as daughters and sons of God,
i.e., the right to the food of the word, of the Eucharist, of the
sacrifice of praise, and of the gift of evangelical fraternity. These
rights of the faithful are at times neglected by priests who lack a
mystical and missionary spirit, and are perhaps little known by
Christians, because the consecrated ministers do not always wholly
realize their sacerdotal promises.
In other words, the renewal of the promises of Baptism recall to the
baptized that they are daughters and sons of God and that because of
this title they have taken on certain precise duties. The promises of
the priesthood recall to the priest that he is minister for people: his
rights as son of God have now become for him inescapable duties towards
all the people of God.
2. Baptismal Life and Sacerdotal Commitment
Preaching, since the Council of Trent, stresses the vows of Baptism. The
grace of Baptism and the sacraments connected with it must, as a
consequence, be "renewed." During the parish missions, Montfort made
certain that the faithful renew their baptismal promises after having
confessed their sins and received communion (RM 56, 90). To live
baptism—particularly after the renewal of Vatican II—signifies renewing
the strength of the three sacraments of Christian initiation: Baptism,
Confirmation, Eucharist. These sacraments are distinct but inseparable
and also inclusive of sacramental reconciliation.
The text of the consecratory prayer of priestly ordination says:
"Innova in visceribus eorum spiritum sanctitatis"46 (Renew, Lord, in
their hearts your spirit of holiness), an evident allusion to the
sacerdotal spirit already received in the three sacraments of
initiation. This happy theological rediscovery of the sacerdotal meaning
of Christian initiation has again placed before the eyes of the Church
its "ministerial" vocation, a ministry exercised in the sacrament of
service: fruit, in its turn, of an precise option, the Church wants to
be poor in order to serve people.
3. Mary, Bearer of the Priestly Spirit of the Risen Christ
Mary, Mother of Christ, chief and sovereign priest, also becomes, by the
new Passover, Mother of the members of the Body of the Church (cf. Jn
19:26–27). Now into this line of thought, Olier, who called for the
reform of priestly orders to renew the entire church, projected a Marian
solution: in the Cenacle, Mary did not receive the sacrament of
priesthood but the Spirit and apostolic grace.47 In the Cenacle,
therefore, the Virgin Mary, as the queen of the apostles (PO 18), is the
bearer of the priestly spirit of the risen Christ (AA 1:14).
In his historical Incarnation, the Lord received from his Mother the
capacity to be a priest of the Father (TD 18, 63, 246–48, 261–64; H
49:3, 90:15);48 a priest who announces the gospel of grace, who offers
his own body at the sacrifice of the cross and as supreme Shepherd,
leads all back to divine life.
In the sacramental economy, the Lord exercises His eternal priesthood
in the person of ordained ministers. Yet before there is ministerial
priesthood, the Virgin Mary conceives the Christ, the first priest of
the new covenant. Mary is the perfect type of God’s priestly people.49
Proclaimed by Paul VI "Mother of the faithful and of pastors,"50 she is
the aid of priests (PO 18; OT 8) and the pure mirror who illumines the
triple sacerdotal ministry.
a. Mary accepts the salvific word and responds by the self-offering
and sacrificial fiat. During the public ministry of her Son, she follows
him as a pilgrim of faith (LG 58; MC 17; RMat 2), up to her courageous
presence near the cross and the sepulchre. In the Magnificat, she
proclaims "the marvelous works," historical and salvific, realized in
her (Lk 1:46–55). And after the Resurrection and Ascension of her Son,
she listens to the teaching of the apostles51 and praises God in tongues
for the mysteries accomplished in the world (AA 2:4).
b. Associated with her Son in the redemptive work (LG 55-62; MC 20),
she offers herself together with Christ priest and victim, in the
presentation in the temple, at the paschal supper and next to the cross.
Prophetically, at the marriage feast of Cana, she anticipated the
paschal mandate of her Son ("Do this in memory of me" [Lk 22:19]) when
she says to the servants: "What ever he will say to you, do it" (Jn
2:5).
c. After Easter she does not return to Nazareth near the family clan,
but remains in the Cenacle as a vigilant and attentive mother of the new
family of the Savior here on earth (MC 18). And above all else, she,
Spirit-bearer, directs all to the Spirit, source of filial life and of
unity in the Church. Among the promises of Baptism, there should be
included today the fidelity to the Spirit who is affirmed in the
Pentecostal sacrament of confirmation.
4. The Heavenly Priesthood
Jesus, supreme and eternal priest (Heb 4:15–26, 9:11, 10:21), is the
heavenly God-Man who offers himself as a perpetual oblation to the
Father and prepares for his disciples a royal dwelling place (Jn 14:2-
4).
Glorious woman, clothed with the sun that never sets (Rev 12:1–6) and
royal gate of heaven, the Holy Mother is the throne of Incarnate Wisdom.
While from her virginal bosom she presents her Savior Son to all, she
always addresses to them this pressing appeal: "Come and contemplate the
Christ!," glorious icon of the Father; "come and listen to the Master!"
word of life; "come, eat the body and drink the blood of Christ!" in the
banquet of the eschatological wedding feast (Rev 19:7–9, 21:9, 22:17–
20).
Like an "angel at the altar,"52 Montfort, priest both mystic and
missionary, emerges from the depths of three centuries as a prophetic
voice that proclaims "the infinite treasure of the eucharist" (L 33),
the salvific value of the preaching of the word, the love of the Eternal
and Incarnate Wisdom who is in his person, Kingdom of Heaven (cf. LEW
193).
Disciple of the Master of divine Wisdom (1 Cor 1:24) and at the school
of Mary (MC 21), the priest is identified to the Lord who is superior to
the angels (Heb 1:4). "Christian with Christians and priest for them,"53
he is the minister of the Eucharistic table in the assembly of the Lord,
the pastor who increases the joy of the brethren (2 Cor 1:24), the guide
of the elect towards the heavenly home.
The celebration of the supper of the Lord extends to infinity the
sacrifice of earthly and heavenly salvation until the Savior has raised
all men to himself in the bosom of the Father (Jn 12:32). The
sacramental life, the liturgy of praise, the Marian dimension of
Christian life (RM 45–46) prolong the incarnation of the Word, give the
irresistible breath of the Spirit, and make the Father of mercies known.
So the faithful—baptized, confirmed, and Eucharist-fed—with Jesus,
supreme priest of their faith (Heb 3:1) and illuminated by Mary, the
Woman clothed with the sun, call everyone to the house of the Lord so
that all may eternally glorify the universal Father in the temple of His
glory (PM 30).
Notes:
(1) R. Deville, "L’École française de spiritualité" (The French
School of Spirituality), Bibliothèque d’histoire du christianisme 11,
Desclée, Paris 1987, 9, 139—citing H. Bremond—affirms that Louis de
Montfort is the last of the greast Bérullians. (2) Cf. P. Lafue, Le
prêtre ancien et les commencements du nouveau prêtre. De la contre-
réforme à l’aggiornamento (The Priest of Former Days and the Beginnings
of the Priest of Today. From the Counter-Reformation to the
Aggiornamento), Plon, Toulouse 1967, 65–74. (3) R. Deville, L’École
française, 15–27. (4) In relation to "the great century of french
spirituality" or "the great century of souls", cf. J. Le Brun, France,
VI: Le grand siècle et ses lendemains. (France, VI: The ‘grand siècle’
and its Tomorrows) DSAM 5 (1964) 917–53; R. Deville, L’École française,
7–13 (5) Cf. Vincent de Paul in R. Deville, L’École française, 18. (6)
Citation in P. Pierrard, Le prêtre français (The French Priest), 26. On
the "bad priests" and "clericalism, here is the enemy," cf. ibid., 5.
(7) Concerning the improvement of the clergy during the reign of Louis
XV and at the eve of the French revolution, cf. P. Pierrard, Le prêtre
français, 49–54. For the situation of clerics before the Council of
Trent, cf. P. Lafue, Le prêtre ancien, 15–32 et passim. On the subject
of the deplorable state of priests in France around 1600, cf. M. Dupuy,
"Bérulle et le sacerdoce. Étude historique et doctrinale. Textes
inédits" (Bérulle and the priesthood. Historical and Doctrinal Study.
Unpublished Texts), Bibliothèque d’histoire et d’archéologie chrétienne
7, Lethielleux, Paris 1969, 31–42;. (8) Cf. de Paul, dans P. Pierrard,
Le prêtre français, 26–29. (9) For the reformers of the French clergy,
see, Le prêtre français, 21–42; R. Deville, L’École française, 23–27;.
(10) Text of J. Eudes in P. Pierrard, Le prêtre français, 37. (11) The
price of room and board was the only difference between the two
institutions. (12) Blain 48; cf. De Fiores, 191–203. (13) The precise
text of Vincent de Paul as related by P. Perrard, Le prêtre français,
29: "If it is such a great undertaking to instruct the poor . . . it is
still more important to instruct clerics since, if they are ignorant,
the people they lead will also necessarily be ignorant." (14) R.
Deville, L’École française, 120; cf. 101–23. (15) Catechismus ex
decretis concilii tridentini ad parochos (Catechism from the Decrees of
the Council of Trent for Pastors) Regensburg 1896, II, 7.2. Concerning
the dignity of the priest, cf. M. Dupuy, Bérulle et le sacerdoce, 131–
38, 165–67, 176–77 et passim; concerning the identity and the mission of
the priest according to the French School, cf. J. Galy, Le sacrifice,
analytical index, 397–99; R. Deville, L’École française, 25–27, 113–17.
(16) H. Bremond, Histoire littéraire du sentiment religieux, (Literary
History of Religious Sentiment) 3. La conquête mystique: l’École
française (The Mystical Conquest: The French School), Bloud et Gay,
Paris 1923, 29. (17) E.-M. Faillon, Vie de Monsieur Olier, fondateur du
Séminaire de Saint-Sulpice, (The Life of Monsieur Olier, Founder of the
Seminary of Saint Sulpice) 3, Poussielgue-Wattelier, Paris 1873, 193;
cf. I. Noye-M. Dupuy, Olier, DSAM 11 (1982) 744; cf. 740–45. (18) Cf. E.
Théorêt, La médiation mariale dans l’École française (The Mediation of
Mary According to the French School), Vrin, Paris 1940, 32. According to
Olier, the Virgin Mary is both the one who inspired the seminary and its
queen. Cf. E.-M. Faillon, Vie de Monsieur Olier, 3, 62–67. The Mariology
of the French School takes its definitive form from the founder of Saint
Sulpice. Cf. P. Pourrat, La dévotion à Marie dans la compagnie de Saint-
Sulpice, in Maria (du Manoir) 3, 153–62; R. Laurentin, Maria. Ecclesia.
Sacerdotium. Essai sur le développement d’une idée religieuse (Mary.
Church. Priesthood. Essay on the development of a Religious Idea),
Nouvelles Éditions Latines, Paris 1952, 341–84. On Marian devotion in
seventeenth century France, cf. J. Le Brun, France, DSAM 5 (1964) 944–
45. (19) Cf. Blain, 50. The term "slaves of Jesus in Mary" is clearly an
authentic Bérullian and Sulpician expression. (20) Cf. J. Gauthier, Ces
messieurs de Saint-Sulpice (These Priests of Saint Sulpice), Fayard,
Paris 1957, 48. For a rather complete idea of the lifestyle at the
Seminary of Saint Sulpice during the time of Father L. Tronson, cf. De
Fiores, 155–58, with particular attention to the notes, taken from the
archives of Saint Sulpice. (21) Cf. H.-M. Boudon, Les saintes voies de
la croix, (The Holy Roads of the Cross) in Oeuvres complètes, 2, Migne,
Paris 1856, 109–12; J.-B. Saint-Jure, De la connaissance et de l’amour
du Fils de Dieu Notre Seigneur Jésus Chris, (On the Knowledge and Love
of the Son of God, Our Lord Jesus Christ), Mabre-Cramoisy, Paris 1688,
21, 33–35; G. Rossetto, La Sapienza è la Croce (Wisdom and the Cross),
in Collectif, La missione monfortana ieri e oggi. Atti del 2° Convegno
intermonfortano (The Montfort Mission Yesterday and Today. Acts of the
Second Intermontfortian Reunion) (Rome, September 5-8, 1984), QM 2
(1985) 42–56. (22) Cf. De Fiores, 154, 189. Leschassier sought a life
style that was death to the world and to its spirit: ibid., 232. (23)
Ibid., 228, 232, 164–65. Terms like "self-emptying," "immolation,"
"mortification," and "death to human nature" reveal a pessimistic
understanding of man. On this point, cf. R. Deville, L’École française,
173–75; De Fiores, 101–106, 271, 282. Montfort himself is well aware of
human weakness and fragility (cf. L 12, 32; PE 26). But human nature is
restored by God through the gift of creative Wisdom (cf. ASE 90–100). On
the original beauty of nature, cf. H 157: "New Hymnn on Solitude." (24)
Concerning Bellier, cf. R. Deville, L’École française, 140–141; De
Fiores, Itinerario 78–80, 267, 277. On the poverty of Montfort, who even
as a youth was totally abandoned to Divine Providence, cf. Grandet, 349–
50. (25) Cf. Blain, 16–17. (26) Blain, 46; Grandet, 13–14. (27) B.
Papàsogli, L’homme venu du vent. Saint Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort,
Bellarmin, Montréal 1984, 282. English Translation, Montfort, A Prophet
for our Times, Edizioni Monfortane, Rome 1991. On Montfort the writer,
cf. J. Fréneau, Saint Louis-Marie de Montfort écrivain (Saint Louis
Marie de Montfort, Writer), DMon 47 (1972) 1–16. (28) Concerning
Montfort’s understanding of the priesthood, cf. De Fiores, Itinerario
188–89; on his break with Saint Sulpice cf. 258–64. (29) Responding to a
pastor who wanted to know who he was, Montfort replied: "I am a poor
priest who goes up and down the highways of this world searching for
souls" (Clorivière, 418). (30) J.-M. Quérard, Vie du bienheureux Louis-
Marie Grignion de Montfort (Life of Blessed Louis Marie de Montfort) 2,
Rennes-Paris-Nantes 1887, 278; cf. Letter of the Poor of the Poitiers
Hospital to Father Leschassier, in De Fiores, Itinerario 281. (31) Cf.
Grandet, 465; S. De Fiores, La «missione» nell’itinerario spirituale
apostolico di s. Luigi-Maria da Montfort ("Mission" In the Apostolic
Spiritual Itinerary of Saint Louis de Montfort), QM 2 (1985) 17–41; R.
Mandrou, Montfort et l’évangélisation du peuple (Montfort and the
Evangelization of People), RMon 11 (1974) 1–19. (32) When B. Papàsogli
asks if the singularity of Montfort is a charism, she replies that in
any case, grace did make up for certain deficiencies of nature. (L’homme
venu du vent, 99; cf. also 93–107, 281; De Fiores, Itinerario 38, 189,
225–27, 275–77). On this subject, cf. the conversation of Montfort with
Blain in September, 1714: Blain, 185–90. (33) Cf. P. L. Nava, Un prete
scomodo (A Troubled Priest), Madre e Regina 42 (1989) 11, ii–iv; S.
Gaspari, La scelta missionaria del Montfort (The Missionary Choice of
Montfort), Madre e Regina 40 (1986) 2, 5–6. (34) Blain, 186. In N 306,
Louis Marie wrote: "What makes a Christian is the Spirit of Christ, the
Spirit’s strength and life." (35) For example, he chose A. Vatel (d.
1748) the first priest of the Company of Mary: originally assigned to
the foreign missions, he was called by Montfort to follow him; he also
called Brother Nicholas who accompanied him on his missions until the
saint’s death. (cf. L 11; T). (36) Clorivière, 310–11 declares that the
Company of Mary is distinguished from other communities by "a truly
apostolic perfection." (37) Blain, 185–86. (38) For F. Poiré, cf. R.
Laurentin, Maria, Ecclesia, Sacerdotium, 259–61, 265, 355, 389, 633,
635. For Bernardine of Paris, 284–88, 221–22. (39) Charles de Condren’s
explanatory text is: "I place her Son, Jesus Christ, into the hands (of
Mary) by this foundation, inasmuch as I can, and I beg her with my whole
heart to offer it herself to God in this daily sacrifice as she does
offer it and has offered it, in time and in eternity, on earth as in
heaven." Cf. J. Galy, Le sacrifice, 256n. 40. (40) Ibid., 256, 326. (41)
The annotation on the priesthood of the faithful is the work of
Bourgoing, cf. J. Galy, Le sacrifice, 90. (42) Ibid., 354. (43) Cf. P.
Pierrard, Le prêtre français, 10–13; J. M. R. Tillard, Sacerdoce, DSAM
14 (1988) 27–31. (44) D. Soto, De iustitia et iure (On Justice and
Right) VII, 5, 1, Lyon 1559, upholds that the laity are priests but in a
lower way. (45) Cf. Pontificale Romanum, De ordinatione episcopi,
presbyterorum et diaconorum, Editio typica altera, Typis Polyglottis
Vaticanis 1990: promises of the bishop, 40–42; of priests, 60–62; of the
deacon, 108–110. (46) Ibid., 75. (47) On Olier, cf. S. De Fiores,
Itinerario, 187. Concerning the theme of ‘Virgo Sacerdos’ in the
spirituality of the French School, cf. R. Laurentin, Maria, Ecclesia,
Sacerdotium, 375–82. (48) Cf. E. Campana, Maria nel culto cattolico, 2.
Il culto di Maria nelle devozioni particolari, nei sodalizi e nei
congressi mariani (Mary in Catholic Devotion, 2. Marian Devotion in
Particular Devotions, in the Marian Sodalities and Congresses) Marietti,
Torino-Roma 1933, 726; R. Laurentin, Maria, Ecclesia, Sacerdotium, 294–
304. (49) On Mary Typus Ecclesiae, cf. LG 63 (which cites Saint
Ambrose); MC 16; RM 44; I. Biffi, Maria tipo della Chiesa popolo
sacerdotale, (Mary, type of the Church, A Priestly People) in La Madonna
30 (1982) 70. (50) Paul VI, Discours au terme de la troisième session du
concile Vatican II (Discourse at the Closing of the Third Session of
Vatican Council II), (Novenber 21, 1964), AAS 56 (1964) 1015. (51) Saint
Ambrose relates that Mary learned from the pastors of the Church and
constantly paid attention to the apostolic directions: In Ev. Lucae Hom.
2, 54, in PL 15, 1572B; cf. S. Gaspari, Lettura mistagogica di testi
biblici per la mariologia (Mystagogical Reading of Biblical Texts For
Mariology), Regina mundi Institute , Rome 1986, 227–67 (manuscript) (52)
Blain, 105–106. (53) The expression recalls the celebrated text of Saint
Augustine: «Vobis enim sum episcopus, vobiscum sum christianus» ("For
you I am a bishop, with you I am a Christian"), Disc. 340, 1: In die
ordinationis suae, PL 38, 1483.
Taken from: Jesus Living in Mary: Handbook of the Spirituality of St.
Louis de Montfort (Litchfield, CT: Montfort Publications, 1994).
Provided courtesy of the Montfort Fathers © All Rights Reserved.
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