St. Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort

The Founder of the Brothers of St. Gabriel

One of the great Saints whose mission appears verified and on the increase as the years pass and as we find ourselves amid the latter times, Saint Louis Mary de Montfort can now be recognized as a prophet and an oracle of God for the sanctification of the Church which must resist the foretold evils of this period. Author of a Prophetic Prayer Requesting the Apostles of the Latter Times, he is also the ardent apostle of True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin and the Saint of love for the Cross of the Lord, as we see from his Letter to the Friends of the Cross and his entire life of missionary activity.     

Born at Montfort-la-Cane near Saint-Malo in 1673, he was the oldest of eight children. He studied with the Jesuits and at the age of nineteen went to Paris to enter the Seminary of Saint-Sulpice. His poverty was aided by the charity of benefactors, and after five years, during which he edified the Seminary, he was ordained a priest in 1700.

Destined to be the target of a siege of crosses, he began to experience the first ones when he went to Nantes to aid a good priest of that diocese and found a serious infestation of Jansenism there. He returned to Paris afterwards to assist one of his sisters to enter religion there, then went to Poitiers, where he became chaplain of a hospital for the poor. His zeal transformed the sick of that hospital into a community of saints; and there he established the kernel of his future Congregation of the Daughters of Wisdom. He found many other channels also open to his fervor.

Saint Louis Mary at a given moment desired to go as a missionary to New France, but the Holy Father Clement XI committed to him the vast mission of preaching in his own homeland under the bishops of France. He was commissioned to teach Christian doctrine to the children and the people, and reawaken the spirit of Christianity through the renewal of their baptismal vows. At Dinan he joined a group of missionaries and taught catechism, for which mission he had a special attraction. He could not neglect the poor, and organized a group of virtuous ladies there to take care of them.

He continued preaching in the west of France, placing before the eyes of all listeners the very source of our Redemption through the erection of large crucifixes and Calvaries. He became the target of calumny for the angry Jansenists against whose erroneous notions he preached; certain young libertines also grew irritated against him. He was poisoned; though this did not kill him, his health was seriously undermined. His enemies succeeded in influencing the bishop of Nantes to cancel the benediction of a large Calvary which had been under construction by the people for a year. The bishop required the demolition of the man-made hill which they had labored to prepare for it, transporting stones and dirt in wheelbarrows. Saint Louis Mary’s enemies had told him it contained secret chambers for conspirators and evil-doers.

With patience Father de Montfort bore all his trials: “Blessed be God; I have not sought my glory but only that of God; I hope to receive the same reward as I would had I succeeded.” He was a member of the Third Order of Saint Dominic and taught the Holy Rosary everywhere, converting many heretics. Before he died at the age of forty-three in April of 1716, he had organized his Company of Mary at Saint-Laurent-sur-Sevre, where he was buried and where his remains are still in profound veneration.

Source: Les Petits Bollandistes: Vies des Saints, by Msgr. Paul Gu'rin (Bloud et Barral: Paris, 1882), Vol. 15.

The Life of St. Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort 

• Born 31 January 1673, in Montfort-sur-Meu, Brittany 

• Educated at the Jesuit College of St. Thomas Becket, Rennes 

• Studied for the priesthood at the Seminary of Saint-Sulpice, Paris

• Ordained a priest 5 June 1700, officially for the diocese of Saint-Malo 

• Worked in Diocese of Nantes (parish missions) 1700-1701 

• Diocese of Poitiers (Chaplain to "General Hospital", and later a Mission preacher), 1701-1706

 - Two visits to Paris (the second for almost a year)

 - Foundation of the "Daughters of Wisdom" 1703, with Blessed Marie-Louise of Jesus (Trichet)

 - First member of the "Company of Mary", Brother Mathurin Rangeard, 1705

 - Suffered rejection because of his unconventional methods

• Pilgrimage to Rome to visit Pope Clement XI, 1706, who appoints him "Missionary Apostolic"

• Missions in the dioceses of Saint-Malo and Saint-Brieuc, 1706-1708

• Missions in the diocese of Nantes, 1708-1711

    - Construction, and later prohibition, of Calvary of Pontchateau

• Missions in the dioceses of Lucon, Saintes and (especially) La Rochelle, 1711-1716

    - Visits to Paris and Rouen in search of recruits for his "Company of Mary"

    - First priests join the "Company of Mary" 1715: Frs. Adrien Vatel and Rene Mulot

    - Writing of "True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin" and other works

• Died at Saint-Laurent-sur-Sevre, in Vendee, 28 April 1716, aged 43 

• Beatified 1888 

• Canonised by Pope Pius XII, 20 July 1947 

      It is estimated that St. Louis Marie preached more than 200 parish missions during his 16 years of priestly ministry. He travelled from one to the other always on foot.

The Writings of St. Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort 

     Saint Louis Marie de Montfort wrote many things during his life. He wrote always with the one purpose: to bring Christians to a deeper understanding of the Christian faith, and to encourage them to live their Baptismal dedication to God. 

Major works

• The Love of Eternal Wisdom

• True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin  

Other writings

• The Secret of Mary 

• A Letter to the Friends of the Cross 

• The Admirable Secret of the Rosary 

• Methods of Reciting the Rosary  

Occasional works 

• The Burning Prayer for Missionaries 

• A letter to the Inhabitants of Montbernage 

 Mission leaflets

• A Contract of Covenant with God 

• Dispositions for a Happy Death 

• Morning and Evening Prayers

Rules

• The Rule of the Missionaries of the Company of Mary 

• A letter to the Members of the Company of Mary 

• The Rule of the Daughters of Wisdom 

• The Maxims of Divine Wisdom

• Rules for various Associations 

• The "Wisdom Cross" of Poitiers

Others

• Letters to various people 

• Hymns for use in the Missions 

• Last Will and Testament 

• Book of Sermons 

• Notebook

 Collections

• "God Alone - The Collected Writings of St. Louis Marie de Montfort" 

• "Jesus Living in Mary - A Handbook of the Spirituality of St. Louis de Montfort"

THE COMPANY OF MARY

Great God, who can change lifeless stones into sons of Abraham,

say but one word and it will be enough

to send good workers to gather in your harvest

and missionaries worthy of the name to work in your Church.

 -St.Louis de Montfort 

      The Company of Mary, more popularly known as the Montfort Missionaries, is a Catholic religious community of priests and brothers seeking to follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ. Like our founder, we have come to know Jesus as the original missionary whose life was spent seeking out those who were lost and bringing the freedom of the gospel to a world longing for God.      We were founded in 1716 by Louis de Montfort, a French priest who dedicated himself to challenging all Christians to throw open the doors of their hearts to the power of the gospel and the presence of Christ among the very poorest. In living our vocation we strive to continue this mission of renewing the fires of the gospel in the heart of the Church.       We learn from Mary, the mother of Jesus, what it means to open our lives to the Word who brings salvation and we entrust our lives into her care so that we might be formed into the likeness of her Son and share his mission of bringing the Reign of God into the lives of those who hunger for the peace, justice and freedom that are found in God alone. 

The Daughters of Wisdom 

Our Story 

    We, the Daughters of Wisdom, trace our beginnings and our spirituality back to 18^th century France. There, St. Louis de Montfort walked among the poor and abandoned, telling the story of Jesus.

Read Our Mission Statement 

      In the poorhouses, in the parishes, on country roads and pathways, he brought the message of the gospel and called for renewal in people's hearts. He spoke of his vision of Jesus as "Wisdom made flesh", God who created all, loves all, and redeems all.  In 1701, Blessed Marie Louise Trichet met Louis de Montfort, and this was a turning point in her life. In a culture where the poor went unattended, Marie Louise was inspired to choose to live among the poor and dedicate her life to their concerns as a woman religious. From the experience of God as divine Wisdom came a deep desire in both Louis de Montfort and Marie Louise Trichet to fashion a way of living that would serve others and make divine Wisdom known and loved. This was the initial inspiration for the Daughters of Wisdom. Following in the footsteps of Louis de Montfort and Marie Louise Trichet, we Daughters of Wisdom have ministered in the fields of education, health care, and social and pastoral outreach, with a special concern for those who are neglected by society. In 1904, the Daughters of Wisdom were forced by the secularization laws of France to seek ministries elsewhere. The first Daughters of Wisdom arrived in the United States in northern Maine in 1904. We presently serve throughout the United States and in areas of North and South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceania. We number over 1,700 members worldwide and serve in 22 countries.

    Prayer to obtain the Canonization of Blessed Marie Louise Trichet From http://daughtersofwisdom.org/our_story.php

The Thai Province  

In 1901, five Brothers of St. Gabriel arrived in Thailand to take charge of Assumption College (established in 1885). They had been invited by Father Emile Colombet. 

These five Brothers were: Brother Martin de Tours, Abel, Gabriel Ferretti, Auguste, and Hilaire. They were chosen among the many who has volunteered for this mission. They sailed from Marseilles on the steamer Amazon and landed in Bangkok on October 20, 1901. 

Many other Brothers have followed their example also volunteering to come to Thailand and the list has reached the number of 94, among them, 52 Frenchmen, 28 Spaniards, 11 Indians, 2 Canadians and 1 Italian. 

 Assumption College was followed by St. Gabriel’s college (1920)

St. Paul’s Petrieu (which in 1948 became Saint Louis)

Montfort College in Chiangmai (1932)

And Assumption Commercial College (1939)  

     A few years before World War II, three Brothers were sent to Singapore to start an ‘International’ novitiate for Asia and to be in charge of vocational school at Bukit Timah. Not long after this establishment, the Brothers were asked to take charge of a school which had been built by the parish priest of Sarangoon. 

         After the opening of the Juniorate at Sriracha in 1948, and the help we received from India in the formation of our native Brothers in their novitiate, new schools were opened and we now have these addition Institutions:

There are three house of Formation