Marie de Nazareth
To Jesus, through Mary
Among the many Marian writers of his time, Saint Louis-Marie de Montfort is the one who remained balanced, still read by his posterity, and who nourished the spirituality of Saint John Paul II and many of our contemporaries. This is because Saint Louis de Montfort had strong scriptural bearings. We will highlight some of them:
At the beginning of the Bible, we find the image of the tree of life. It appears again at the end of the Bible, in the book of Revelation. The tree of life symbolizes the Torah, the Covenant at Sinai, and the fruit of the tree of life is Jesus himself.
Saint Louis Marie de Montfort used the image of the tree of life: for him Mary is the tree of life planted by the Holy Spirit, whose fruit is Jesus. Therefore we must cultivate the tree to obtain the fruit, who is Jesus. To cultivate the tree means to live with Mary, to keep her company, to imitate her faith and her virtues (SM 67-78).
Saint Luke and the Incarnation
Saint Louis de Montfort contemplates this central mystery of the Incarnation. He sees that it is the center. We are saved if we let God be God. If we open our hearts to His Presence. God was made present through Mary, by dwelling in her. The same is true today. So we must pray with the faith of Mary, in her, and through her. In this way, Jesus will be present in us, and his presence will grow in us (VD 33. 248).
Saint Luke shows us that Mary is the new Temple. Indeed, by saying that the power of the Most High covered her with its shadow, that is, with the cloud, Luke designates Mary as the one who is inhabited by God, as the Tent of Meeting (Lk 1, 26 -38).
Montfort invites us to pray "in Mary"!
Saint Luke and the Magnificat
Saint Luke shows us also that the prayer of Mary is first of all a Magnificat: Mary teaches us to remember the great things that God does, beginning with the Incarnation: the Word became flesh. Jesus is true God and true man.
And this Magnificat becomes the prayer of the Church gathered in the Upper Room in the Acts of the Apostles: the center of the Magnificat, "his mercy is from age to age over those who fear him" (Lk 1, 50). This is what Peter proclaimed at Pentecost, inviting people to receive baptism for the remission of their sins.
Montfort was very attached to the prayer of the Magnificat, which he recommended to pray often, especially after communion (SM 64).
The Church of Saint John venerates Mary as "the mother of Jesus" (Jn 2), "The Woman" (Jn 2, Jn 19), i.e. the wife of the Covenant, and "the mother of the disciple," according to the revelation of Jesus on Calvary (Jn 19, 25-27).
Saint Louis de Montfort also contemplates the cross. We should not be afraid of the cross, but also never carry the cross without Mary’s help, because Mary is the mother. Mary is the one who loves life and directs our hearts towards life. The cross of Jesus has meaning only as a passage, as Passover.
The tree of life is also the cross (SM 22), but as it is always directed towards the light, towards the heavens (SM 78).
Abbreviations:
VD: Saint Louis de Montfort, Treatise on True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin
SM: Saint de Montfort, The Secret of Mary
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Françoise Breynaert
Cf. The Tree of Life: Central Symbol of the Spirituality of Saint Louis Marie de Montfort (L'Arbre de vie : Symbole central de la spiritualité de saint Louis-Marie de Montfort)