PONTIFICIA UNIVERSITÀ GREGORIANA ISTITUTO DI SPIRITUALITÀ

THE PATH TO MYSTICAL UNION WITH CHRIST-WISDOM ACCORDING TO ST. LOUIS MARIE DE MONTFORT

Tesi di Licenza in Spiritualità

Moderatore : Prof. STEFANO DE FIORES Studente : P. PAUL ARNEL L. LUCERO Mat. 152546

Roma Dicembre 2002 TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABBREVIATIONS ...... 5 INTRODUCTION ...... 7 Related Literature ...... 9 Object of the Study ...... 10 Originality ...... 11 Method ...... 13 Scope and Limitation ...... 13 Divisions ...... 14

I CHRISTIAN MYSTICAL EXPERIENCE ...... 17 1.1 Christian Experience ...... 17 1.2 Christian ...... 18 1.2.1 Etymology ...... 18 1.2.2 Affective-Phenomenology ...... 20 1.2.3 Ontology ...... 22 1.3 Christian Mystical Experience ...... 24 1.3.1 Christ as Founder ...... 25 1.3.2 Christ as Foundation ...... 25 a) Divine Inhabitation: The Nucleus ...... 26 1.3.3 The Holy Spirit as the Agent ...... 28 1.3.4 The Cross as the Dialectic ...... 30 1.3.5 Mary as the Milieu ...... 32 1.3.6 Spiritual Marriage as the Summit ...... 33 1.3.7 The Blessed Trinity as the Ultimate End ...... 34 1.4 The Difference Between Christian Spiritual Life and Christian Mystical Life ...... 36

II ST. LOUIS MARIE DE MONTFORT’S MYSTICAL EXPERIENCE . 37 2.1 His Cultural and Spiritual Environment ...... 37 2.1.1 The Seventeenth Century ...... 37 2.1.2 Spiritual Influences ...... 38 a) The Jesuits ...... 38 b) The Sulpicians ...... 40 c) The Bérullians ...... 42 i) Mysticism ...... 43 ii) Centrality of Christ ...... 43 iii) Christ Living in Us ...... 45 iv) Devotion to Mary ...... 46

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2.2 The Principal Elements of His Mystical Experience ...... 48 2.2.1 Concept of Experience ...... 48 2.2.2 Divine Inhabitation and Transformation: In Mary . . . . . 49 a) Holy Spirit and Mary ...... 49 b) Baptism ...... 53 2.2.3 Incarnation ...... 54 2.2.4 The Cross ...... 57 2.2.5 The Trinity ...... 60 2.3 His Christocentric Mystical Experience ...... 63 2.3.1 Montfort’s Mystical Journey to Christ-Wisdom . . . . . 64 2.3.2 Christ in the Mystical Experience of Montfort ...... 68 a) Christ, Incarnate and Crucified Wisdom of God . . . 69 b) Christ, Wisdom in the Cross ...... 72 c) Christ, Wisdom in Mary and in Us ...... 74 d) Christ, Wisdom in the Poor ...... 75

III THE PATH TO MYSTICAL UNION WITH CHRIST-WISDOM ACCORDING TO ST. LOUIS MARIE DE MONTFORT ...... 77 3.1 Dynamic Movements of his Mystical Path ...... 77 3.1.1 Descending Movement ...... 77 3.1.2 Ascending Movement ...... 79 3.1.3 Horizontal Movement ...... 81 3.2 The Ultimate Goal of His Mystical Path: Christ-Wisdom . . . . . 82 3.3 The Means to Union with Eternal Wisdom ...... 86 3.3.1 Ardent Desire ...... 87 3.3.2 Continuous Prayer ...... 89 3.3.3 Universal Mortification ...... 91 3.3.4 ...... 93 3.4 The Most Crucial Point: Perfect Consecration ...... 95 3.4.1 Its Immediate Sources ...... 97 a) Pierre de Bérulle ...... 97 b) Henri Boudon ...... 98 3.4.2 Its Nature ...... 99 a) Trinitarian and Christocentric ...... 99 b) Absolute and Total ...... 100 c) Marian ...... 101 d) Apostolic ...... 103 3.4.3 Its Expressions ...... 105 a) Slavery of Love ...... 106 b) Renewal of Baptismal Promises ...... 107

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IV STAGES OF THE MYSTICAL UNION WITH CHRIST-WISDOM ACCORDING TO MONTFORT: A PASTORAL PRESENTATION . . 110 4.1 First Stage: Falling in Love ...... 112 4.1.1 “The Love at First Sight” ...... 112 a) Charming Excellence of Eternal Wisdom ...... 113 b) The Marvelous Power of Divine Wisdom ...... 114 c) Wisdom’s Exceptional Goodness and Mercy . . . . 115 d) Divine Wisdom’s Self-Sacrifice for Humanity . . . 115 e) Wisdom’s Captivating Gentleness ...... 117 f) Wisdom’s Indescribable Sorrows Out of Love for Us 117 g) Wisdom’s Utmost Expression of Love in the Cross . 118 4.1.2 Captivated by Divine Wisdom ...... 120 4.2 Second Stage: Courtship and Engagement ...... 123 4.2.1 “Dating with and Courting Wisdom in Mary” ...... 123 a) The Practice of the True Devotion ...... 127 4.2.2 Engagement: “Mutual Exchange of the Final Yes” . . . . 129 a) Living Out of Perfect Consecration ...... 130 4.3 Third Stage: Spiritual Marriage ...... 140 4.3.1 “Spousal Union with Christ-Wisdom” ...... 141 4.3.2 Fidelity to Christ-Wisdom ...... 144 4.3.3 Lover Transformed into the Beloved ...... 147 4.4 Illustrations ...... 151 4.4.1 Figure 1 ...... 151 4.4.2 Figure 2 ...... 152 4.4.3 Explanation ...... 153

PASTORAL RELEVANCE AND CONCLUSIONS ...... 156 “The True Apostles of the Latter Times” ...... 156 “Christians of the Future will be Mystics” ...... 160 Conclusions ...... 162

BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 167

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ABBREVIATIONS

A. Most of the quotations of Montfort’s Works are taken from , The Collected Writings of St. Louis Marie de Montfort, New York, 1995 (= GA).

L Letters LEW Love of Eternal Wisdom FC Friends of the Cross SM The TD True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin SR Secret of the Holy MR Methods of Saying the Rosary H Hymns PM Prayer for Missionaries

B. Church Documents

CCC Cathechism of the DV Dei Verbum DeV Dominum et Vivificantem FR Fides et Ratio GS Gaudium et spes LG Lumen Gentium MC Mystici Corporis NMI Novo Millennio Ineunte

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C. Dictionaries, Encyclopedias, Handbooks, and Other Sources

DCS M. DOWNEY (ed.), Dictionary of , Minnesota 1993

DM L. BORRIELLO-E. CARUANA-M.R. DEL GENIO-N. SUFFI (ed.), Dizionario di mistica, Città del Vaticano 1998

DSAM Dictionnaire de spiritualité ascétique et mystique, 17 tomi, Paris 1932-1995

JLM Jesus Living in Mary, Handbook of the Spirituality of St. Louis Marie de Montfort, S. DE FIORES-P. GAFFNEY (ed.), New York 1994

NCE EA. WALSH, The New , 19 vols., New York 1967

NDM S. DE FIORES-S. MEO (ed.), Nuovo dizionario di mariologia, Cinisello Balsamo 19964

NDS S. DE FIORES-T. GOFFI (ed.), Nuovo dizionario di spiritualità, Cinisello Balsamo 19997

NRT Nouvelle revue théologique

RVS Rivista di vita spirituale

TMPM G. GHARIB, E. TONIOLO, GAMBERO, G. DI NOLA (ed.), Testi mariani del primo millennio, 4 voll., Roma 1988- 1991.

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INTRODUCTION

Some years ago, I was assigned in a mission team in the Philippines, working in a mountainous area of the island of Cebu, called Tuburan (Spring), situated approximately 30 kilometers away from the main highway. I used to walk the distance, climbing the mountains for hours in order to reach my destination. Every Tuesday I would go there and stay with the people up to Saturday, while on Sundays I would return to our Mission House located in a nearby town. By working there for a couple of months, I started to know rather well the roads and paths leading to my place, while I became familiar with the many other barrios I had to pass before reaching Tuburan. One day however, a wise old man from the place kindly invited me to journey with him so that he could show me a shorter way. He added saying that it was not only the shortest but also the safest way because there were no snakes or wild animals on that route. It was for me a great discovery indeed! Since then, I decided to take, week after week, the shortest and safest road the wise man taught me. Reflecting on this simple experience, I believe the same is true with my spiritual journey. Day after day, week after week and year after year I walk the roads, I run the highways, I climb up mountains of Christian life with the hope to reach my goal: the goal of every baptized Christian, namely fullness of Christian life and union with God. Lumen Gentium teaches that this is the vocation of every believer: “In the Church, everyone […] is called to holiness… Thus it is evident to everyone, that all the faithful of Christ of whatever rank or status are called to the fullness of Christian life and to the perfection of charity” (LG 39- 40). Many holy and Spirit-filled people in the , while following in the footsteps of Jesus, the Way, the Truth and the Life, have reached this of union with God. They have reached Christian fullness and perfection. They have journeyed well by conforming their lives to that of their Teacher and Master. Drawing from their own life experience during their

8 journey, they gifted the Church with certain new spiritual ways and models for our imitation. In some respect, they are like the “old wise man” I came to know in the mission area who showed me the ‘secret road’ to easily reach my destination. We can trace in the history of the Catholic Church saints whom we believe to have reached the union with God while still living in this world. They have journeyed and were able to reach the peak of Christian maturity. Some of them have described in diaries and spiritual writings the path they themselves had followed. In many different ways, they have depicted this spiritual process, based on their very own experience of reaching the culmination point. A few of the saints have even delineated certain stages or phases in their pilgrimage towards God. St. Benedict for instance in chapter seven of his Rule describes the stages of monastic perfection consisting in twelve steps of humility. The journey culminates in what he called the perfect love of God. In the seventh century, wrote the The Ladder of Divine Ascent, where he traces thirty steps towards perfection. Bernard Clairvaux in his On the Love of God, mentions four stages to move beyond the love of self to the love of God. of Alexandria saw spiritual life as passing through three stages of purification, namely from sin to the illumination by the grace of God, and finally to a unitive resting in God. St. Teresa of Avila on the other hand in shows a progressive entering into the seven castles of the human soul until it is espoused by its Creator. More uniquely, St. in his even created a spiritual diagram for the ascent. These and many other saints, mystics and spiritual writers have enriched the Church with their spiritual masterpieces. They are able to teach and impart on us something important about our own journey towards Christian spiritual maturity and union with God.

9 In this paper we will consider a great spiritual writer of the seventeenth century by the name of St. Louis Marie de Montfort1. He, like the above- mentioned spiritual geniuses, has written some rich spiritual masterpieces that need to be studied, prayed upon and practiced in our day-to-day life in order to make us discover their great value. Montfort has presented to the Church, though not in a schematic way, a unique spiritual journey that he himself has made. He reached a mystical loving relationship with God through Jesus Christ, who is for him the Eternal and Incarnate Wisdom. It was a bond of love that culminated in spiritual marriage. This humble French saint calls his path “the surest, the easiest, the shortest, the holiest way” (TD 212) to union. It is the road that culminates in a mystical marriage whose stages he described in terms of possession, fidelity and fullness of age of Divine Wisdom in us.

Related Literature

St. Louis Marie de Montfort founded the Missionaries of the , together with the Congregations of the and the Brothers of Saint Gabriel. Notably in these past decades, there has been a strong enthusiasm in the Company of Mary to deepen our studies on the understanding of the person and the life of St. Louis Marie. Many of its members are re-reading his works. They study his deep insights, his pregnant intuitions and his spiritual teachings from different angles and perspectives like its Marian, Trinitarian, Christological characters. This keen interest is especially visible in the 1994 publication of Jesus Living in Mary: A Handbook of the Spirituality of Montfort. It is an extensive work containing articles on all the basic themes of Montfortian spirituality. A year later, Pierre Humblet of the Titus Brandsma Institute in the Netherlands, upon the request of the General Council of the Congregation of the Daughters of Wisdom, published an enlightening systematic study entitled: The Mystical Process of Transformation in Grignion de Montfort’s “The Love of

1His complete name is St. Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort. For practical purposes we refer him in this paper as “Louis Marie”, “Montfort”, “St. Louis Marie”, “St. Louis Marie de Montfort”, “the saint”, “our saint", etc.

10 Eternal Wisdom”. This work touches the mystical dimension of one of the saint’s writings. In 2001 the Manuale di Spiritualità Montfortana was published in which are found, among other topics, Fr. Alphonse Bossard’s re-reading of and deep reflections on St. Louis’ life and spiritual heritage. Just recently two works have been published: Louis-Marie de Montfort: Théologie spirituelle and the Spiritualità trinitaria in communione con Maria secondo Montfort wherein a number of scholars (mostly Montfortians) have put together their latest systematic and insightful studies on Montfort’s spirituality. All these developments simply tell us that at present there exists a strong desire to continue in-depth studies on the person and spirituality of St. Louis Marie de Montfort, a desire that the present writer wholeheartedly shares.

Object of the Study

On the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the of St. Louis Marie, his Holiness John Paul II2 wrote a letter to the Montfortian family exhorting its members for a continuous deepening and in-depth study on the pregnant Montfortian spiritual heritage so that “the faithful can understand this exhortation: ‘Jesus Christ, Eternal Wisdom, is all that you can and you should desire. Desire for him and seek for him, […] unique and precious pearl’ (LEW 9).”3 In response to the Holy Father’s call, the present writer decided to make this study not only for his personal deepening of the Montfortian spirituality, but also in order to be able to share its fruits with the people with whom he will come into contact during his future ministry as a Montfort missionary. One of the aims of this present work is to arrive, through a systematic study, at a theologically sound understanding of the saint’s mystical experience. We want to show the firm and solid theological foundations of that experience in St. Louis de Montfort by studying it in the light of the Christian tradition. The study

2 JOHN PAUL II, “Messaggio di Giovanni Paolo II alla famiglia monfortana” in Fragmenta monfortana 3 (1999), Roma, 9-19. 3 Ibid. 11.

11 intends to delineate certain stages in Montfort’s mystical journey. The systematic study of the topic touches not exclusively the intellectual level, but will rather show the importance of the Montfortian mystical path as a spiritual way for all baptized Christians, lay and religious alike. While we hope to illustrate that the Montfortian mystical path is a call to each and every member of the Montfortian family, the study aims also at highlighting the fact that the mystical experience is an invitation to all members of the Church at large. The Catechism of the Catholic Church makes it very clear that: “All Christians in any state or walk of life are called to the fullness of Christian life and to the perfection of charity. All are called to holiness: ‘Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.’ (…) Spiritual progress tends toward ever more intimate union with Christ. This union is called "mystical" because it participates in the mystery of Christ through the sacraments - "the holy mysteries" - and, in him, in the mystery of the Holy Trinity. God calls us all to this intimate union with him, even if the special graces or extraordinary signs of this mystical life are granted only to some for the sake of manifesting the gratuitous gift given to all” (CCC 2013- 2014).

In highlighting the mystical character of the saint’s works, this study also intends to offer certain keys to better understand commonly misinterpreted mystical expressions and insights found in his works, like “the cross is wisdom”, “doing everything through, with, in and for Mary”, “slavery of love”, etc.

Originality

The originality of this study rests on the following: (1) the theme, (2) the method and (3) the pastoral relevance. First, the theme or topic of this study is one of the areas in the Montfortian spirituality which has not yet been studied in a systematic way. We specifically refer to the mystical aspect of the life and teachings of St. Louis Marie de Montfort. It is true that many studies have been

12 made on the person and spirituality of St. Louis Marie4. However, this one is unique for it focuses on the person of the saint as a mystic and his mystical experience. We will use a mystical lens in re-reading his life and works. Second, our methodology is original in the sense that, as far I know, no one has used it in studying Montfort and his spirituality. This method places Montfort’s mystical experience on its proper theological foundations. Three basic aspects of any sound theological reflection serve as the pillars of this study, namely: Christian Tradition, Culture and Experience. Moreover, studying St. Louis Marie de Montfort’s mystical path using the keys “of the language of falling and staying in love” and of the “beyond” (ontological) is very original. The writer is convinced that these two “keys” or “lenses” would help the readers to understand Montfort in a new way as a spiritual writer and to appreciate him as a mystic in the line of St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, St. , etc. Third, since we deal with the very experience of the St. Louis Marie de Montfort, it could also have a strong pastoral impact. It may open up a new horizon of hope for the realization of the people’s great desire for union with his and her God. For this reason, we present a pastorally oriented presentation of the stages and phases of Montfort’s mystical path. Some illustrations are proposed too to help us visualize these phases. In short, this study is unique for we make an attempt to translate the saint’s mystical journey in a language that could speak to our world of today.

4We will not be able to enumerate all but to mention some: S. DE FIORES, Itinerario spirituale di s. Luigi Maria di Monfort( 1673-1716) nel periodo fino al sacerdozio (5 Giugno 1700) in Marian Library Studies 6 (1974); PEROUAS L., Ce que croyait Grignion de Montfort et comment il y a vécu sa foi, Tours 1973; CORTINOVIS B., Montfort Pilgrim in the Church, T. DOUCETTE (trans.), Roma 1997; The most extensive could be S. DE FIORES- P. GAFFNEY (ed.), Jesus Living in Mary, Handbook of the Spirituality of St. Louis Marie de Montfort, New York 1994; Recent studies like: P. GAFFNEY-FM LÉTHEL-A. BOSSARD-J. HÉMERY, Louis-Marie de Montfort: Théologie spirituelle, Roma, 2002; etc.

13 Method

Two contemporary theologians James and Evelyn Whitehead5 have underlined three main elements of a sound theological reflection. They are Christian Tradition, Experience and Culture. In this paper, we intend to study the mystical experience and path of St. Louis Marie de Montfort in all these three aspects. While treating each element, however, we confine ourselves to certain aspects only. As regards Christian tradition, we concentrate more on the Catholic Church’s understanding of . This serves as the objective foundation of our study. For the element of experience, which serves as the subjective foundation, we focus primarily on the mystical dimension of Montfort’s religious experience as known through his writings and biographers. In the field of culture, we pay special attention on the spiritual environment in which the saint was living in order to indicate that in one way or another have influenced his teachings and understanding of the Christian spiritual journey. This implies considering the spiritual trends, intuitions and teachings of his time, spearheaded by certain individuals, movements or schools of spirituality. We make use of two main “keys” or “lenses” in unraveling Montfort’s mystical experience: namely: the affective aspect (language of falling in love and staying in love) and the ontological aspect (the field of the beyond).

Scope and Limitation

This study focuses on the mystical experience of St. Louis Marie using his writings as the main sources. Among the many literary works he wrote, we intend to make use, in an extensive way, of The Love of Eternal Wisdom, the True Devotion to Mary, the Secret of Mary, his Letters and certain Canticles. We do not however pursue an in-depth critical study of these said works. Instead we try to analyze certain parts and elaborate on specific aspects of these works so as

5 J. WHITEHEAD-E. WHITEHEAD, Method in Ministry, Theological Reflection and Christian Ministry, New York 1980.

14 to clearly depict his mystical experience and spiritual path leading us to delineate its stages. As much as possible we situate the experience of Montfort in the cultural context of his days but the nature of this study necessarily demands that we limit ourselves to certain spiritual trends, beliefs, intuitions, and movements during his epoch. We put special emphasis on the influence of the French School of Spirituality when describing the saint’s mystical experience. Without going into details, we will also refer to some biographies on Montfort in order to put our observations, reflections and contentions in the right perspective. Another important limitation we have to reckon with is that of the human language. As we deal with the topic of who Christ is in the mystical experience of Montfort, we necessarily face with an enormous inadequacy. Specifically we refer here to the question of gender. For Montfort (as we shall see later) Christ is the Eternal and Incarnate Wisdom. We are aware that in the Scriptural milieu (OT), Wisdom is feminine while Christ is masculine. Thus, referring Christ as Wisdom clearly confronts us with the limits of our human language. When speaking about Wisdom in this paper, we have opted for the use of the masculine gender in reference to Christ, although we are fully aware that Wisdom is seen as a feminine reality both scripturally and in Montfort’s French and original version of the Love of Eternal Wisdom. Lastly, we use a lot of the studies on the Montfortian spirituality written either in Italian or French. For practical reasons, we make our own translation of most of these phrases and passages we are directly quoting for this study. However there are few words and expressions that we decided to keep in the original language after we see it necessary to do so.

Divisions

Aside from the Introduction and Conclusion, this paper is composed of four major chapters. The Introduction considers some related literature and

15 likewise explains the object of the study, the originality, the method, the scope and limitations and the chapter divisions. Chapter I deals with the understanding of Christian mystical experience in the Catholic tradition. First, we clarify the meaning of Christian experience, after which we consider the insights of spiritual theologians as regards the contemporary understanding of Christian mysticism. Three main elements are discussed, namely: (1) the development of the word “mysticism” in the Christian tradition, (2) the affective approach to Christian mystical experience and (3) the ontological dimension of the same experience. This is followed by a discussion of the fundamental and essential elements of Christian mystical experience underlining: the centrality and essentiality of Christ, the Holy Spirit as the Agent, the Cross as the dialectics, Mary as the milieu, spiritual marriage as the peak and the Trinity as the ultimate end. Divine inhabitation is singled out as the nucleus of Christian mystical experience. Chapter II treats the mystical experience of St. Louis Marie de Montfort. The contemporary religious-cultural influences on the saint are first considered to make us understand the spiritual context in which he lived. We discuss how the teachings of the Jesuits, the Sulpicians, the Bérullians and the Dominicans have had a considerable impact on Montfort’s spiritual life. Besides, we single out some of the principal elements of his intimate relationship with God. This is followed with our consideration of his Christo-centric mystical experience and a discussion of the identity of Christ in the same experience of the saint. Chapter III deals with the path to mystical union with Christ-Wisdom according to St. Louis Marie. We dedicate a section to highlight the three dynamic movements of the saint’s mystical path, namely: the descending, ascending and lateral movements. In order to obtain deeper understanding of the ascending movement we consider, the ultimate end of the path (Christ- Wisdom), the means to such end (desire, prayer, mortification and true devotion) and the most crucial point (perfect consecration) in the mystical path. We dedicate some pages to discuss the saint’s immediate sources and the nature of

16 his teaching on the consecration. The last section offers a mystical interpretation on two of Montfort’s expressions in reference to the consecration, namely: consecration as “a slavery of love” and as the renewal of baptismal promises. Chapter IV proposes, from Montfort’s writings, seven phases of the saint’s path to union with Christ-Wisdom in terms of the dynamics of “falling and staying in love” until “spiritual marriage”. These seven phases cover the three stages of “Falling in Love” (First Stage), Courtship and Engagement (Second Stage) and Spiritual Marriage (Third Stage). In the discussion we keep however in mind the ontological character of this intimate love relationship as well. The last section presents some illustrations which could help the readers visualize the entire mystical journey. The paper ends with the Pastoral Relevance and Conclusion. We show that pastorally the Montfortian mystical path is fully relevant to our world of today: first and foremost for the members of the Company of Mary and then for the all members of the Catholic Church, lay and religious alike. To close our study, we give a number of observations as conclusion.

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CHAPTER I

CHRISTIAN MYSTICAL EXPERIENCE

Christian mystical experience has been a field in Christian life that has captured the great interest of many scholars and theologians. In the course of the centuries, they had written many ideas and insights on the topic, but in as far I know, they have however never come up to a common agreement on the exact content of terms relating to mysticism. Since no clear and precise definition of the theme has been reached, there has accordingly been so much confusion6 and misconceptions concerning the issue. With specific insights of contemporary theologians we will attempt to clarify certain basic and fundamental aspects of the subject. First, we intend to discuss the meaning of two main concepts used in describing the Christian mystical reality, namely ‘experience’ and ‘mysticism’.

1.1 Christian Experience

To begin with: What exactly is experience? J. Mouroux notes that: “There is an experience when the person opens himself/herself in relation with the world, with himself and with God. To be more precise, experience is the act with which the person relates with the world, himself/herself or God.”7 Experience is something that can only be described since it is not something definable in a concept.8 It is more describable than definable.9 The concept of experience is described by – on the one side -- one’s relation with the object/ subject with whom they are in relationship and – on the other side – by the form with which the same relation is realized or personally tried or carried out. Experience however has the characteristics of globality, immediacy and certainty.10 In other

6 See L. BORRIELLO, “Esperienza mistica” in DM, 463-464. 7 J. MOUROUX, L’esperienza cristiana, Introduzione a una teologia, Brescia 1956, 20. 8 P. SEQUERI, “Esperienza della fede e testimonianza della rivelazione” in Teologia 6 (1981), 117. Cf. also S. DE FIORES,. Trinità mistero di vita, Milano 2001, 14. 9 S. DE FIORES, Trinità mistero di vita, 15. 10 Ibid.

18 words, we can summarize our understanding of experience as “the way in which we interiorize reality, we situate ourselves in the world and the world enters in us”11 Above all, experience is neither quantifiable nor empirically measurable for it is something lived (vissuta). Following this concept, Christian experience therefore implies a personal encounter of the believer with God and of a “lived mystery” (il mistero vissuto) of God. What makes such experience Christian is no other than the person of Christ. In other words, it is experience of the Trinitarian God in Christ. It consists in an experiential knowledge of the divine reality that goes beyond the speculative knowledge of the divine truth, since it is a fruit of the working of the Holy Spirit through Christ Jesus. Being an experience that finds its origin in the Holy Spirit, it is thus an experience of faith.

1.2 Christian Mysticism

Christian mysticism can be considered at three different levels, namely: 1) etymological or semantic, 2) affective and 3) ontological. While attempting to deal the issue at these three levels, we aim at further exploring and deepening the concept of Christian mysticism since it is an area of Christian life that is rather misunderstood.

1.2.1 Etymology

Etymologically, the word mysticism comes from the Greek word mystikos which is based on the verb muo12 or the adjective myein13. This verb literally means to touch, to close the eyes or lips. The word refers to closing the mouth and the eyes, symbolic gestures to imply that the reality cannot be explained. Hence, etymologically mysticism connotes something hidden and secret. From mystikos comes the word mysterion or mystery. In the Hellenistic sense, the word is used in the sacred rite of initiation that puts the human person

11 Ibid. 12 L. BORRIELLO, “Esperienza mistica” in DM, 463. 13 J. WISEMAN, “Mysticism” in DCS, 682.

19 in contact with the divinity. Later, Christianity took this word to describe the experience of a mystery, a certain transcendental communication which is beyond the faculties of human beings. From this “appropriation” of the word mysticism into the Christian sense, we can note a qualitative jump from the prehistoric time (protostoria della mistica), to fullness of time (pienezza della mistica). In the Hellenistic sense, mysticism connotes something hidden, but in the Christian understanding there is a qualitative transposition from hidden mystery into a revealed reality. This mysterion or transcendental communication to humanity is realized in the incarnation of Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the Trinity. Christ’s becoming man in his incarnation inaugurates the fullness of the mysterion, the fullness of the communication of the Trinity in humankind. St. Paul was the first one to use this word “mystery” to refer to Christ (cf. Col 1:26, 1:27, 2:2, 4:3; Eph 3:3, 4, 5, 9, 5:32). In short therefore, the meaning of the word mysticism underwent a qualitative jump from the God who was hidden, mysterion, to a God who became a Human Person, Christ. God has completely revealed Himself in time and space through Christ’s incarnation. It is this mystery that reveals that God is Trinity, that God is Father, and Son and Spirit. Mysticism therefore reaches its fullness in Christ because He is the divine communication of the Trinity to humanity.14 During the patristic period, there was another significant development of the meaning of mysticism. The Church Fathers made use of the words corpo mistico15 to refer to the Holy Eucharist. The expression does not refer however to the historical body of Christ but to His risen body made glorious by the working of the Holy Spirit. Corpo mistico as Eucharist is co-penetrating, meaning that it is the communicating sacramental reality of the love of the Trinity to humankind. In this sacrament, Christ brings about a dynamic communication of grace through a physical reality that contains a divine communication of his presence and his love.

14 Cf. L. BORRIELLO, op. cit., 464. 15 Cf. A. MARRANZINI, “Corpo mistico” in DM, 359-360.

20 In terms of the Second Vatican Council, this corpo mistico is further applied to the reality of the Church: the Mystical Body of Christ. The document Lumen Gentium attributes both senses of mysticism to the essence of the Church, namely: sacrament and mystery, which became two pillars in describing the identity of the Church. In the mystical sense therefore, the Church is considered being the mystery communicating divinity. Seeing the Church in that way is made possible by the fact that it is inhabited by the Holy Spirit. Moreover, in being the Mystical Body of Christ, every member of the Church enjoys a filial relationship with God the Father and spousal relationship with the Son, and it is through the power of the Holy Spirit that these relationships are brought about. When using the term Christian mysticism in this paper, we intend to cover by it the whole range of meanings of the word mysticism as described above.

1.2.2 Affective-Phenomenology

Christian mysticism is also described as the union of love between a believer and God in Christ Jesus. This union of love with God is central in any Christian mystical experience. One of the ways to study this union is the affective-phenomenological understanding. However, there is a tendency to over emphasize the psychological and subjective dimension of the mystical experience. In this paper we stress more the fact that the affective aspect plays a very significant role in any mystical experience. The outburst of love (slancio d’amore) that springs from the Spirit between the creature and the Creator paves way to this transcendental union. Thus in the affective level, Christian mysticism is union of love between God and the believer. The affective meaning of love is understood as the force that mutually attracts each party. “The explicit knowledge of the ardent love of God in the depths of the very self generates in the mystics the immense desire that does not give peace until it is they are not irrevocably united to God and transformed into His very life.”16 At this affective level of understanding then, Christian

16 H. EGAN, I mistici e la mistica, Città del Vaticano 1995, 7.

21 mysticism is “the way of life that implies the perfect fulfillment of the love towards God, one’s neighbor… It is a painstaking impulse towards higher levels of reality through which the self is attracted, is purified and in the ultimate analysis, fully united to God in love.”17 Christian mysticism is likewise described as the loving and mysterious communion of a believer with God by which the person experiences certain supernatural and extraordinary phenomena18 like visions, sensible apparitions, levitations, revelations, ecstasies, stigmata, etc. It is easy to understand here that mystical experience in terms of phenomenology and by investigating these extraordinary phenomena. Recent scholars however, after much in-depth studies and discussions, have reached a common agreement as regards the matter. They are in accord to say that these supernatural and extraordinary phenomena are not essential elements of (Christian) mysticism.19 One can be a genuine mystic without having such extraordinary phenomena. What is more interesting then to consider at this level is the affective dimension of the mystical union. Mysticism has a strong affective dimension of love between the two parties. This means that LOVE can be a key word into its proper understanding. In Christian mysticism, we can make this contention that in the intimate union of the believer and God, the key-word (the word that can open) to its right comprehension is LOVE. The lens of love can lead us to an undistorted understanding of Christian mysticism. The dynamics of such intimate relationship between the believer and God is best seen with the eye of love. Just as in any human love relationship, we can point out certain dynamics and certain progression. Any love relationship entails certain stages like the acquaintance stage, the phase of falling in love, of courtship, of engagement and finally of marriage. In the spiritual level, we can say that some of these dynamics are applicable. We could see these in the lives of great mystics of the Church.

17Ibid. 18J. M. VELASCO, Il fenomeno mistico: Antropologia, culture, religioni, Milano 2001, 63-79. 19 E. ANCILLI, Vita cristiana ed esperienza mistica, Roma 1982, 29.

22 Delgado20 for instance has made a study on the relationship of love between St. Teresa of Avila and Christ in terms of the “I-Thou (Cristo)” Æ “Thou (Cristo)-I” relationship. Though this author speaks of love as the dynamics of this union, however he goes deeper by going beyond the affective notion in its human terms to an ontological level. In this study then, the dynamics of falling and staying in love will be used as one of the keys to understand the mystical experience of St. Louis Marie de Montfort. But again, love as understood not only in human affective sense but more on the ontological sense.

1.2.3 Ontology

In using this term “ontology” in this study, we intend to mean two aspects. First, we use the term “ontology” to highlight the fact that in Christian mysticism, there are realities that go beyond the natural sphere. John Paul II makes it clear that: “Metaphysics thus plays an essential role of mediation in theological research. A theology without a metaphysical horizon could not move beyond an analysis of religious experience, nor would it allow the intellectus fidei to give a coherent account of the universal and transcendent value of revealed truth” (FR 83). Christian mystics in describing their peak mystical experiences make use of a language that is of the “al di là ”. Commenting on the subject of Christian mysticism, G. Cottier says: “The union of love being union with the beloved reached in himself is the spring of connaturality, of affinity, and makes the soul to feel as instinct that which belongs to the Beloved… This knowledge is not as a known object rather a knowledge of faith that goes beyond (va al di là) the human and ordinary way.”21 Christian mystics use words of love to describe their union with God. Some of them even expressed their experience in very intimate and sensual

20 J. M. MORILLA DELGADO, “‘Yo – Tú’ en Teresa de Avila, en lectura cristogenetica, in Studies in Spirituality 3 (1993), 148-150. 21 G. COTTIER, “Metafisica e mistica” in La metafisica del terzo millennio,Roma 2001, 172- 173.

23 phrases that usually are misunderstood if taken in the natural and ordinary sense. Some people are afraid to read them because they can be interpreted in an “erotic” sense. In Scriptures, the Canticle of Canticles is one of such kind. It is genuinely a mystical masterpiece. Thus we want to stress that it is only in reading the works of the mystics in the ontological sense that we can properly understand their mystical experience. If they make use of the intimate language of love, we need to go beyond the human and worldly understanding of love, for it is a love that is the fruit of the Spirit dwelling in the believer. It is divine love. As regards the second sense of the word “ontology,” it is our stand that in any Christian mystical experience, there exists a metaphysical reality inherent and indwelling in every believer that enables him/her to such transcendental communication and union with God. One of the very influential works on this area of mysticism at the start of the 20th century proposes the insight that: “mysticism is the expression of the innate tendency of the human spirit towards a complete harmony with the transcendental order…”22 Some contemporary scholars23 deepened this intuition and are more inclined to say that it is not only this immense affective love mutually seen in both God and believer that makes the mystical experience possible. It is the revealed anthropological presupposition that man is created in the image and likeness of God (Gen 1:26) that enables this divine union. It is the indwelling Spirit within every human being that is the Enabler of this transcendental communication of love leading to a mystical union between God and the baptized mediated by Christ. It is this “alterità interiore24” or this divine inhabitation that makes this interpersonal and relational transcendental communication possible. It is this alterity that is presented as central theme of

22 E. UNDERHILL, Mysticism, Methuen, London 1911, XIV. 23 J. M. MORILLA DELGADO, “L’esperienza mistica e la metafisica di Cristo” in La metafisica del terzo millennio” D. MURRAY (ed.) Roma 2001; F. RIELO, Hacia una nuova concepción metafisica del ser, in ¿Esiste una Filosofia Spagnola? Fundación, Constantina (Sevilla) 1988. 24 Cf. J.M. MORILLA DELGADO, L’Alterità interiore come categoria fondante per una concezione antropologico-mistica della persona, , 1994.

24 catholic mystics and particularly by the experience expressed in the “‘lex’ del ‘Vivo sin vivir en mí’ of St. Teresa d’Avila and of St. John of the Cross.25 One greatest fruit of the Spirit inhabiting in the inmost being of every Christian believer is this infused love whose object is no other that the Trinity. Thus it is not human love itself that makes the transcendental union between creature and Creator in the Christian sense but Person-Love Itself, the Holy Spirit dwelling in every believer. It is this Spirit of God, this sanctifying inhabitation received at the time of Baptism and strengthened at the moment of Christian Confirmation and nourished by the Holy Eucharist. This idea is also found in St. Paul’s letters: “God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” (Rom 5:5); “God has sent into our hearts the Spirit of his Son crying, “Abba, Father!” (Gal. 4:6). In short, it is the ontological and metaphysical reality of the indwelling Spirit in the believer who operates in every mystical experience, in every union of love between the believer and God the Trinity. It is in the ontological level of Christian mysticism, that we can pinpoint the divine inhabitation in every Christian as the nucleus of any Christian mystical experience.

1.3 Christian Mystical Experience

In order to understand better what Christian mystical experience is, it is but proper first and foremost to underline the fact that Christian mystical experience differs from other forms of mystical experiences of other religions like Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, etc.26 It is different by the fact that its essential core and fundamental reference is Christ. In more specific terms, the Mystic Christ27 is both the founder and the foundation of every Christian mystical experience.

25 Ibid., 15. This “alterità mistica” or “mystical otherness” finds its roots in the Pauline text: “It is no longer I that lives, but Christ lives in me” (Gal 2:20). 26 See J. M. VELASCO, Il fenomeno mistico. 27J. M. MORILLA DELGADO, “L’esperienza mistica e la metafisica di Cristo”, 183-186.

25 1.3.1 Christ as Founder

The figure of Christ as Founder of Christianity and of Christian mysticism does not regard only the ethical teachings that founders of other religions have taught. Christianity has something original: the teaching of Christ is “beyond ethics”, in as much as it presupposes in the receptive subject that “deity” proper to human beings created in the “image of God”. Human beings are gifted of that “likeness”, that is a metaphysical property of God-the Father (“Be perfect as your Father is perfect” Mt 5:48)28. Christ, who is founder, speaks of God as Father and of human beings as “capax Dei”, having been created in the image and likeness of God. In calling God His Father, Christ-Founder even goes beyond by self-defining himself as Son, fully participating in the title of that divine Love of which God the Father is the fountain spring. Christ being the Founder identifies himself as the “Truth”, the “Way” and the “Life”.29 Doing so, he not only reveals himself as the Founder but also as the Foundation of Christian mystical experience. To make this self-revelation more concrete He said, “I and the Father are one” (Jn 10:30). Thus He defines Himself as One of the Divine Persons constituting the Trinity.

1.3.2 Christ as Foundation As foundation, Christ is “the Way, the Truth and the Life” (Jn. 14:6). Jesus-Foundation leads us to the knowledge of who God is: The Loving Father. Being the Way, the Truth and the Life, he gives us access to the mystery of the Trinity. This “Cristo-Fondamento” however has two poles, namely: the metaphysical and the anthropological foundations. The metaphysical foundation on the one side is Christ’s divine participation in the Trinity “ad intra” wherein God is Father and He is the Son. On the other side, Christ is the anthropological foundation in the sense of the divine inhabitation in human beings, an “ad extra” participation of human beings in the metaphysical reality and divine nature of the Trinity through the communication of the Holy Spirit.

28 All the Scriptural citations in this paper are taken from the JERUSALEM BIBLE. 29J. M. MORILLA DELGADO, “L’esperienza mistica e la metafisica di Cristo”, 185.

26 a) Divine Inhabitation: The Nucleus

Christ is the foundation of Christian mysticism by the fact that His Spirit dwells and inhabits in every human person enabling him or her to communicate and relate with God himself, God who is Father. Every Christian mystical experience presupposes this capacity of human beings to relate with God. This human capacity in man must be divine for no one can communicate with God except God. Nothing “not divine” can relate with the divine. God must be in us to empower us to communicate to Him. God inhabits within us. This character of the divine indwelling is essential and constitutive element in human beings. This divine indwelling has two aspects: the constitutive-natural aspect and the sanctifying aspect. First, the divine inhabitation is a natural and constitutive element of every human being. A human person is not to be defined solely as a rational being. Every man and woman is but a spirit, and more precisely still, a “pneuma-psico-somatizzata.” This presupposed anthropological foundation of Christian mysticism is fully legitimate, from the theological Christian doctrine and from the experiential tradition of the Catholic mystics. Scripturally, human beings are “created in the image and likeness of God” (Gen 1:26), meaning God’s divine image. In simple words, human beings are essentially enabled for divine communication. The anthropological definition of man being created in the image and likeness of God, presupposes in the person as being created an ontological and ethical dependence.30 This is so since God is in the innermost of his/her being, as thought, as conscience, etc. It is both a psychological as well as ontological reality.31 This essential and constitutive inhabitation of God in the person or presence of immensity, as the scholastics call it, has its foundation in that constitutive union between God and creatures by virtue of which as St. Paul confirms: “ we are in him, we exist in him and we move in him” (1 Cor 8:6). This natural inhabitation, which should not be confused with the inhabitation by

30 DV 44. 31 Ibid.

27 sanctifying grace, is a foundation of the Christian mystical experience. In fact, all the mystical doctrine of St. John of the Cross rests on this doctrine of inhabitation: To understand well therefore as regards the nature of this union in which I am treating, it is necessary to remember that the Lord substantially dwells and is present in any soul, even in the greatest sinner of the earth. It is always in act a genetic union between creature and the Creator by which is kept the being of which they are in possession. If this is separated, the created being would cease to exist and would return to nothing.32

We can also find this doctrine of inhabitation in Teresa of Avila. She speaks of the interior and supernatural inhabitation of God in the soul of the believer. This is in fact the anthropological foundation of the mysticism of St. Teresa:

I understood well that I had a soul. But what this soul deserved and who dwelt within it. I did not understand because I had covered my eyes the vanities of the world to be able to see it. In fact, if I only knew and understood, as at this moment, that in this minute palace of my soul dwells a King (…) But what a marvelous thing, that He who would fill a thousand worlds and many more with His grandeur would enclose Himself in so small!33

For her, this is not only a doctrine that every Christian needs to believe in but more a reality to be experienced. This discovery of Teresa recalls the Scripturally revealed truth that human beings are created in the image and likeness of God (Gen 1:26). This divine inhabitation is also found in the mystical experience of Elizabeth of the Trinity: “God is perceived always so close, rather inhabiting in the soul according to the experience of Elizabeth of the Trinity.”34 From the theological point of view, Vatican Council II confirms this ontological and transcendental dimension of man affirming that:

32 JOHN OF THE CROSS, “Ascent of Mount Carmel” II, 5, 3. in St. John of the Cross, Selected Writings. K. KAVANAUGH (ed.), New York 1987. 33 TERESA OF AVILA, The Collected Writings of St. Teresa of Avila, O. RODRIGUEZ-K. KAVANAUGH (trans.), vol. 2, Washington, DC 1980, 144. 34M. R. DEL GENIO, “Mistica” in DM, 830.

28 The root reason for human dignity lies in man's call to communion with God. From the very circumstance of his origin man is already invited to converse with God. For man would not exist were he not created by God’s love and constantly preserved by it; and he cannot live fully according to truth unless he freely acknowledges that love and devotes himself to His Creator. (GS 19)

This highest universal dignity of man, called to communion with God has its explicit foundation in the revealed anthropology. The latter teaches the fact that man has been created in the image of God, able to know and to love his own Creator (cf. GS 12). Second, this divine inhabitation has a sanctifying character. By His incarnation, passion, death and resurrection, Christ has sanctified humanity. By virtue of his becoming human, he elevates humanity into the level of divinity by participation. The divine indwelling in the believer is brought about by the grace of Christ’s redemption. From the wounded heart of Christ is opened the veil of the metaphysical Sancta Sanctorum of the love of the Father and of the Son, communicating in the gift of the Person-Love (Holy Spirit), ad extra, (“infused knowledge and love”) that makes one to understand in faith the highest filial dignity of the believer as member of the family of God. In fact, inasmuch as we are sons and daughters of God, we constitute in Christ one sole mystical family of the divine family of the Trinity (Cf. Heb 3:6). With the sacrament of baptism, the Trinity takes their dwelling in the intimo of the Christian. Through baptism, each believer has received the newness, through the reception of the gift of faith in Christ. This faith in Christ and this infused love, which are fruits of the indwelling Spirit, give man the capacity for Christian mystical experience. They lead the person to a Divine initiated union of love with the Trinity, all by virtue of this sanctifying grace of Christ.

1.3.3 The Holy Spirit as the Agent

No authentic Christian life is possible without the presence and the action of the Holy Spirit, welcomed and collaborated with the believer himself/herself.

29 It is this Divine Fire of Love who prepares the believers and provides them with grace to advance in holiness. “The divine Person of the Spirit occupies a special centrality in the life of the faithful be at the beginning of his conversion, be towards growth in Christian life, be in the ascetical efforts of perfection, be in the crowning of his existence lived to the glory of the Holy Trinity.”35 The Holy Spirit indeed is the Agent of mystical life. Pope John Paul II comments that:

Under the influence of the Holy Spirit this inner, "spiritual," man [baptized Christian] matures and grows strong. Thanks to the divine self-communication, the human spirit which "knows the secrets of man" meets the "Spirit who searches everything, even the depths of God." In this Spirit, who is the eternal gift, the Triune God opens himself to man, to the human spirit. The hidden breath of the divine Spirit enables the human spirit to open in its turn before the saving and sanctifying self- opening of God. Through the gift of grace, which comes from the Holy Spirit, man enters a "new life," is brought into the supernatural reality of the divine life itself and becomes a "dwelling-place of the Holy Spirit," a living temple of God. For through the Holy Spirit, the Father and the Son come to him and take up their abode with him. In the communion of grace with the Trinity, man's "living area" is broadened and raised up to the supernatural level of divine life. Man lives in God and by God: he lives "according to the Spirit," and "sets his mind on the things of the Spirit." (DeV 58)

Fundamental though in the genesis of any Christian mystical experience is the personal faith in Christ and in believing in the Trinity.

The birth, or rebirth happens when God the Father "sends the Spirit of his Son into our hearts." Then "we receive a spirit of adopted sons by which we cry 'Abba, Father!'" Hence the divine filiation planted in the human soul through sanctifying grace is the work of the Holy Spirit. "It is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ." Sanctifying grace is the principle and source of man's new life: divine, supernatural life. (DeV 50)

35 AM. TRIACCA, “Spirito Santo” in DM, 1164.

30 Furthermore, the ontological presupposition in Christian mystical life is the union of love that is likewise the work of the Holy Spirit. This Third Person of the Trinity is the agent of this mystical union of love between God and the believer. The dynamism of love and grace of Spirit acts in the interior of the new man and in God’s time configures him as alter Christus. This divine transformation and identification is realized through the unity of the love of the Father and of the Son in the Holy Spirit. Ontologically, this reality is explained in terms of the “ad extra” action of the Holy Spirit in the believer, in the Mystical Body of Christ, the Church. The Holy Spirit communicates between the Father and the Son “ad intra” and the divinity of God is also communicated “ad extra” by the same Spirit to humanity in the incarnate Son Christ. Mystici Corporis underlines that “Christ is in us through his Spirit and through whom he acts within us in such a way that all the divine activity of the Holy Spirit within our souls must also be attributed to Christ” (MC 76).

1.3.4 The Cross as the dialectic

The dialectic of this union of love rests on the Cross. “The cross becomes then a symbol of the perfection of love of Christ. With it, He is united to human nature and with it the believer is united to Christ and has access to the life of the Father, through the Holy Spirit who purifies and perfect him in holiness.”36 The cross constitutes “the-greatest-love” dialectic. It is so because the ablative love of Christ is that of God-Man but also of the man-God. The singularity of this love eradicates permanently the distance, otherwise insuperable, between the sin of man and the friendship of the Father. With his incarnation and his passion, Christ takes the cross as the dialectics of his redeeming love. The parameter of this union of love is given by the participation of the death and glorious resurrection of Christ, a participation that does not work only as the efficient and meritorious cause that perpetuates in its effects, but as ontological and mystical

36 J.M. MORILLA DELGADO, “La dialettica cristogenetico della croce nella esperienza mistica” in Atti del Terzo congresso staurologico internazionale, Roma 1995, 214.

31 reality. The believer immerges spiritually in the death and in the resurrection of the life of Christ. In this dialectic of the Cross, Delgado notes that:

The cross abolishes the metaphysical distance, otherwise insuperable, between the sin of man and the love of the Father, reversing the life-death dialectics to death-life that becomes definite through the resurrection: it is this crucified and glorious love of Christ the foundation and the metaphysical place of encounter between the mystery of the familiar love of the Father and the infinite distance of sin of the fallen man…37

This is why St. Paul did not want to know other dialectics except that of “Christ and Christ crucified” (1 Cor 2:2). John the evangelist like St. Paul develops the theme on the wisdom of the Cross. In the Cross is the epiphany of God. “The Cross is both exaltation and revelation of God in the great prevailing and faithful love until the end, that is ‘consumed’ in the Cross (Jn 13:1, 19:30)… Christ dying on the Cross ‘gave’ his Spirit.”38 The Cross and love are very much identified to each other in the Christian sense. Above all, “the Cross is the maximum self-revelation of God- Love.”39 This dialectic of the Cross in the mystical union of love with God is present in the experience of all Christian mystics like St. John of the Cross, St. Teresa of Avila, St. Therese, St. , etc. The Cross of Christ is the open symbol of the union of divine love with redeemed humanity by his crucified and glorious love. We will see this too in a very experience of St. Louis Marie de Montfort who coined the phrase: “Never the Cross without Jesus, never Jesus without the Cross” (LEW 172). He also said that the Cross is the great secret of the King (LEW 167).

37 J. M. MORILLA DELGADO, “L’esperienza mistica e la metafisica di Cristo”, 188. 38 C. BROVETTO, “Croce” in DM, 375. 39 Ibid., 377.

32 1.3.5 Mary as the Milieu

Mary’s significant role in the mystical life of a believer has been confirmed and highlighted in Christian tradition. On the one hand she plays a role model, while on the other she is a place where divinity dwells. In the Patristic Age, Origen was the first author who has grasped the mystical availability of Mary to the action of God. Commenting on the Gospel of Luke, he highlighted Mary’s character as “ricolmata de Spirito Santo”.40 In the same Alexandrian ambiance, Mary is considered the one who inaugurates the angelic and celestial life lived by the monks. Along the same intuition, St. calls Mary as the “dwelling place of the heavenly mysteries” and “royal hall”41, and the example of active life in reaching the summit of perfection. He underlined the fact that one needs to reach a certain degree of identification with Mary to conceive and generate Christ through faith and to be a praise of God: “Every soul that believes, conceives and generates the Word of God and understands the process. The soul of Mary is in each one to magnify the Lord, the spirit of Mary in each one to exalt in God.”42 St. Augustine on the other hand echoing A. Autpert called Mary as the “forma Dei”43 In the fourteenth century Raymond Giordano described Mary as the “closed garden and the sealed fountain”.44 For Joachim de Fiore, Mary is a kind of “Church of the contemplatives” who, through love, becomes mystically one sole thing with God.45 In the French School of Spirituality, its founder Pierre de Bérulle perceived Mary as the paradise of the Trinity constructed for themselves: Referring to Mary he wrote addressed to the Trinity: “You have created her only

40 “filled with the Holy Spirit” ,Cf. S. DE FIORES, “Maria” in DM, 776. 41 AMBROGIO, L’educazione della virgine in TMPM 3, 172-173. Cf. S. DE FIORES, “Maria” in DM, 776. This insight is echoed in LG 63. 42 AMBROGIO, Esposizione del Vangelo di Luca, in TMPM 3, 185. 43 S. AGUSTINUS, Serm. 208 in fest.Assumpt. B.M., n.5, PL 39, 2131. It is to be noted though that it appears pseudo-augustine Ambroise Autpert as the true author. Cf. GA, 284. 44 RAIMONDO GIORDANO, Contemplationes de Beata Maria Virgine, pars XVII, 1. See also S. DE FIORES, “Maria”, 778. 45 Cf. S. DE FIORES, “Maria”, 778.

33 for you O Holy Trinity. You have made her like a world and a set aside paradise… a new heaven and a new earth (…) another universe within the universe.”46 With these examples in the Christian Tradition, it is but obvious that Mary is the spiritual milieu for union with God. She is indispensable in anyone’s mystical journey. As we deal more closely into the intuitions of St. Louis de Montfort, we will discover all the more that the Blessed Virgin Mary is the divine milieu where union and the highest mystical experiences are lived perfectly and faithfully.

1.3.6 Spiritual Marriage as the Summit

This reality of the spiritual marriage has a strong biblical reference. We see in Sacred Scriptures that frequently the union between God and his people is compared to a matrimonial union between a man and a woman.47 A good example for this is the conjugal experience of Hosea (Hosea 1-3). In the New Testament, with the new and eternal covenant, Jesus describes himself as the Bridegroom (Mt 9:15). In other texts like Mt 26:1-13, Lk 12:36 and Mt 22:2, they all revolve on the Spouse Jesus.48 St. Paul in his letter to the Ephesians uses the image of a Bridegroom-bride to characterize the relationship between Christ and the Church.49 The Church is the Mystical Body of Christ. Vatican II re- echoes this reality that Church, the people of God composed of all baptized Christians, is the “spouse of Christ”50 Not only can we find this reality of the spiritual marriage in the Scriptures, this mystical reality is found in the Fathers of the Church like , Origen, , Didimo the Blind, , St. Bernard, etc.51 To cite some of their teachings, we take Origen who says that

46 Ibid., 779. 47 S. POSSANZINI, “Matrimonio spirituale” in DM, 800. 48 Ibid. 49 Cf. also R. PENNA, Il mysterion paolino, Roma 1978, 76. 50 LG 4, 6, 7, 9, 39, 41, 46. 51 S. POSSANZINI, “Matrimonio spirituale”, 800-801.

34 Christ is the spouse, whom the soul is united by faith. Cyril of Jerusalem is clearer when he says that after baptism, he/ or she who was at first a servant, now receives the Lord as Spouse. With Gregory of Nyssa, The Canticle of Canticles is a Biblical text commonly commented to express this union of love between God and the soul under the symbol of marriage. Of course, spiritual marriage has been well described in the mystical experiences of St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross. St Teresa in the Interior Castle writes that in the last two mansions the door is not closed. She explains that the soul after having been purified and with the divine action, while ardent and constant in his desire for his God, is introduced in the dwellings of the great King, that is ascending to the highest grades of communion possible on earth by a human creature: “When our Lord is pleased to have pity on this soul that He has already taken spiritually as His spouse because of what is suffers and has suffered through its desires, He brings it before the spiritual marriage is consummated into his dwelling place, which is this seventh [mansion].”52 In short, St. Teresa makes clear the point that spiritual marriage is the summit of one’s union with God. St. John of the Cross shares the same teaching. He writes that “to reach spiritual marriage is necessary that the soul has great force and tremendous sublime love to be worthy of the strong and tight embrace of God.”53

1.3.7 The Blessed Trinity as the Ultimate End

The truth of this experiential knowledge of the mystical life has as its ultimate end in the Holy Trinity. Pope Pious XII in echoing Leo XIII says:

Therefore, our most learned predecessor Leo XIII of happy memory, speaking of our union with Christ and with the Divine Paraclete who dwells within us, and fixing his gaze on that blessed vision through which this mystical union will attain its confirmation and perfection in heaven says: "This wonderful union, or indwelling properly so-called, differs from that by which

52 TERESA OF AVILA, The Interior Castle, R. PAYNE (ed.), New York 1979, 173. 53JOHN OF THE CROSS, The Collected Writings of St. John of the Cross, K. KAVANAUGH-O. RODRIGUEZ, Washington, DC 1979, 488.

35 God embraces and gives joy to the elect only by reason of our earthly state." In that celestial vision it will be granted to the eyes of the human mind strengthened by the light of glory, to contemplate the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in an utterly ineffable manner, to assist throughout eternity at the processions of the Divine Persons, and to rejoice with a happiness like to that with which the holy and undivided Trinity is happy. (MC 80)

St. Teresa of Avila speaking of her mystical experience says:

That which we believe through faith, the soul knows them almost through sight, though not with the eyes of the body nor with those of the soul […]. Here the three Divine Persons communicates themselves with the creature, they speak them to him and they make him understand the words with which the Lord in the Gospel that He with the Father and with the Holy Spirit descends to dwell in the soul who loves Him and keeps his commandments.54 In the New Testament, especially in the Johannine Literature, we have some passages that echo this spiritual reality: “Anyone who loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we shall come to him and make a home in him” (Jn 14:23). Along the same thought John highlights that “God is love and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him” (1 Jn 4:16). Related to the fact that the ultimate end of Christian mystical experience is the intimate union of love with the Blessed Trinity is the mystical “identification and the transformation” of the believer in God. Such identification and transformation is to that of Christ, the second person of the Trinity. St. Paul describes this saying “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I live now in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal 2:20). He tells us that “anyone who united to the Lord becomes one spirit with him” (1Cor 6:17). “And all of us, with our unveiled faces like mirrors reflecting the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the image that we reflect in brighter and brighter glory; this is the working of the Lord who is the Spirit” (2 Cor 6:17).

54 TERESA OF AVILA, The Interior Castle, 175.

36 Moreover, John makes it also clear that Jesus and the Father are one: “The Father and I are one” (Jn 10:30). “On that day you will know that I am in my Father and you in me and I in you” (Jn 14:20). This reality of the finality of the Trinity and divine identification/transformation in the mystical journey can be called the “mysterious interpenetration or reciprocal inhabitation”55 between God and the believer.

1.4 Difference between Christian Spiritual Life and Christian Mystical Life

For those who study Christian mysticism in a phenomenological and psychological sense, there is a temptation to say that the life of the mystic is specifically different from the life of the common Christian. They note that “in the psychological point of view, the life of the mystic is specifically different from the common life of the Christian. Mystical experience appears as something specifically new to the soul.”56 In other words, in the psychological view a qualitative difference exists between the two. However, we are more inclined to say and it is more adequate to say that Christian life and mystical life are differentiated only gradually. Grace is a common element to both: developed in mysticism while more or less a sprout in Christian life: Christian life and mystical life are not differentiated through experienced reality but in the mode of experiencing them. The supernatural reality is the same for all, but not all assimilate it in the same way nor perceive it in the same way. The divine life, the Trinity, Christ, the sacraments, Sacred Scriptures are the same, be in Christian life as in mystical life. The difference is in the different modes of living these realities.57

In short then, there is no qualitative difference between Christian and mystical life. The difference is in the modality.

55 S. DE FIORES, Trinità mistero di vita, 263. 56 E. ANCILLI, Vita cristiana ed esperienza mistica, 30. 57 Ibid.

37

CHAPTER II

ST. LOUIS MARIE DE MONTFORT’S MYSTICAL EXPERIENCE

We have amply discussed the objective foundation of Christian mystical experience that is carried through the Church’s tradition. We now move on and deal with its subjective foundation as we try to see how St. Louis Marie de Montfort has experienced this transcendental communication of the Trinity mediated by Christ through the Holy Spirit and how he experienced this highest degree of union with God in love. But first let us put Montfort in his proper cultural and spiritual environment. This will surely help us understand better his mystical experience.

2.1 His Cultural and Spiritual Environment

To have a better grasp of the life and intuitions of St. Louis Marie, it is but necessary to situate him in the spiritual environment particular of his time. It is undoubtedly true that this saint was very much influenced by the spiritual trends and movements of seventeenth century France. In a larger scale however we need to consider his cultural context that in one way or the other became agents of his Christian formation and catalysts of his spiritual journey.

2.1.1 The Seventeenth-century France

Seventeenth century was the period of revival in the French society after the wars of religion. In many places around France poverty was a great problem. Peasants all over country were living a precarious living. At the same time it was also the period when the bourgeoisie increased in number and lived a life close to that of the aristocrats. It was with this French bourgeoisie that Christian renewal started. “Most of those called ‘devout people’ belonged to this ‘middle class’”.58

58 R. DEVILLE, “The French School of Spirituality” in JLM, 439.

38 Although there was great vitality in French Christianity, yet historians describe it as being “in a pitiable state.”59 The clergy of the French Church had neither been adequately trained nor did they receive ample support from the bishops. With the advent of the Council of Trent, religious orders however began to experience a period of renewal. Reforms were introduced and new foundations sprouted. The result was a tremendous dynamism. There were vigorous missionary efforts being carried out. Doing parish missions became a special character of the religious movements. The missionary renewal progressed with the educational renewal as well. Leaders of the French School of Spirituality like Cardinal de Bérulle clarified the underlying theology of the missionary activity.

2.1.2 Spiritual Influences

It was by this movement of the French School of Spirituality that Louis Marie’s spiritual formation was greatly influenced. After the Scriptures, the writings of the leaders of this spiritual trend were Montfort’s main sources. We will discuss this matter amply, but first let us spend a few lines to consider other religious groups who are part and parcel of Montfort’s Christian formation.

a) The Jesuits

Louis Marie since the age of 11 was spiritually formed by the Jesuits. During his eight years of studies at the Jesuit college of St. Thomas à Becket in (1684), the young Louis came to count the spiritual sons of Saint Ignatius Loyola as lifelong friends. He assimilated not only the classical teachings of the Jesuits but, even more so, their spirit. He did not only grow in his grasp of humanities for which the School was famous of but above all the knowledge and love of our Creator and Redeemer. The Jesuit Father P. Descartes, (nephew of the famous philosopher) instilled in Montfort the radical trust in "the good God." Under the direction of Father Provost, the head of the

59 Ibid.

39 Sodality at Rennes, Louis deepened his love of Our Lady, considering her primarily not so much as Queen but as Mother. The spiritual maternity will become his fundamental view of Mary's relationship to the Church.60 Moreover, spurred on by the "always greater" of Ignatian spirituality, and under the direction of his Jesuit directors, the young student already undertook mortifications and a life of poverty and of service to the outcasts for which he would become so well known. Another Jesuit, Father Gilbert, well-known at that time for his heroic patience amid so many crosses, became a model of Christian stoicism which Montfort was eager to imitate in his years as an itinerant preacher of the Good News. In the same Jesuit environment at St. Thomas á Becket, a diocesan , Father Bellier, led a group of the students in ministry among the poverty stricken people of the city of Rennes, thereby introducing Louis Marie to an apostolate among the marginalized from society. Finally, the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius Loyola became a rich source of Louis Marie’s advance in holiness. In short, the seeds of Montfort’s future were sown by the Jesuits at Rennes. Because of their example and under their direction, he decided to become a priest. They will be his source of support when all his other friends abandon him. The works with mystical character of many Jesuits had made strong influence in Louis Marie. We know that he used the book of Jean- Baptiste Saint-Jure (1588-1657) entitled De la connaisance et de l’amour du Fils de Dieu (Of the Knowledge and the Love of the Son of God); he was acquainted with the work of Jean-Joseph Surin, Catéchisme spiritual (Spiritual Catechism). These and many other Jesuit spiritual writers like Paul de Barry, François Poiré, Jacques Nouet and Jacques Crasset had in one way or another strong influence on Louis though their writings did not deal with the main themes of the French School.

60 C. FLACHAIRE, speaking of the Jesuits Binet, de Barry and Poiré, states that the devotion of the Jesuits to Our Lady "is first of all a constant call to affection and tenderness." (La dévotion à la Vierge dans la littérature catholique au commencement du XVIIe siècle, Paris 1957, 34.). Cf. P. GAFFNEY, The Spiritual Maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary According to Saint Louis de Montfort, New York 1976.

40 b) The Sulpicians

After eight years at the Jesuit College of Rennes, Louis Grignion was under the direction of the Sulpicians at Paris for another eight years (1692- 1700). The spirituality of Cardinal de Bérulle which St. Sulpice embodied was definitely assimilated by the young seminarian. Jean-Jacques Olier who is the founder of the Seminary was one of the great followers of Bérulle. Thus the Sulpicians were in many ways Bérullians too. However the manner of priestly living imparted by the Sulpicians, especially by Fathers Tronson and Leschassier, was too rigid, too closed and proper.61 The teen-ager Louis had certain difficulty here for he was always attached to the "openness to the horizon," which he had imbibed as a student of the Jesuits. The singular and charismatic Montfort found it impossible to become a rather static, settled cleric. However, with such tension his stay was very productive. Louis de Montfort's studies in Paris may be divided into three stages. His first two years as a seminarian (1692-1694) at the "Community of poor ecclesiastics" under the direction of the Sulpician, Claude Bottu de la Barmondière was very significant. He was overjoyed to be in a community of seminarians where poverty was extolled and vividly practiced. Being poor was considered a great honor for it was an imitation of the poverty of the Lord. This practical poverty coupled with his encounter with the writings of the Bérullian Henri Boudon on the cross of Christ and on holy slavery made a decisive and permanent influence on his later life and works. The second stage was the period when Louis Grignion stayed at the Community of Father Boucher (1694-1695). In a strict sense though, it was not a “Sulpician atmosphere” for they had to face extreme poverty in the community. Students had to find bread for themselves and even had to practice begging. This

61 DE FIORES emphasizes the differences between Olier and Tronson (cf. S. DE FIORES, Itinerario spirituale di s. Louis Mary di Monfort( 1673-1716) nel periodo fino al sacerdozio (5 Giugno 1700) in Marian Library Studies, 6 (1974), 146-165); DEVILLE, on the other hand, writes: "Perhaps too much has been made of the way J.J. Olier's successors, especially L. Tronson, distorted and hardened the teaching given at Saint-Sulpice in its early stages." (Cf. R. DEVILLE, "The French School of Spirituality" in JLM, 442.)

41 was never tolerated by the Sulpicians.62 It was during this short stay in Boucher's community that the young Montfort fell seriously ill and spent several months at the Hôtel-Dieu. His short sojourn here was interspersed with bouts of illness. Though he took them as privileged crosses, yet he sought practical means to care for his health. The third stage was his being a student at the Little Saint Sulpice (1695- 1700). It was here in this “little seminary” that Louis Grignion spent his last five years of preparation for the priesthood. Here he absorbed to the full the spirituality of the French School. Its trinitarian/christocentrism, its devotion to Mary including the vow of servitude, its apostolic outreach, its love for sacred scripture (especially for the Pauline letters), its intense mysticism, its pessimistic view of man on his own and its optimistic view of man living in Christ Jesus, were especially appealing to Montfort. Though we can say that generally, Louis was faithful to the overall Bérullian spirituality, he was far more attracted to the mysticism of J.J. Olier than to its somewhat legalistic and constantly "moderate" interpretation by Tronson and Leschassier. Although respecting both Sulpicians,63 Louis Marie now a priest eventually gave full vent to the breath of the Spirit no matter where the Spirit may lead him. Montfort did never met the Bérullian J.J. Olier since he died 1657 and Montfort was born in 1673. Nevertheless, he must have heard about his life, his works especially his preaching parish missions in rural areas. He must have learned that the purpose of Olier’s founding seminaries was for the solid and apostolic formation of meant for parish missions. Olier “was convinced that parish missions could bear no lasting fruit unless they were based on a solid spiritual and apostolic formation focusing on the union with Jesus Christ.”64 In

62 S. DE FIORES, Itinerario spirituale, 132. 63 This is especially true of Montfort's esteem for Tronson. In TD 244, the saint writes: "Father Tronson, Superior General of the Seminary of St. Sulpice, renowned for his rare prudence and consummate piety." Moreover, Montfort's Rule of the Daughters of Wisdom contains large sections attributable to Tronson. 64R. DEVILLE, “The French School of Spirituality,” 443.

42 fact, in the first chapter of the Directoire spirituel de Saint-Sulpice, this founder of the seminary has written: “The primary aim of the Institute is to live completely for God in Christ Jesus our Lord so that the interior dispositions of His Son may permeate the deepest recesses of our souls and enable each of us to repeat what Paul confidently said to himself, ‘It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me’” (Gal 2:20)65. In undertaking missions, Olier teaches that “Apostolic men and all the apostles of Christ are Christ-bearers, they bring him wherever they go; they are like sacraments, which bear him so that under their appearance and through them he may proclaim the glory of his Father.”66 These abovementioned teachings of Olier will become one of Montfort’s highest goal in his spiritual life and motif in his mission, as we will see later The method of prayer proposed by Olier is entirely centered on Jesus. It is a real school of prayer, as illustrated in the so called “Sulpician method,” that has three successive stages. First is the adoration: Jesus before my eyes. Second is the communion: Jesus in my heart. Third is the mission (cooperation): Jesus in my hands.67 All these above convictions and teachings of Olier made a deep imprint into Louis’ spiritual growth.

c) The Bérullians

Among the many spiritual trends and movements St. Louis Marie de Montfort found himself in -- the Jesuits, the Sulpicians, the Domenicans -- his life and writings reveal that he was much more influenced by the French School of Spirituality with its promoters known as the Bérullians. In fact, he is considered “the last of the great Bérullians.”68 The founders of this seventeenth French Spirituality were Cardinal Pierre de Bérulle (1575-1629) and (1588-1641). Other leaders and proponents were Jean Eudes (1601-1680) and Jean-Jacques Olier (1608-1657).

65Ibid. See also, Our Priestly Life, St. Mary’s Seminary, Baltimore 1944. 66Ibid. 67Ibid., 444. 68 R. DEVILLE, op. cit., 437. See also Y. KRUMENACHER, L’école française de spiritualité, Paris 1999, 529.

43 We have already seen Olier’s major influence. The other Bérullians, with all their unique emphasis in spiritual journey, have also made a strong influence in the life and writings of St. Louis. An in-depth study though would reveal that even if Montfort kept the main characteristics of the doctrines of the Bérullians, his are creatively distinct and unique and even simplified. It is worthwhile to be acquainted with the main features of this seventeenth century spirituality. Let us dedicate a few lines to highlight some of them.

i) Mysticism

This powerful spiritual, missionary and reform that oriented French School of Spirituality was characterized by its deep mystical experience. It has been widely noted that all its leaders were genuine mystics and were scripturally nourished by the writings of St. Paul and St. John. Using the translations made available through the Carthusians… they immersed themselves in the German and Flemish mystics, in , Tauler, Suso, Ruysbroeck, Pseudo-Denis, and Harpius’ Theologia Mystica.”69 Mystical Christ-centeredness is considered the central core of the experience and teachings of the Bérullians.70 The contemplation of the Word incarnate and one’s personal relationship with Jesus were fundamental to each one’s life. Their doctrine involves the conviction that Christian living is a specific, personal and ecclesial relationship with Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit is the main agent for such relationship. Furthermore, this intimate relationship essentially implies a relationship of adherence, communion and eventually deep identification of Jesus Christ.

ii) Centrality of Christ

To illustrate that reality of Christ’s centrality is necessary in the life of any Christian, this seventeenth century spirituality made use of the theory of Nicolas Copernicus:

69 A. M. MINTON, “Bérulle’s Christic Vision” in Studia Mystica 13 (1990), 5. 70 R. DEVILLE, “The French School of Spirituality”, 447.

44 A great mind of this century (Nicolas Copernicus) maintained that the sun and not the earth is the center of the universe. He maintained that the sun was motionless and that the earth, in conformity with its round shape, orbited the sun… This new theory, which few astronomers accept, can be helpful and should be adhered to when applied to the science of salvation. Jesus is the great motionless sun around whom all things revolve. He is like his Father and sits at His right hand; like Him he is motionless and sets everything in motion. He is the real center of the world, and the world should continually move towards him. Jesus us the sun of our souls, and from him come all grace, enlightenment and influence. The earth of our hearts should continually move towards him… Let us, then, turn to Jesus every movement and every affection of our heart; let us raise our hearts to him and praise God for his only Son and the mystery of his Incarnation…”71

R. Deville summarizes the keypoints of their teaching on the mystical Christ-centeredness of one’s relationship with God by highlighting that Jesus, living, risen from the dead and contemplated in the mystery of he incarnation is the center as the sun is the center of the universe72: + Jesus is to be adored in the mystery of the Incarnation and in all his other mysteries ( and “states”) … + We must unite ourselves to Jesus (“adherence”) through communion in his mysteries, his dispositions, and His heart. + Jesus comes and lives in us through faith, love, and our apostolate commitment. This “life of Jesus in us” begins at Baptism, and is nourished and grows by our participation in the Eucharist and in meditation, which is non sacramental communion. + Jesus sends us, as he was sent by the Father and as he sent his Apostles after they had been enriched by the gift of the Spirit. + Jesus is linked to Mary in a unique, definitive way; she gave him his humanity, he lives in her, and she is still his mother and ours.73

In the spiritual doctrine of Bérulle, Christ is center especially in his incarnation. This mystery of the incarnation of the Word is the “terme d’adoration”, the “moyen d’adoration’ and the ‘exemple d’adoration”.74 The

71 Cf. A.M. MINTON. Ibid. 72 R. DEVILLE, op. cit. 448. 73 Ibid., 447-448. 74 A. MOLIEN, “Bérulle” in DSAM 1 (1932), 1554-155.

45 spirit of perfect adoration is very prominent in the spirituality of Bérulle and in such spirit, he takes Christ as the model, the means and the term of perfectly adoring the Trinity.

iii) Christ Living in Us

Another important element of this movement is the conviction that “Christian living is essentially Christ living in us”.75 Applying St. Paul’s words: “It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me” (Gal 2:20), J. Eudes explains that “Christian living is the continuation and fulfillment of the life of Jesus Christ.” 76 There is a transformation and an identification of the believer to Jesus. This mystical identification happens through the formation of Jesus in us (cf. Gal 4:19) by the Holy Spirit when we are in communion with the states, dispositions and even sentiments of Jesus (cf. Phil. 1:5-8). Both Olier and Eudes highlights the prominence of the Holy Spirit who will create the dispositions and sentiments of Jesus in the believer. This insight of Jesus living in us will be carried through in the spirituality of Montfort. We will see this character so strong in the mystical way of Montfort, which we will treat later in this paper.

In part 3 of Vie et royaume de Jésus , Eudes further explains the idea that:

When a Christian meditates, he continues and fulfills the prayer of Jesus Christ; when he works he continues and fulfills on earth the labor of Jesus Christ… We ought to continue and accomplish them in us and in all the members of his Church. For the mysteries have not yet reached their full perfection and fulfillment. Though perfect and fulfilled in the person of Jesus, they are, nonetheless, not yet fulfilled and perfect in us, who are his members, or in the Church, which is his Mystical Body… So the Son of God’s design is to accomplish and fulfill in us all his states and mysteries. His design is to complete in us the mysteries of his Incarnation, birth, and hidden life by forming himself in us and coming to birth in our souls by the Holy Sacraments of Baptism and the divine Eucharist,

75 R. DEVILLE, op. cit., 448. 76 Ibid.

46 by making us live a spiritual interior life hidden in God with him.”77

This insight is also related to their understanding of the Church as the Mystical Body of Christ. Influenced by the Early Church Fathers, their contention that Jesus lives on in the Church, in every member of this Mystical Body. This insight of the identity of the Church is taken by Montfort as we can note in TD 17, 32 and 40. Moreover, these Bérullians emphasized two aspects of the Church, namely liturgical prayer and missionary activity. “In their view, the liturgical year offer opportunities to relive the states and mysteries of Jesus, and by their preaching and dedication, the missionaries, animated by the apostolic spirit of Jesus, continue to fulfill the mission of the Incarnate Word.”78

iv) Devotion to Mary

We can find in the writings as in the thinking and practice of the French School a kind of natural passage from Christology to . Undoubtedly, the Marian aspect is enormously important to all founding mystics: Bérulle, Olier and Eudes. Of course, St. Louis Marie shares and even highlights this element of Mary in his spirituality. Thompson notes that: “The extremely intensive Mariological accents of Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort is in many ways a normal development of trends already well in place in Cardinal Bérulle.”79 This is true with the same Marian accents of Olier and Eudes, as we shall see later. In Bérulle’s thought, he underlines three Mariological accents namely: Mary’s maternity, Marian servitude and the states of Mary’s soul. In highlighting her maternity of Jesus, Bérulle roots Mary’s importance in the event of the Incarnation itself. He says that Mary’s “grace and life as the Mother of God is the foundation and origin [of everything else].”80 For him, Mary’s

77 Ibid., 442 . See also J. EUDES, op. cit., part 3, 310-312. 78 Ibid., 449. 79 W. M. THOMPSON (ed.), Bérulle and the French School, L. M. GLENDON (trans.), New York, 1989, 47. See also R. DEVILLE, L’école française de spiritualité, Paris 1987, 139-155. 80 Ibid.

47 immaculate conception and virginity find their basis and their foundation on her maternity of God. As regards the “Marian servitude”, Bérulle explicitly sees Mary’s Fiat the state of servitude wherein from the moment of the Incarnation, Mary placed herself.81 In the third accent, he explores the varied states of Mary’s soul and the corresponding transformation these cause in the soul “in servitude” toward her. “The key principle here is that as Mary’s soul corresponds to that of her Son, so that Marian serviteur corresponds to that of both the former.”82 As a whole, we can summarize by saying that “The basic tendency of Bérulle is to present Mary’s participation in Jesus in a mystical fashion. The Marian mystery is a mystical (gratuitous and ‘passive’) transformation of Mary’s deepest being through her participation in the life, death and resurrection of her Son.”83 J-J. Olier on the other hand presents a unique transposition of Bérulle’s Mariology. He calls Mary an “abrégé de l’intérieur de Jésus-Christ84 and, even more strongly Mary as a sacrament. He is able to say this after rooting Mary’s mystery in the Christological and soteriological mystery. “She is what she is because of the mystery of Jesus and her entire existence is a mediation of that, to herself and to us.”85 It is worthwhile quoting here the probably most celebrated expression of Mary’s maternity, which Olier is indebted from Condren and whose insight Montfort has further developed:

O Jesus living in Mary, come and live in me, in your spirit of holiness, in the fullness of your virtue, in the perfection of your ways, in the truth of your virtues, in the communion of your divine mysteries” overcome in me all the powerful enemies, the world and the devil, and the flesh, by the power of your Spirit and for the glory of your Father.86

81 See F. GUILLÉN PRECKLER, “état” chez le Cardinal de Bérulle:Théologie et spiritualité des “états” bérulliens, Analecta Gregoriana Series, 197 (1974), 234-237. 82 W.M. THOMPSON (ed.), Bérulle and the French School, 49. 83 Ibid., 50. 84 Ibid, 51. 85 Ibid. 86Cf. R. DEVILLE, L’école française de spiritualité, 68. See also W. M. THOMPSON, (ed.) Bérulle and the French School, 52.

48 J. Eudes on the other hand highlights the close intimacy between Jesus and Mary. His principle is that Mary is what she is because of Jesus. The propagation on the devotion to Mary’s finds its foundation in the fact that, for Eudes, a study of Mary’s heart becomes the study of Jesus’ heart too. He makes it clear though that “Mary of herself ‘is nothing, possesses nothing, can do nothing,’ for Jesus is ‘all to her: he is her being, her life, her holiness, her glory, her power and her grandeur.”87

2.2 The Principal Elements of His Mystical Experience

We have amply put Montfort is his proper spiritual context. We now move on to see the main elements of his intimate union with Wisdom, seen as influenced by his spiritual milieu. All of the saint’s works provide us with a good source where we could point out these primary elements. With this discussion we will discover how the mystical experience of Montfort is well founded in the Church’s tradition and how his spirituality theologically sound.

2.2.1 Concept of Experience

When speaking about his own experience, St. Louis Marie de Montfort employed the same concept of experience as has been discussed in Chapter I. In his writings, he used the word “experience” at least 35 times88. In most cases we can deduce that he intended experience to mean “a lived experience” of his intimate relationship with God in Christ. In trying to convey his insights to his followers, the saint wrote: “experience will teach you more infinitely than I tell you” (SM 53). He used phrases like: “I could tell you at great length of the grace of God has given me, to know by experience…” (SR 2); “even my own experience would be enough…” (SR 50); “you will learn more from your experience” (SR 114); “only experience can teach these wonders” (SM 57); etc.. All these only point out that for Montfort experience is neither empirically measurable nor quantifiable. He simply described it as much as he could, but

87 Ibid. 88 L 5, 6, 13, LEW 86, FC 24, 45, SM 53, 57, SR 2, 50, 114, TD 41, 259, RM 29, 57, etc.

49 never did he define any experience. Thus we can say that his mystical Christian experience is a lived participation of the mystery of God made possible in Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit. It is a lived experience.

2.2.2 Divine Inhabitation and Transformation: In Mary

As has been noted in the first Chapter, it is Christ who defines any Christian mystical experience. Montfort’s spirituality, which is very much based on his mystical experiences, is Christocentric. In his writings, St. Louis Marie de Montfort makes this point very clear, that is: Jesus is the ultimate goal of all Christian devotions: “Christ must be the ultimate goal of all devotions” (TD 61); “We give ourselves to Jesus because he is our last end” (TD125). Furthermore he continues to affirm that: “All our perfection consists in being conformed, united and consecrated to Jesus Christ” (TD 120). And this perfection is only made possible by the fact of God’s inhabitation in us. Referring to this divine indwelling he says, “Our God is a consuming fire dwelling in our souls…” (FC 29). On this theme of God’s inhabitation in man, Montfort adds a special aspect: that is Mary. “Jesus living in Mary” (TD 37), “Jesus dwelling enthroned in Mary” (TD 246), “Jesus dwelling in Mary” (TD 271) are some of the saint’s expressions in which he stresses this insight. This mystery of the" Christ in Mary and in us" is a fundamental thought. When he speaks of the" union with the Christ" (TD 120) or “of acquiring and keeping Wisdom" (LEW 14) or of the" consecration to Jesus Christ" (TD 120) or of the" perfect renewal of the baptismal promises" (TD 120), Mary is always presented as the best way, the fastest way and the most secure way. This Marian character of the divine inhabitation is but a unique of Montfort.

a) Holy Spirit and Mary

Why does he underline this aspect of Mary? It is because for Montfort the Holy Spirit dwells in Mary. There is an indissoluble union between Mary and the

50 Spirit. The saint thinks of Mary always in reference to the Holy Spirit.89 In fact in TD 258 he declares that the “Spirit of Mary is the Spirit of God”. Furthermore, it is not just the Holy Spirit who dwells in Mary but the Three Divine Persons: “Mary is the sanctuary and the resting-place of the Blessed Trinity where God dwells in greater and more splendor than anywhere in the universe” (TD 5). Montfortian intuition teaches us that we find this divine indwelling and inhabitation in us in Mary. The saint writes: “When the Holy Spirit finds Mary in a soul, he hastens there and enters fully into it” (TD 36). In other words, the Holy Spirit inhabits where Mary dwells. And he adds that all of us have received this gift of Mary in us when Jesus hanging on the Cross entrusted her to us saying: “Woman, behold your son,” and “Son, behold your mother” (Jn 19: 25- 27). Indeed, Mary has been given to each and every Christian believer. Referring to this reality in his life, Louis Marie in one of his prayer solemnly says, “…If only I could offer adequate thanks for such a great benefit as Mary! She is within me!” (SM 66). Christ in us! In nobody has this mystery been so marvelously realized and so clearly made tangible as in the person of Mary: “ Lord, you are always with Mary and Mary is always with you: She can never be without you because then she would cease to be what she is. She is completely transformed into you by grace that she no longer exists, because you alone, dear Jesus, live and reign in her more perfectly than in all angels and saints (TD 63). “… it is no longer Mary who lives but Jesus Christ himself, God alone lives in her…” (SM 21). Many readers of his works may even be tempted to think of Montfort's identification between Mary and the Holy Spirit. But it should be made clear that he never identifies Mary with the Holy Spirit, nor does he think that Mary is equal to the Holy Spirit. The saint does not confuse the roles of the Holy Spirit and Mary for according to him the Holy Spirit is God and Mary is merely a

89 R. LAURENTIN, “Holy Spirit”, in JLM, 497.

51 humble creature and servant whom God required to make Himself a gift of human humility and weakness (TD 18, 157). What Montfort wants to say is that "Between the Spirit and Mary, there is a moral union, an affinity, and even an irrepressible attraction. Wherever Mary is, the Spirit comes"90 We clearly see this in TD 36 where he writes "When the Holy Spirit… finds Mary in a soul, he hastens there". Laurentin points out that in our saint’s thought this attraction between Mary and Holy Spirit is reciprocal, i.e. "The Holy Spirit comes to where Mary is, and Mary goes to where the Holy Spirit is. He leads to her and she leads to Him Who brings everything about."91 What St. Louis Marie then seeks to express is that there is a singular and privileged relationship between the Holy Spirit and Mary. To express this relationship, he most often uses these phrases in his writings: " spouse of the Holy Spirit" (TD 4, 5, 20, 21, 34, 36, 37, 49, 152, 164, 213, 217, 269, SM 13, 15, 68, 76: PM 15); "dear spouse" (TD 5, 20, 35, 217); faithful spouse (TD 5, 34, 36, 89, 269; SM 15, 68; PM 20); "inseparable spouse" (TD 20, 269), "fruitful spouse" (TD 20, 21, 35, 36; PM 15). Though expression of "spouse" is inadequate,92 what the saint intends to mean is that this moral union, this loving covenant between the Holy Spirit and Mary is to say that Mary is the "inseparable companion of the Holy Spirit in all the works of grace" (TD 90), "the faithful and inseparable spouse" of the Holy Spirit (TD 85). All this because "of the singular grace of the Most High" (TD 86) on Mary. Gaffney points out that "It appears that Montfort is declaring that Mary receives, in an evidently creaturely fashion, the distinctive grace of the Holy Spirit, Who is the Loving Who binds together the Father and the Son."93 We have noted earlier of the continuity of the action of the Holy Spirit in the history of salvation from the Incarnation of Christ in Mary to the formation of Christ in the believers throughout the centuries. Aside from this continuity,

90 Ibid., 501. See also S. DE FIORES, “‘Dov'è Maria là c' è lo Spirito,’ Lo Spirito Santo e Maria in San Luigi Maria di Montfort”, Fragmenta Monfortana 4, (1999), 28-46. 91R. LAURENTIN, “Holy Spirit”, in JLM, 501. 92Ibid., 502. 93P. GAFFNEY, “Mary”, in JLM, 704.

52 the saint highlights the fact this action of the Holy Spirit is always in union with Mary. "The formation and the education of great saints … are reserved to her, for only this singular and wondrous Virgin can produce in union with the Holy Spirit singular and wondrous things" (TD 35). "God the Holy Spirit wishes to fashion his chosen ones in and through Mary"(TD 34). Cortinovis explains this action of the Holy Spirit united with Mary in terms of a "circular process: from the Spirit to Mary, and from Mary to the Spirit."94 In short, it is the Holy Spirit that reveals to the believers the secret of Mary and in a reciprocal manner Mary leads believers into a life in the Spirit. Montfort is quite strong to say that "One of the main reasons why the Holy Spirit does not work striking wonders in souls is that he fails to find in them a sufficiently close union with his faithful and inseparable spouse [Mary]" (TD 36). Thus based on his personal experience our saint declares: Happy, indeed sublimely happy, is the person to whom the Holy Spirit reveals the secret of Mary, thus imparting to him true knowledge of her. Happy the person to whom the Holy Spirit opens this enclosed garden for him to enter, and to whom the Holy Spirit gives access to this sealed fountain… (SM 20)

Now what does this divine inhabitation, the Holy Spirit with Mary in us, lead to? For Louis Marie, this can lead to the divine transformation of the believer. In TD 20 and 35, he underlines the role of the Spirit in the formation of Jesus Christ in Mary’s womb. However, in the former he highlights also a very important aspect, i.e. generation of Jesus Christ in the baptized person: God the Holy Spirit, (…) became fruitful through Mary whom he espoused. It was with her, in her and of her that he produced his masterpiece, God-made-man, and that he produces every day until the end of the world the members of the body of this adorable Head. For this reason the more he finds Mary his dear and inseparable spouse in a soul the more powerful and effective he becomes in producing Jesus Christ in that soul and that soul in Jesus Christ. (TD 20).

94B. CORTINOVIS, Montfort Pilgrim in the Church, T. DOUCETTE (trans.), Roma 1997, 144.

53 In other words, in continuation of the Christ’s incarnation by the power of the Holy Spirit working in Mary, again it is the Third Person of the Trinity’s function to produce and form Jesus Christ in Christians. Montfort sees a continuity between the conception of Christ in Mary and the birth of the elect today. For him, the Holy Spirit is the craftsman of the transformation of the believers. In his prayer, Louis Marie asks the Holy Spirit “that with her you may truly form Jesus, great and powerful, in me until I attain the fullness of his perfect age” (SM 67).

b) Baptism

In the spirituality of St. Louis Marie de Montfort, baptism is an essential element. His teaching concurs with the teaching of the Catholic Church that says “Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life, the gate way to the life of the Spirit…”95 In the entire Montfortian literature, the saint uses more than forty five times the word baptism.96 Though the saint does not directly connect it to divine inhabitation, however, his doctrine is clear that through baptism one becomes a member of the body of Christ, the Church and “the newly baptized is established in filial relationship with God, becomes a sharer in his divine nature, in and through Christ Jesus…”97 Baptism for Montfort is the beginning of such an intense participation in the divine nature.98 It follows that this participation is made real by the fact that the baptized person receives the Spirit of Jesus, by which sanctifying, divine inhabitation is effected in the person. In other words, Christ-Wisdom starts to “incarnate” in the believer at the moment of baptism as he begins to dwell in the newly baptized.

95 Cf. J. HEMERY, “Baptism” in JLM, 45. See also CCC 1213. 96 For instance in LEW 19, 113, 223, 225: TD 68, 73, 120, 126-128, 130-131, 162, 232, 238 and Hymns 16, 17, 19, 27, 33, 98, 102, 109, 132. etc. 97 J. HEMERY, op. cit.,, 51. 98 Ibid.

54 2.2.3 Incarnation

The mystery of the Incarnation is the heart of the spirituality of St. Louis Marie. R. Payne remarks: “The Incarnation is not just one important theme among others; it is really the theme that gradually sheds light on the significant facets of spirituality.”99 Montfort has a unique insight into of this divine mystery. He is concerned with the Incarnate Son of God as depicted in the Sacred Scriptures and more than that, he became extremely sensitive as to how the mystery of God becoming man influences the life of every Christian. Among the many facets of his intuitions of this mystery, let us consider some of them in detail. First, the deepest intuition of the saint is on the Incarnation of Eternal Wisdom. Louis Marie writes: “He [Christ] wishes to become incarnate in order to convince humans of her friendship; she wishes to come to down on earth to help humans go up to heaven” (LEW 168). For the saint, the mystery of the incarnation does not only imply God’s descending movement by becoming a human person but also implies humanity’s ascending movement in terms of sharing God’s divinity. P. Humblet commenting on this insight writes: “Occasionally, with the necessary caution, Montfort also uses the concept “incarnation” for the birth of Eternal Wisdom in us – for our transformation in Christ – but most of the time he describes this with words like ‘give’, ‘produce’, ‘beget’, ‘indwell’ and ‘form’.”100 We see the word “incarnate” used in this sense when he writes that: “No one but Mary ever found favor with God for herself and for the whole human race. To no other person was given the power to conceive and give birth to Eternal Wisdom. No one else had the power to ‘incarnate’ him, so to speak, in the predestinate by the operation of the Holy Spirit” (LEW 203, see also TD 31). Consequently, we see the word “beget” used in the sense of “incarnation” in LEW 214” “ (…) that Mary must beget us in Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ in us, nurturing us towards the perfection and

99 R. PAYNE, editor’s note of the “Incarnation” in JLM, 540. 100 P. HUMBLET, The Mystical Process of Transformation in Grignion De Montfort’s “The Love of Eternal Wisdom,” J. VRIEND (trans.), The Netherlands 1995, 33.

55 fullness of his age (…)”. We will deal more about this mystical intuition of our saint on the incarnation when we discuss the stages of Montfort’s mystical way. In this intuition, the saint must have been deeply influenced by de Bérulle, who had many mystical insights about the incarnation of the Second Person of the Trinity. For him the incarnation of the Word is a great mystery, for it “… is the basis and foundation… of the deification of all states and mysteries sharing in the life and earthly voyage of the Son of God upon earth… Jesus … wishes that we have a unique share in these various states, according to the diversity of his will for us and our piety toward him.”101 Another point we could underline is that the Incarnation for Montfort manifests a “prodigious excess of the love of God” (LEW 108). Following the trend of the French School who likewise emphasized this mystery, St. Louis Marie in his own way though, stresses that his love of preference for humanity prompts Eternal Wisdom to become flesh. It is interesting how he describes such initiative of the Second Person of the Trinity: “I seem to see this lovable Sovereign convoking and assembling the most holy Trinity, a second time, so to speak, for the purpose of rehabilitating man in the state he formerly created him” (LEW 40). And in such “Trinitarian meeting”:

Eternal Wisdom was deeply moved by the plight of Adam and all his descendants. He was profoundly distressed at seeing his vessel of honor shattered, his image torn to pieces, his masterpiece destroyed, his representative of this world overthrown. He listened tenderly to man’s sighs and entreaties and he was moved with compassion, when he saw the sweat of his brow, the tears in his eyes, the fatigue of his arms, his sadness of heart, his affliction of soul (LEW 41).

The Incarnation in Montfort’s thought is the result of the Trinitarian love: the love of the Father, of the Holy Spirit and of the Son for humanity. To stress this point, Montfort writes a highly mystical description about Wisdom Incarnate: “She is a gift by the love of the eternal Father and a product of the love of the Holy Spirit. She was given out of love and fashioned by love. She is

101 Cf. W.M. THOMPSON, (ed.) Bérulle and the French School, 37.

56 therefore all love, or rather the very love of the Father and the Holy Spirit” (LEW 113). Thirdly, for St. Louis Marie the mystery of the Incarnation reveals Jesus incomprehensible attitude of “dependence” and “obedience” to Mary. He says that Incarnate Wisdom opted to be dependent on her: God-made-man found freedom in imprisoning himself in her womb…. He glorified his independence and his majesty in depending upon this lovable Virgin in his conception, his birth, his presentation in the temple, and in the thirty years of his hidden life. Even at his death she had to be present so that he might be united with her in one sacrifice…102

This dependence of Jesus on Mary resulting from his Incarnation becomes the foundation of Montfort’s teaching on the Christian’s need to depend on Mary. When one depends on Mary, he/she imitates Jesus in his state of dependence during his Incarnation. It is “imitating” Jesus103 and even “imitating” the Trinity, Who chose to “depend” on Mary for the Incarnation (TD 140).104 Lastly, Montfort’s intuition on the incarnation is so unique, in a sense, that he re-reads of the Wisdom literature in the light of Christ’s becoming human. Gilbert pointed out that Montfort discovered the riches contained in the Old Testament Wisdom literature saying: “Montfort rereads the Wisdom books as a framework, but the Old Testament gives way to the New when it comes to expressing the mystery: it is the coming of Christ, Incarnate Wisdom, that makes it possible to understand the Book of Wisdom, and, consequently, all the Wisdom Books.”105 In other words, the saint is so convinced that the mystery of the Incarnation gives every Christian an access to the mystery of Wisdom.

102 TD 18. 103 cf. LEW 226; TD 139, 155-156, 157, 162, 198, 243; SM 63; H 76:2. 104 A. BOSSARD, op.cit., 547. 105 M. GILBERT, “L’exégèse spirituelle de Montfort”, in NRT 5 (1982), 668. Cf A. BOSSARD, “Incarnation” in JLM, 543.

57 2.2.4 The Cross106

The Cross is another essential element in the mystical experience of Louis Marie. For him it is the utmost expression of God’s love for humanity (LEW 163) and it the best proof of God’s love for him (LEW 176, L 13). We have to bear in mind though that his understanding of the Cross has been greatly influenced by the renowned archdeacon Henri Boudon whose book Les saintes voies de la Croix became his favorite book during his seminary days107. According to Blain who was his fellow student, this book “gave him such a high esteem and such a great attraction for suffering and contempt that he never tired of talking of the happiness found in bearing the cross and of the value of suffering.”108 Another influential work to Montfort’s understanding of the Cross is the Lettres spirituelles of J. Surin.109 The mystery of the Cross in the saint’s intimate relationship with Christ- Wisdom is primarily a mystery of love. The Cross has been generated to express the love of the Trinity for humanity. It is to us human beings that that God wants to show His love. As his instrument, he chose “the cross and sufferings” in order to “give humanity proof of his greater love” (LEW 164). It is Montfort’s contention that Eternal Wisdom or Jesus Christ could have won the hearts of men and women by “his attractiveness, his delights, his magnificence and his riches”; “untouched by poverty, dishonor, humiliations and weakness” (cf. LEW 168). Incarnate Wisdom however chose not to do so. Instead he endured the Cross. By doing so, the cross ceased to be foolishness, shame or stumbling block (1 Cor 1:23-24).

106So as to explain amply his insight on the Cross, Montfort composed another work, Friends of the Cross aside from dedicating a chapter on the theme of the Cross in The Love of Eternal Wisdom (LEW 167-180). It is beyond the scope to discuss them here except only a few aspects relevant in our present study. All these explanations of the saint simply tell us how rich his intuition is on the Cross. 107 J. BULTEAU, “Cross” in JLM, 256. 108 J-B BLAIN, Summary of the Life of L-M Grignion de Montfort, J. RABILLER-L. GLORIAU-I. BLACKLEGE (trans.), Rome 1977, 35. 109 S. DE FIORES, “ La sapienza della croce nell’itinerario spirituale di san Luigi di Montfort” in La Sapienza della Croce Oggi, Atti del congresso internazionale sulla Sapienza della Croce 2, Rome 1975, 360-371. DE FIORES notes in this article that Montfort moves away from Boudon to follow Surin.

58 For St. Louis Marie, this decision of Wisdom to choose the Cross will never change and Jesus Christ united himself indissolubly with the Cross in an eternal covenant. He coined the phrase” “Never the Cross without Jesus, or Jesus without the Cross” (LEW 172). In LEW 180 he writes, “True wisdom … has fixed his abode in the cross so firmly that you will not find him anywhere in this world save in the Cross. He has so truly incorporated himself and united himself with the Cross that in all truth we can say: Wisdom is the Cross and the Cross is Wisdom” (LEW 180). Montfort devoted all of chapter fourteen in his Love of Eternal Wisdom on this “triumph of Eternal Wisdom in and by the Cross”. He did not explain however solely on the relationship of Jesus and the Cross. The saint likewise discusses in the same chapter the link between the Cross and us Christians. He lists some reasons why the Cross should be so precious for every believer. The Cross is precious for many reasons: + Because it makes us resemble Jesus Christ; + Because it makes us worthy children of the Eternal Father, worth members of Jesus Christ, worthy temples of the Holy Spirit; + The Cross is precious because it enlightens the mind and gives it understanding which no book in the world can give; + Because when it is well carried, it is the source, the food and the proof of love. The Cross enkindles the fire of divine love in the heart by detaching it from creatures. It keeps this love alive and intensifies it. As wood is the food of flames, so the Cross is the food of love. And it is the soundest proof that we love God. The Cross was the proof God gave of his love for us; and it is also the proof which God requires to show our love for him; + The Cross is precious because it is an abundant source of every delight and consolation; it brings joy, peace and grace to our souls. + The Cross is precious because it brings the one who carries it “a weight of everlasting glory” (LEW 176).

For the saint, the Cross is the proof of mutual love: God’s love for us and our love for him. Eternal Wisdom’s suffering and cross ultimately are an expression of his love for us. And for this Louis Marie seeks to elicit our loving response to such love of Wisdom saying: “Among all the motives impelling us to

59 love, Jesus Christ, the Wisdom Incarnate, the strongest in my opinion, is the suffering he chose to endure to prove his love for us” (LEW 154). This does not mean though that for Montfort, we must love Eternal Wisdom because we are obliged to love him because he has done something for us or because we are indebted to him for he has suffered for our sake. What he is trying to do is to speak to our hearts, and be touched be this self-giving love of Wisdom for us. We all know that genuine love comes when a person can feel being loved, and has been touched by such love. Lastly, the Cross is the dialectic in the mystical experience of our saint. For him, the crosses in his life were the genuine signs of one’s imminent reception of the gift of Eternal Wisdom. In his letter to Marie Louise, he declares: “Another thing that makes me say that I shall possess Wisdom is the fact that I have encountered and still encounter so much persecution night and day” (L 15). One particular letter of the saint speaks only of his understanding of the Cross. He writes:

What an inspiring letter! It speaks only of happiness marked with the cross. Whatever human nature and reason may say, without the cross there will never be any real happiness… You are having to bear a large, weighty cross. But what a great happiness for you! (…) The cross is a sure sign that he [God] loves you. I can assure you of this, that the greatest proof that we are loved by God is when we are despised by the world and burdened with crosses , i.e., when we are made to endure the privation of things we could rightly claim; when our holiest wishes meet with opposition; when we are afflicted with distressing and hurtful insults; when we are subjected to persecution, to having our actions misinterpreted by good people and by those who are our best friends; and when we suffer illness which are particularly repugnant, etc. (L13)

This insight of Montfort of the cross as the dialectics of God’s love explains why he welcomed the cross so much in his life. Without such insight we could not understand the saint when he asked Marie Louise saying: “Keep on praying, even increase your prayers for me; ask for extreme poverty, the weightiest cross, abjection and humiliations. I accept them all... What wealth, what glory, what happiness would be mine if form all this I obtained divine

60 Wisdom, which I long for day and night!” (L 15). Indeed it is from this mystical experience of the saint that he is able to declare: “If Christians only knew the value of the Cross they would walk miles to find it, for in the beloved Cross is the true Wisdom that I am searching for more eagerly than ever” (L 13)

2.2.5 The Trinity

In the life of Saint Louis Marie de Montfort, we can see that he experienced and preached the loftiness and intimacy of the mystery of the Trinity. E. Cousins and P. Gaffney comment: “As in the case of many great theologians and preachers before him [Montfort], his own spiritual life and mystical experience were focused on the Trinity, and the Trinity provided the energy and the content of his preaching… The doctrine of the Trinity reveals the deepest dimension of the God of love and at the same time the deepest dimension of human beings as Trinitarian images, and of all the panorama of creatures as vestiges of the Trinity.”110 The mystery of the Trinity is pervasive in Montfortian spirituality. In fact in his writings, he presents the Trinitarian mystery in the classical formulas of faith. In one of his hymns, he writes: “In God there are three persons / Father, Son and Holy Spirit / Three infinitely Good,…Three make one God for three have one essence: / The Father is God, the Son is God and the Holy Spirit is God, / All equal in substance” (H 109:2). The main works111 of Montfort are divided into three aspects in accord to the Trinitarian pattern of the role of the God the Father, of God the Son and of God the Holy Spirit. For instance in the first thirty seven numbers of the most theological section of the True Devotion to Mary, we read seven sets of “threes”112 explaining the role of the each Person of the Trinity in relation to Mary. We also see this division of three in the Prayer for Missionaries.

110 E. COUSINS- P. GAFFNEY, “Trinity” in JLM, 1177. 111 LEW, TD and PM. 112 TD 4, 5, 6, 16, 17-21, 23-25, 29-36.

61 As we study more deeply into the intimate relationship of Montfort with the Trinity, we will discover that for the saint the primary Trinitarian "model" and "key" that attempts to enter into the mystery of the Trinity is LOVE. For him, the Trinity is the three relationships of Love, namely: Lover, Beloved and Loving. The Infinite relationships constituting the one Love, are called "Persons." In for instance Louis Marie pictures the Father as the fecund source of communicating love: “We honor his fecundity by the name of Father…who throughout eternity dost beget a Son” (SR 41). It is “in his womb” that the “only Son” rests from all eternity (LEW 14, 19). It is from the infinite Love who is Father that the Spirit flows (MR 16). God the Father is for Louis Marie, the source and goal of all people. In Jesus Christ, He lovingly draws everything to Himself through the work of the Spirit. Let us consider in details Montfort’s profound relationship with each Person of the Blessed Trinity. St. Louis Marie de Montfort experienced a very personal and sweet relationship with the Father. From Him, he experiences a providential love that “never fails”: “Whatever happens I shall not be worried. I have a Father in heaven who will never fail me” (L 2). In commenting the Our Father prayer, he writes: “We captivate the heart of God by invoking him by the sweet name of Father” (SR 39). Indeed here, “Montfort is giving expression to his own mystical experience of the Father, an experience that radiated through his life and writings.”113 Likewise, the saint had a very intimate relationship with the Second Person of the Trinity, Jesus Christ to the point of reaching the highest possible union in spiritual marriage (cf. L 20). Jesus Christ is the meekest, sweetest, most beautiful Wisdom of God. This we will see more in the next chapter. With the Father and the Holy Spirit, Christ-Wisdom incarnate and crucified is Montfort’s one and only Love: “a gift sent by the love of the Father and a product of the love of the Holy Spirit. He was given out of love and

113 E. COUSINS- P. GAFFNEY, “Trinity” in JLM, 1183.

62 fashioned by love. He is therefore all love or rather the very love of the Father and the Holy Spirit” (LEW 118). Echoing the Gospels (Mt 3: 17 17:5; Mk 1:11, 9:7), Montfort calls Jesus the Beloved Son (LEW 19; FC 6; PM 23; H 65). Using a very mystical language, Montfort also calls Christ the “breast of the Father”: “Si on savait quel est le plaisir que goûte une âme qui connaît la bauté de la Sagesse, qui suce le lait de cette mamelle du Père, mamilla Patris…”114 This description of Montfort as “breast of the Father” indeed is so deep and so sweet that we need to interpret it in terms of his intimate relationship with the Trinity. As regards the Holy Spirit, it is again an element of Montfortian mystical experience which is pervasive in his writings. For Louis Marie, the Holy Spirit is the Infinite Loving uniting the Lover (Father) and the Beloved (Son). He shows this through the lines: "The Holy Spirit who proceeds from the Father and the Son by way of love" (MR 16); "…the substantial love of the Father and the Son" (TD 36); "Glory to the Eternal Father, Glory to the Adorable Word! / The same Glory to the Holy Spirit / Who by love joins them in an ineffable bond" (H 85). The Holy Spirit is depicted by Montfort as the infinite "fire," "flame" of love within the Trinity. We read in one of his hymns: "Come Holy Spirit, God of Flame" (H 98). Another hymn addresses the Holy Spirit in words: "Come, Father of Lights / Come, God of Charity / Let there descend into my soul / a coal of your fire / which penetrates it with flame / and fills it with God" (H 141). Montfort teaches that Pentecost is the outpouring of the fiery Spirit - the Infinite and Dynamic Loving - upon the disciples of Jesus, uniting them ever more intimately to the Lover and the Beloved, so that the disciples may be united to each other in charity. But Holy Spirit does not stop there. The Infinite Loving must be poured out on others, drawing all peoples into the oneness of

114 LEW (AES) 10. We used the French version here since in the English translation this phrase “mamelle du Père” has not been translated correctly. In the GA, we read LEW 10 as follows: “If only we knew the joy of a soul that perceives the beauty of divine Wisdom and is nourished with the milk of divine kindness…” A better English translation would be: “If we only know the pleasure a soul tastes who knows the beauty of Wisdom, who sucks the milk of the breast of the Father…” Montfort borrows this expression of the “mamilla Patris” from Clement of Alexandria.

63 living faith in the Triune God. P. Gaffney summarizes this insight of Montfort on the Holy Spirit’s relation to the Trinity saying:

The Holy Spirit is pure Gift of the Father to the Son and of the Son to the Father, the mutual Gift of Lover and Beloved. He comes to us only through the Incarnate Son, Jesus, and in turn, it is the Spirit who draws us through Jesus to the Father. The more the gift of the Spirit enables us to explicitly find Jesus, the more intensely can we drink of the rivers flowing from his heart. Whether a person realizes it or not, all graces flows through the only corridor linking Trinitarian life to us: Jesus the Lord. And it is only through that corridor who is the God-Man, that the Spirit brings us to the Father. The Beloved is made visible: Jesus. But it is the Spirit who reveals Him. The Spirit has no words of His own; there is only one Word: Jesus. But it is the Spirit who enables us to hear that Word: "No one can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit" (1 Cor 12:3). The unfathomable mystery: The Father calls us to be His beloved in the Beloved by the outpouring of the Loving which so fills the Incarnate Beloved, Jesus."115

At this point, we can already say that Louis Marie’s mystical experience is well founded on the mystery of the Trinity. He teaches a solid Trinitarian doctrine though less in the abstract intellectual sense. We all know that his audience was the ordinary people. In such appropriation, Montfort aimed at leading people “into a deeper understanding: into a profound, experiential, mystical experience of the Trinitarian life within them.”116

2.3 His Christocentric Mystical Experience

After having discussed the main and fundamental aspects of the saint’s union with Christ-Wisdom, let us move on to trace his mystical experience in terms of spiritual journey as he went through life. We keep in mind here that we do not intend to mean any “phenomenological” experiences or mystical phenomena he had, like visions, stigmatas, etc. Though we will mention some accounts wherein he was carried into deep contemplation which can be called

115P. GAFFNEY, Unpublished Course on the Holy Spirit given through the Internet: www.montfort.org 116 E. COUSINS-P. GAFFNEY, op. cit., 1189.

64 ecstasy yet what we want to highlight is his “lived experience” of a very intimate relationship and fruitful union with God. In the process, we will be discovering certain dynamics of such mystical experience with Christ, whom he calls the Divine, Incarnate and Crucified Wisdom of God. In the previous section we have discussed the saint’s insight into the mystery of the Incarnation. This is the first dynamics on which his mystical relationship with the Trinity is founded.

2.3.1 Montfort’s Mystical Journey to Christ-Wisdom

St. Louis Marie Grignion was born on January 31, 1763 in Montfort-sur- Meu , , France. A day after his birth, he was baptized at the Parish of St. John. This divine grace received at baptism inspired and supported him in his spiritual journey. S. De Fiores comments that:

The spiritual journey of Louis Marie Grignion takes its distant start from that first of February 1673, the day after his birth, when through baptism God took possession of his being working an authentic sanctification and inserting him in Christ and in the Church. It is the priority of the love of God in the work of salvation (1 Jn 4:10): all holiness of Louis Marie will not be except an answer to the baptismal vocation and a development of this primordial encounter.117

Montfort was brought up in a deeply Christian family and in such a religious environment, this young lad already showed an accentuated religiosity118 and particular signs of religious fervor: withdrawing himself from childhood games, secluding himself in prayer, to speak of God and of his love to his relatives.119 In his letter to his mother, Louis recognized that his parents had taught him the “fear of God” (L 20). The first biographies of the saint do not give us ample witness of the period of Louis’ infancy. We can, however, presuppose a journey common for the deepening of the faith. The catechesis, first communion, confirmation, the

117 DE FIORES, Itinerario spirituale, 19. 118 J-B. BLAIN, op.cit. 7. 119 cf. GRANDET, La vie de Messire Louis-Marie de Montfort, prêtre missionaire apostolique, 1724, 2-4.

65 liturgical feasts, the sacraments especially the Holy Mass, all have been events of Christian life that mark the spiritual physiognomy of young Louis. At the age of 12 this young boy started his would-be eight years of studies and religious formation at the Jesuit college, St. Thomas Becket. The periods of intense communion with God in prolonged prayer capture the existence of Louis. From the biographies we recall the zealous spiritual commitment that coincides with his entrance in the Marian congregation during the last two years of his studies at the Jesuit college in Rennes (1690-1692). He abandons himself to prayer and to penance and could not relish other than God. All the rest is insipid to him”120 Young Louis had a generous heart, an inclination to affectivity, to prayer and to interiority, a particular feeling for the poor and the marginalized. He had a strong desire to become poor and sharing with the least. In fact, his departure for Paris meant for him the freedom from familiar conditioning. This he expressed with a meaningful gesture: he emptied himself of the little money that he had, exchanged his clothes with a poor man and pronounced his radical vow of poverty.121 This period of Louis’ life in Rennes can be summarized by saying that:

Studying at the college Louis Grignion assimilates the Ignatian ‘magis’ in syntony with his totalistic character and beyond measures: his spiritual life converges in the acquisition of Christian perfection, rooting himself in an intense piety, in a mortification that does not abhor from the use of instruments of penance, in a poverty that expresses himself in his departure for Paris with a vow of radical renouncement from worldly possessions, in a devotion of permanent character towards Mary invoked in her spiritual maternity.122

The spiritual adventures of the seminarian Louis assumed new implications in Paris in the ambiance of Saint-Sulpice (1692-1700). He thought of having found an environment in which he could serve God in freedom.123 In

120 J-B. BLAIN, op.cit. 121 GRANDET, op.cit., 350. 122 DE FIORES, Itinerario spirituale, 267. 123 J-B.BLAIN, op.cit., 17.

66 fact, from the first moment that he could follow his fervor for the living out of the mysticism of liberating poverty, he throws himself towards the holy folly of in a “mortification without limits”. In the field of his , he reached the point of making himself a slave of love of the Mother of God. Above all Louis attained at a first mystical experience when in 1695 he interrupted his studies at Sorbon and opted for the “science of the saints”. He was captivated by the Spiritual Letters of the Jesuit J.J Surin who unified spiritual life in the pure love and in the gusto for God alone, or in the transference of every affection from the creatures to the Creator. At his school, Louis “never loses to see God nor the actual presence of God.”124 He intensified his corporeal mortification and showed his zeal for the defense of the honor of God. Louis Marie’s spiritual director was very reticent in the face of young seminarian’s mortification. In fact there were moments of misunderstanding between the two. De Fiores comments on such happening saying it “was due to the different spiritual convictions, fueled by a temperamental opposition.”125 Aside from ascetical aspect of Montfort’s spiritual journey, his co- disciple Blain mentions two moments of intense spirituality lived by Louis Marie. The first is highlighted by his pilgrimage at the sanctuary of Chatres, where he spent the whole day in prayer in front of the image of the Virgin “in a kind of ecstasy”: “he spent six to eight hours in meditation, that is from morning till midday., kneeling motionless completely carried away (…) he prolonged it into the evening until he was told that he was not allowed to stay in the chapel any longer”126 The second was around the time of his priestly ordination. Blain tells us that Leschassier “must have thought that Grignion had reached a very high degree of union with Christ because shortly before or after his ordination – I forget when exactly – he asked him [Louis Marie] to write on the subject.”127

124 GRANDET, op. cit, 297. 125 S. DE FIORES, Itinerario spirituale, 234. 126 J-B. BLAIN, op.cit,, 100-101. 127 Ibid., 105.

67 Liberating himself from the Sulpician conditioning, Grignion worked definitively on the passage from a spirituality of a contemplative and acosmic type to an apostolic spirituality, in which apostolate appeared more as a divine work (H 21). In this prospective the high degree of union with Jesus Christ experienced in Paris is revealed as temporary spiritual summit. In the years 1701-1704, he in fact, appeared totally absorbed on the quest for wisdom. He confessed of seeking the true wisdom “day and night with more ardor than ever” (L 13), coupling wisdom to the cross. This anxious search for Wisdom is expressed in the Hymns 123-126 composed with all probability during this stay in (1701-1705). To obtain wisdom the saint was disposed to undertake any enterprise: “to cross the seas”, “to travel through the lands”, “to rend the air” (H 126). In Paris, in a space under the stairs of Rue du Pot de Fer, after his expulsion from the hospital of the Salpetriere and the abandonment of his friends (end of 1703), Louis Marie experienced one of the most crucial phases of his life. It was “the great dereliction”128 when he felt “impoverished, crucified, humiliated more than ever” (L 16). But he was convinced that all these form the “accoutrements and retinue of divine Wisdom” (Ibid.). Meanwhile he was experiencing these things Louis Grignion reaches to a mystical state of the indissoluble covenant of love with Wisdom that he expresses in the end of August 1704 in terms of spiritual marriage. He wrote “… I have chosen to be wedded to Wisdom and the Cross for in this I find very good” (L 20). The marriage of Louis Marie with Wisdom entailed a modification in spirituality in relation to apostolate. This ceased to appear as an obstacle for the attainment of perfection, rather constituted the more divine work (H 21; LEW 30). The apostolic life of Montfort was totally projected to the salvation of others (neighbor) through the popular missions in parishes. He was often persecuted and misunderstood by the well to-do and ecclesiastical people, including some bishops who prohibited him to do ministry in their own dioceses. He sympathized, instead, with the poor in whom he saw Christ. By this time

128 L. PEROUAS, Ce que croyait Grignion de Montfort et comment il y a vécu sa foi, Tours 1973, 68.

68 Montfort expanded his horizons to the point of seeing the face of Christ in every man: “It is necessary that I love God in my neighbor” (H 148). In 1714 visit, Blain who was his old co-disciple, who handed us down a memorable talk involving the two friends. The missionary claimed that legitimacy of his literal following of Jesus Wisdom was the adoption of his kind of life for the Reign. Moreover, he confided to his friend that he enjoyed a particular grace in the experiential and mystical order: “The continual presence of Jesus and Mary.”129 Thus, he reached a new unification of the spiritual life through the grace of the presence Jesus and Mary, for whom he can realize contemplation and intimate union to God in the apostolic action. On his deathbed, in full mission at Saint Laurent-sur-Sèvre, he raised his last cry, his remonstrance of fidelity, a testimony of his mystical communion with Christ and the Blessed Virgin: “In vain they attack me: I am between Jesus and Mary… thank God and Mary. I am at the end of my carrier. It is finished, I will sin no more.”130

2.3.2 Christ in the Mystical Experience of Montfort

The mystical experience of Montfort describes the union of love between the Christ and his soul. The saint appropriates one of the most ancient symbols of the Christian spirituality. With the same symbol he characterizes his own experience: “In my new family – the one I belong now – I have chosen to be wedded to Wisdom and the Cross” (L 20). Montfort recognizes the tremendous passion that pushes God in the folly of abasement as the passion of the love. This knowledge changes the representation he makes of God: from an Almighty Lord to a loving Father. This realization becomes the central point of his "experiential knowledge" of God. With St. Paul and St. John he discovers the central factor of the mystery of God that reveals him in the Christ: God's love. This way he can say that the Christ-

129 J-B. BLAIN, op. cit., 183. 130 C. BESNARD, Vie de M. Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort, Rome 1981, 495.

69 wisdom is "the love [...] of the Father and of the Holy Spirit" (LEW 118; cf. Jn 3:16). From this point of departure, Montfort rereads the history of the salvation as history of Divine Wisdom, in which the eternal plan of salvation of God embodies him and brings final victory through the folly of the cross. In his presentation, Montfort follows the scheme of the classical theology: Trinity - creation - original fall – incarnation. However, he obtains, through the presentation in the form of dramatized history, an impression more immediate than not through a presentation in the form of abstract teaching. The history of the salvation is the history of the love of the eternal Wisdom for humanity, a history of one "incomprehensible friendship": “Wisdom is for man, and man is for Wisdom" (LEW 64). This friendship finds its culminating point in the spiritual marriage of the Wisdom with the soul: “It is certain that eternal Wisdom loves souls so much that he even espouses them, contracting with them a true, spiritual marriage that the world cannot understand” (LEW 54). Christ in the mystical experience as we will see later is the mystical Christ.131 Surely, When he speaks of Eternal Wisdom he refers to the historical Jesus of Nazareth. However he goes further, from referring to Jesus the historical person to the mystical Christ. With this phrase we mean Christ continuous presence in the world that is metaphysical and ontological. It is a presence that goes beyond time and space of which the resurrection accounts provide us with hints. It is a presence that goes beyond what mere human faculties and senses can confirm. It is in the sense of Christ’s mystical presence in the Eucharist hidden in form of the consecrated bread and wine and his mystical presence in the Church, his Mystical Body. The same is true when Montfort tells us that Christ is in us, Christ is present in the poor and in the Cross.

a) Christ, Incarnate and Crucified Wisdom of God

In his works, Montfort puts a particular emphasis on a special title of Christ: Incarnate and Crucified Wisdom of God. The Love of the Eternal

131 Cf. J.M MORILLA DELGADO, L’alterità interiore come categoria fondante per una concezione antropologica-mistica della persona, 16-38.

70 Wisdom which is his Christological masterpiece expresses in a coherent, developed synthesis the central intuition of his spirituality. Such work is entirely geared towards the contemplation of the event of the Cross. He writes:

Supernatural wisdom is divided into substantial or uncreated Wisdom and accidental or created wisdom (…) Substantial Wisdom or uncreated Wisdom is the Son of God, the second person of the most Blessed Trinity. In other words, it is Eternal Wisdom in eternity or Jesus Christ in time. It is precisely about this Eternal Wisdom that we are going to speak. (LEW 13)

The saint meditates with genial creativeness the paradoxical mystery of the Crucified, Incarnate Wisdom of God, Jesus Christ. This Montfortian masterpiece then can be considered a “grand psalm of meditation on the Wisdom that is Jesus Christ, on the Wisdom that is gift of Jesus to the humanity, on the Wisdom that is espousal union with Jesus on the Cross.”132 St. Louis Marie in this book presents an exposition full of biblical, patristic and medieval traditions allusions. He begins by contemplating Eternal Wisdom as the object of the Father’s love and as shining forth in creation of the universe (cf. LEW 15-73). Then he moves to the meditation of Wisdom in his incarnation, passion and death on the Cross, and then the glorious resurrection and triumph in heaven and finally in the sacrament of the Eucharist where Wisdom accompanies humanity’s pilgrimage here on earth. An in-depth study of the wordings Montfort uses to describe Eternal and Crucified Wisdom would show the intimate relationship the saint has with Christ. His descriptions of the beauty and the gentleness of Incarnate Wisdom display how captivated and in-loved he is with Christ (LEW117-132). Here he describes Wisdom as the captivating beauty who is gentle in his origin, declared gentle by the prophets, gentle in his name, gentle in his looks, gentle in his words, gentle in his actions, etc. We find a very apt expression of Montfort: “But what does the name of Jesus, the proper name of incarnate Wisdom, signify to us if not ardent charity, infinite love and engaging gentleness” (LEW 120).

132 A. AMATO, “Jesus Christ” in JLM, 572.

71 His constant contemplation Jesus turns into an inspired hymn of beauty:

How beautiful, meek and charitable is Jesus, the incarnate Wisdom! Beautiful from all eternity, he is the splendor of his Father, the unspotted mirror and image of his goodness. He is more beautiful than the sun and brighter than light itself. He is beautiful in time, being formed by the Holy Spirit pure and faultless, fair and immaculate, and during his life he charmed the eyes and hearts of men and is now the glory of angels. How loving and gentle he is with men, and especially with poor sinners whom he came upon earth to seek out in visible manner and whom he still seeks in an invisible manner every day. (LEW 126)

For the saint, Incarnate Wisdom is the greatest Friend of humankind. There is a close relationship of friendship between God’s Wisdom and every human:

Wisdom is for man and man is for Wisdom… Wisdom’s friendship for man arises from man’s place in creation, from his being an abridgment of Eternal Wisdom’s marvels, his small yet ever so great world, his living image and representative on earth. Since Wisdom, out of an excess of love, gave himself the same nature by becoming man and delivered himself up to death to save man, he loves man as a brother, a friend, a pupil, the price of his own blood and co-heir of his kingdom (LEW 64).

More than these marvels, Incarnate Wisdom comes to the person and dwells in him. As an effect “when the eternal Wisdom communicates himself to a soul, he gives that soul all the gifts of the Holy Spirit and the all the great virtues to an eminent degree" (LEW 99). Montfort does not limit his contemplation of Wisdom only in terms of his incarnation. He continues with the contemplation of the sufferings of the passion and the death on the Cross. Just like any great saint, for Montfort these events bear witness to the boundless salvific love of Eternal Wisdom for all of humanity. He writes that Jesus “chose rather to endure the cross and sufferings in order to give to God his Father greater glory and to men a proof of greater love” (LEW 164). The saint is strongly convinced that the Cross “is the greatest secret of the King --- the greatest mystery of Eternal Wisdom: (LEW 167).

72 Consequently, he exclaims “never the Cross without Jesus, or Jesus without the Cross” (LEW 172) for Wisdom has in fact established his dwelling place on the Cross: “He has so truly incorporated and united himself with the Cross that in all truth we can say” Wisdom is the Cross and the Cross is Wisdom” (LEW 180).

b) Christ, Wisdom in the Cross

According to St. Louis Marie, Incarnate Wisdom, Jesus Christ could have won the hearts of men and women “by his attractiveness, his delights, his magnificence and his riches”; untouched by poverty, dishonor and humiliations and weakness”, he could easily have triumphed over evil (LEW 168). But he chose not to do so. “Instead of the joy that was set before him, he endured the Cross” (Heb 12:2). By choosing the Cross as his instrument of salvation, the Cross ceased to be foolishness, shame or stumbling-block. Rather it has become Supreme Wisdom, condemning short-sided human wisdom, the earthly wisdom of loving the things of the world (LEW 80), the wisdom of the flesh, the love of pleasure (LEW 81) and diabolical wisdom, the love and esteem of honors (LEW 82). This great mystical knowledge that Montfort received transformed his way of looking at reality. This fact is evidenced by his very way of life, his way of relating with others and even his way of counseling others. Beginning from the letters in the autumn of 1702 an important fact is inserted in the spiritual itinerary of Montfort; the discovery of the Wisdom. He began to be strongly convinced that Eternal and Incarnate Wisdom of God is found in the Cross. This theme of Wisdom in the Cross returns with insistence in his letters of this period (Cf. L 13, 14, 15, 20, 24, 34). The saint discovers that discipleship of Christ implies an identification with the Cross, and that only in such experience that true Wisdom consist. An excerpt of his letter to a certain religious of the Blessed Sacrament, Montfort writes “If Christians only knew the value of the Cross, they would walk a hundred miles to obtain it, because enclosed in the beloved Cross is true Wisdom and that is what I am looking for night and day more eagerly than ever” (LEW 13).

73 It is so amazing to take note that after an affirmation of the indissoluble unity between the Cross and Wisdom from his very own personal experience of the Cross, Montfort manifests this reality even in the greetings he writes in every letter he sends. The letters written starting 1713, we always see the following phrase: “May Jesus and his Cross reign forever!” (Cf. L 26, 27, 29, 30, 31, 33, 34). From his reply letter of advice, we can draw certain convictions of the saint about the reality of the Cross in daily experience of life. It is worthwhile quoting a longer excerpt:

What an inspiring letter! It speaks only of happenings marked with the cross… You are having to bear a large, weighty cross. But what a great happiness for you! Have confidence. For if God, who is all goodness, continues to make you suffer, he will not test you more than you can bear. The Cross is a sign that he loves you. I can assure you of this, that the greatest proof that we are loved by God s when we are despised by the world and burdened with crosses, i.e. when we are made to endure the privation of things we could rightly claim; when our holiest wishes meet with opposition; when we are afflicted with distressing and hurtful insults; when we are subjected to persecution, to having our actions misinterpreted by good people and by those who are our best friends; and when we suffer illness which are particularly repugnant, etc.. But why should I tell you things which you know better than I, for you understand and experience all of them. (L 13)

Montfort’s very life itself was filled with all forms of Crosses. He lived a tormented itinerary of abandonment, contempt, uncertainties, persecutions, being badly misunderstood, privations, etc. But for him, it was through the experience of such crosses that he encountered Christ. They were the best gifts he can ever receive from his Spouse. In a letter addressed to his family, he openly writes: “In the new family --- the one I belong to now ---I have chosen to be wedded to Wisdom and the Cross for in these I find every good, both earthly and heavenly. So precious are these possessions that, if they were but known, Montfort would be the envy of the richest and the most powerful kings on earth” ( L 20).

74 c) Christ, Wisdom in Mary and in Us

In reference to Christ’s incarnation in Mary, Montfort says:

God the Father gave his only Son to the world only through Mary. Whatever desires the patriarchs may have cherished, whatever entreaties the prophets and the saints of the Old Law may have made for 4,000 years to obtain that treasure, it was Mary alone who merited it and found the grace before God… (TD 16)

From the time of his incarnation, Jesus has fixed his abode in Mary and has inhabited in her. That's why Mary is the archetype of all those people whose faith open to the Christ. Her openness, her welcoming attitude and her availability, allow the Holy Spirit to produce in her the Son of God (TD 20). The contemplation of the mystery of the incarnation, which Montfort considers as a mystery proper to his spirituality (TD 243, SR 45), is the contemplation of the Christ in Mary (TD 246-248). In this mystery the permanent and indissoluble unity of Christ and Mary finds its foundation (TD 165; H 87). But Montfort also discovers in the mystery of the incarnation another dimension that he indicates as "unknown secret of grace" (TD 21). The mystery of the incarnation is also the mystery of the Holy Spirit and that, in and through Mary, this Third Person of the Trinity produces Christ and his members (TD 21). Not only that the Holy Spirit acted with Mary at the incarnation of God the Son, but also extends up to the mystery of Christ’s formation in us through baptism. The formation of Christ in us is a common work of the Holy Spirit and of Mary. St. Louis Marie calls Mary "dispenser of all the graces of the Holy Spirit" (SM 10, 13, 67; TD 240); with her the Holy Spirit produces the Children of God (TD 33; SM 56; LEW 214). It is Mary’s assignment to form them and to educate them (TD 35; PM 15), so that they become "the perfect men and that they represent Christ in the fullness of his age" (Eph 4:13; LEW 214; TD 33, 61, 119, 156, 164, 168). For our saint whoever takes for himself Mary as a model, assimilating her way of life and doing everything "through, with, in and for her" (TD 257-269; SM 43-49) and in becoming like her, he/she becomes little by little like Christ (TD 120).

75 For Montfort, the experimental knowledge of the common action of the Holy Spirit and of Mary to produce Christ in us recalls the theology of the birth of God, according to which Mary contributes to the formation of the divine Word in the heart of man. In TD 20, the saint stresses the role of the Holy Spirit in the formation of Christ-Wisdom in the womb of Mary. But the action of the Holy Spirit in the formation of Jesus does not stop in Mary. Rather, together with Mary the Third Person of the Trinity continues to form and produce Jesus now within Christians. Such formation continues until this person reaches the fullness of Christ-Wisdom in the believer. This insight is well captured in the prayer of Montfort where he asks the Holy Spirit “that with her [Mary] you may truly form Jesus, great and powerful, in me until I attaint the fullness of his perfect age” (SM 67). Talking of his mystical experiences with his spiritual director, he confessed of “the continuous presence of Jesus and Mary in the depths of his soul”133

d) Christ, Wisdom in the Poor

One of the most celebrated event in the life St. Louis was the episode that happened at Dinan. Besnard describes this episode by narrating that: One evening, in the street, he found a poor leper all covered with ulcers. He did not wait for this unfortunate man to ask him for help; he was the first to speak. He took hold of him, lifted him into his shoulders, and carried him to the mission door, which was shut, for it was rather late. He knocked, shouting several times: ‘Open the door for Jesus Christ!’. The missionary who opened the door was astonished to see him carrying the poor man. He carried the precious burden inside, laid him into his own bed, warmed him as well as he could (for he was numb with cold) while he himself spent the rest of the night in prayer.134

We can understand this “extraordinary” gesture of the saint: simply because for him, Christ is present in the poor. Eternal and crucified Wisdom is found in the poor. The whole life of Montfort is filled with special attention that

133 J-B. BLAIN, op. cit., 183. 134 C. BESNARD, op. cit. 114. Cf. also A. AMATO, “Jesus Christ”, 569-570.

76 he gave to the less fortunate in society. Montfort sought to imitate our Lord Jesus Christ without any classifications by being poor among the outcasts and disinherited who became his true friends (H 18). For the saint, to serve the poor is to serve Jesus Christ. In fact, we can say that indeed Montfort has internalized the very teachings of Jesus in Mt 25:40-45. The lines of another hymn he composed echo this conviction: “What is a poor man? It is written / that he is the living image, / the lieutenant of Jesus Christ / His most precious legacy / But, to speak even more clearly, / The poor are Jesus Christ Himself (H 17).

77

CHAPTER III

THE PATH TO MYSTICAL UNION WITH CHRIST-WISDOM ACCORDING TO ST. LOUIS MARIE DE MONTFORT

After having discussed St. Louis Marie de Montfort’s mystical experience, we intend now to consider the mystical path to union with Christ- Wisdom as far as we can draw out from his life and more from his writings. We use more extensively four major writings of Montfort in this discussion, namely: The Love of Eternal Wisdom, the True Devotion to Mary, the Secret of Mary and the Letters. We deal first and foremost with the essential dynamic movements which we can point out in this mystical path of our saint.

3.1 Dynamic Movements in His Mystical Path

The mystical path of Montfort can be summarized in three very dynamic movements, namely: the descending movement, the ascending movement and the lateral movement. Let us discuss them one by one.

3.1.1 Descending Movement135

In order to grasp better this dynamic movement, we recall the very experience of St. Paul on his way to Damascus. This experience is commonly known as the “conversion of St. Paul” (Acts 9:1-22, 27; 22:3-16; 26:9-18)136. It is a well accepted stand of many Bible scholars nowadays that in such turning point of his life, St. Paul has changed his understanding of God. Before his conversion, he thought that it was through the observance of the Law (i.e. human initiative, endeavor and merit) that one becomes united with God. After his

135S. DE FIORES calls this movement the “movimento discendente storico-salvifico” (historico- salvific descending movement). Cf. S. DE FIORES, Maria nella vita secondo lo Spirito, Casale Monferrato 1998, 239. 136 Cf. U. VANNI, “La Spiritualità di Paolo” in Storia della spiritualità, vol.2, La spiritualità del Nuovo Testamento, R. FABRIS (ed.), Roma 1985. See also R. BROWN, et. al., New Biblical Commentary, New Jersey 1990.

78 conversion there was a great shift. He came to realize that it is not man who climbs up to God by his good deeds but that God, through his Son Jesus Christ, has taken the initiative to come down to us so that we will be united with him137. In short, God has descended to reach out to us. For St. Louis Marie de Montfort, the Incarnation of Jesus is the mystery in which this descending movement is fully realized. The Incarnation, as we have seen earlier is the initiative of the Blessed Trinity. Christ’s incarnation is the Trinity’s descending movement to reach out and save humanity. This point is very clear when Montfort says: “He [Christ-Wisdom] wishes to become incarnate in order to convince men of his friendship; he wishes to come down to earth to help men go up to heaven” (LEW 168). Christ, Wisdom Incarnate has made himself one like us that we may be one with him. It is not us who are searching for God, but God is searching for us. Montfort highlights this point when in describing the desire for union with humanity, Wisdom has searched for him/her everywhere:

In his pursuit of man, he hastens along the highways, or scales the loftiest mountain peaks, or waits at the city gates, or goes into the public squares and among the gatherings of the people, proclaiming at the top of his voice, ‘You children of men, it is you I have been calling so persistently; it is you I am addressing; it is you I desire and seek; it is you I am claiming. Listen, draw close to me, for I want you to be happy. (LEW 66)

With the same theme of Christ reaching out to humanity, Montfort underlines the fact that:

This eternal beauty, ever supremely loving, is so intent on winning man’s friendship that for this very purpose he has written a book in which he describes his own excellence and his desire for man’s friendship. This book reads like a letter written by a lover to win the affections of his loved one, for in it he expresses such ardent desires for the heart of man, such tender longings for man’s friendship, such loving invitations and promises, that you would say he could not

137 Cf 1 Tim 1:15; Gal 2:20; Eph 5:2. See also Jn 3:16-17 which has the same theme.

79 possibly be the sovereign Lord of heaven and earth and at the same time need the friendship of man to be happy. (LEW 65)

Montfort has been “seized” by such initiative of God, to descend and to reach out to us. The entire chapter six of his masterpiece, Love of Eternal Wisdom, is all dedicated on the theme. In the middle of the chapter, the saint explains:

Finally, in order to draw closer to men and to give them more convincing proof of his love, Eternal Wisdom went so far as to become man, even to become a little child, to embrace poverty and to die upon the cross for them…. How many times while on earth could he be heard pleading, ‘Come to me, come to me, all of you. Do not be afraid, it is I. Why are you afraid? I am just like you; I love you. Are you afraid because you are sinners? But they are the ones I am looking for; I am the friend of sinners. If it is because you have strayed from the fold through your own fault, then I am the good shepherd. If it is because you are weighed down with sin, covered with grime and utterly dejected, then that is just why you should come to me for I will unburden you, purify you and console you. (LEW 70)

3.1.2 Ascending Movement138

Montfort’s teaching is very clear that through his incarnation (the descending movement), Christ “wishes to come down to earth to help humans go up to heaven” (LEW 168). Obviously, the second part describes the ascending movement of “going up”. For the saint, this ascending movement starts at the moment of one’s baptism. He echoes St. Paul’s teaching: “You cannot have forgotten that all of us, when we were baptized into Christ Jesus, were baptized into his death. So by our baptism into his death we were buried with him so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the Father’s glorious power, we too should begin a new life” (Rom 6:3-4). As we have said above, baptism for Montfort is the beginning of the Christian’s sharing the in the divine nature in and through Christ by the fact that the newly baptized becomes a member of the Mystical Body of Christ. This seed of divinity received at baptism however has to be

138S. DE FIORES calls this “movimento ascendente teo-antropologico” (Theo-anthropological ascending movement). Cf. S. DE FIORES, Maria nella vita secondo lo Spirito, 244.

80 nurtured and cared for by the baptized through prayers and reception of the sacraments most especially the Eucharist. The descending movement of the Trinity has to have a concrete response on the part of humanity. Every baptized Christian ought to respond to the excess love of God for him/her. As a response and collaboration then, De Fiores says that “man responds to the love of the Trinity by living for the glory of God Alone the Consecration to Christ Wisdom, in the docility of the Spirit, in the welcome of Mary, and in the ecclesial communion, with the view of announcing the reign of God.”139 In any authentic Christian mysticism, the descending movement on the part of God effects an ascending movement on the part of the believer. This means that the state of the Christian mystic is elevated as he/she participates in the divinity of Wisdom Incarnate through the descending and ascending movements. The summit of the believer’s rise to the divine level (divine union) in the Montfortian terminology is the person’s possession of the gift of Divine Wisdom (L 15, 16, 34, LEW 61, 184, 188, 190). Later on in reaching the peak of the mystical experience, the believer is slowly molded and transformed into His image, the image of Jesus (TD 218). Montfort says that: “The Holy Spirit himself will lead this faithful soul from strength to strength, from grace to grace, from light to light, until at length he attains transformation into Jesus in the fullness of his age and of his glory in heaven” (TD 119). The transformation into Jesus is effected by the collaborative work of the Holy Spirit and Mary:

Mary is the great mold of God, fashioned by the Holy Spirit to give human nature to a Man who is God by the hypostatic union, and to fashion through grace men who are like to God. No godly feature is missing from this mold. Everyone who casts himself into it and allows himself to be molded will acquire every feature of Jesus Christ, true God, with little pain or effort, as befits his weak human condition. He will tale on a faithful likeness to Jesus with no possibility of distortion. (SM 17)

139 Ibid. This theme of the Consecration will be dealt with extensively in the succeeding pages.

81 St. Louis Marie teaches all Christians that the easiest and the surest way into such ascending movement is the tender and genuine devotion to Mary. He says that: “Mary is the easiest, the shortest and the holiest all means of possessing Jesus Christ” (LEW 212, see also TD 5). Going even deeper into his teaching, he says that the “Consecration to Jesus through Mary” is the “perfect practice” of this true and tender devotion to Mary (Cf. SM 27, TD 55). We will be treating this theme of the Montfortian consecration in an in-depth way in the succeeding chapter.

3.1.3 Horizontal Movement

To describe the dynamics in the mystical experience of Montfort only in terms of the downward and upward movements would be incomplete. This is because the social dimension or better the apostolic dimension has been fundamental in his life as a mystic and essential in his spirituality. The intimate union with God140 that he was living in entailed a very productive apostolate especially with the poor. His being “oned” with Eternal Wisdom led him to love his neighbor unconditionally especially those who were rejected, marginalized, and poor. He expressed this love in a very heroic degree. The very life of Montfort testifies to this horizontal movement. We know that he reached the peak of his spiritual journey when he confessed that he has been “wedded to Wisdom and the Cross” (L 20). The spiritual height of spiritual marriage that he has reached was always accompanied by his heroic and peculiar apostolate for his brothers and sisters in Christ especially the poor.141 De Fiores comments this aspect in Montfort’s spiritual itinerary in terms of that swing “from a spirituality of contemplative type towards an apostolic spirituality”142. Montfort’s luminous holiness was a balance of his intimate union with God and

140 As we have referred many times in this paper Montfort’s letter to his mother four years after his ordination saying:” In my new family -- the one I belong now—I have chosen to be wedded to Wisdom and the Cross for in these I find every good both earthly and heavenly…” (L 20). 141 Cf. Biographies of St. Louis Marie de Montfort: J.-B. BLAIN, op.cit.; C. BESNARD, Vie de M. Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort, Rome 198; B. PAPASOGLI, Montfort, un uomo per l’ultima Chiesa, Torino, 1979; etc. 142 S. DE FIORES, Itinerario spirituale, 272-275.

82 apostolic zeal and unconditional love for the poor. He followed to the letter the Gospel teachings of his Spouse, Christ-Wisdom. In this sense we can say that he reach a certain degree of identification with Jesus. He was transformed into another “Christ”. Aside from being manifested in his life, we can also point out this “lateral movement” or horizontal movement of his mystical experience by considering his writings. In explaining the main motives of his teaching on the consecration to Jesus through Mary (the ascending movement), the seventh motive is peculiarly missionary. He pointed out that the devotion gives great benefits to one’s neighbor: “Another consideration which may bring us to embrace this practice is the great good which our neighbor receives from it. For by it we show love for our neighbor in an outstanding way” (TD 171). The saint lists certain marvelous effects of Wisdom in the souls of those who possess him.143 He says: “Wisdom gives man not only light to know the truth but also the remarkable power to impart it to others” (LEW 95). Further on he concludes: “Finally, as ‘nothing is more active than Wisdom,” he does not leave those who enjoy his friendship to languish in mediocrity and negligence. He sets them on fire, inspiring them to undertake great things for the glory of God and the salvation of souls” (LEW 100). All these texts above simply tells us that the “lateral movement” is an essential part of Montfort’s mystical journey. Indeed, there is an integral movement from a contemplative spirituality towards an apostolic spirituality in the entire dynamics of Montfort’s mystical life.

3.2 The Ultimate Goal of His Mystical Way: Christ-Wisdom

The very strong Marian character of the Montfort’s mystical experience and his emphasis on the role of Mary in his writings could lead to the temptation of saying that Mary is the goal. In this section, we deem it worthy to clarify that the ultimate goal of the mystical experience and the mystical path of St. Louis

143 The entire chapter 8, from numbers 90-103 of the LEW treats these marvelous effects.

83 Marie de Montfort is not Mary but God, Jesus Christ, Eternal and Incarnate Wisdom. Montfort’s greatest spiritual desire was to obtain and possess Eternal Wisdom and eventually preserve such possession throughout his life until Eternal Wisdom reaches the fullness of his age in the saint’s life.144 We take some passages from his writings where he explicitly says this. In his letter written in 1702 to a certain religious of the Blessed Sacrament, Louis Marie writes: “If Christians only knew the value of the cross, they would walk a hundred miles to obtain it, because enclosed in the beloved cross is true Wisdom and that is what I am looking for night and day more eager than ever” (L 13).145 A passage of his letter addressed to Louise Trichet again reads:

What wealth, what glory, what happiness would be mine if from all this I obtained divine Wisdom, which I long for day and night! (…) I will never cease asking for this boundless treasure and I firmly believe that I shall obtain it even were angels, men and demons to deny it to me…Another thing that makes me say that I shall possess Wisdom is the fact that I have encountered and still encounter so much persecution night and day. (L 15)

Months after, he wrote again another letter to this future first Daughter of Wisdom where some lines reveal his longing to possess Divine Wisdom: “… When shall I possess this lovable and mysterious Wisdom? When will Wisdom come to live in me? ... So pray, entreat God, plead for me to obtain divine Wisdom. You will obtain it completely for me; of this I am quite convinced” (L 16). The saint wants to share and teach the same aspirations through his Love of Eternal Wisdom. He opens this masterpiece of his with a prayer addressed to Eternal Wisdom. In the middle of such ardent prayer he writes: “I know there seems to be neither order nor sense in what I write, but because I long so dearly

144 We have a good number of references for our current contention in the writings of Montfort. To cite some aside from the one’s explicitly cited in this section of our study: to acquire, possess and obtain Wisdom -- LEW 61, 72, 181, 183, 185, 187, 188, 194, 196, 197, 201, 206, 209, 212, 220, 221; to keep or preserve him -- LEW 7, 14, 221, TD 87-89; fullness of the age of Christ – LEW 1, 214, 226, 227, ASR 78, SM 67, TD 33, 119, 156, 164, 168, 199. 145 All the character highlights henceforth are mine.

84 to possess you, I am looking for you everywhere…”(LEW 2a). In the same prayer he makes known the reason for which he has written this book:

If I am striving to make you known in this world, it is because you yourself have promised that all who explain you and make you known will have eternal life (…) Look upon the strokes of my pen as so many steps to find you; from your throne above bestow your blessings and your enlightenment on what I mean to say about you, so that those who read it may be filled with a fresh desire to love you and possess you, on earth as well as in heaven. (LEW 2b)

In other words, his main purpose of writing this book is to make Eternal Wisdom, Jesus Christ known, so that the reader will desire to love and possess him. Convinced by it himself, he invites the reader saying: “Jesus Christ is everything that you can and should wish for. Long for him, seek for him, because he is the unique and precious pearl for which you should be ready to sell everything you possess” (LEW 9). “If anyone desires to possess a deep, holy and special knowledge of the treasures of grace and nature, (…) he must make every effort to acquire Wisdom…”(LEW 58). Montfort does not only invite his readers to desire and long for Eternal Wisdom but also to keep and preserve him after obtaining. In LEW 7 Montfort writes: “… I am going, in my simple way, to portray Eternal Wisdom before, during and after his incarnation and show by what means we can possess and keep him.” The same idea is expressed in LEW 14: “Finally we shall propose the means to acquire and keep him (Eternal Wisdom)”. In a very mystical sense he says “… we should place in Mary’s care all that we possess and the treasure of all treasures, Jesus Christ, that she may keep him for us…”(LEW 221). The peak of Montfort’s mystical desire is not only to possess and obtain Eternal Wisdom, but to keep and preserve him in us not only for a period of time but until the fullness of his age146 is reached in the believer. If we read the prayer he composed in LEW 1, he made it clear that his highest goal is to have

146 With this goal of Montfort, he took inspiration from the words of St. Paul: “… until we all reach unity in faith and the knowledge of the Son of God and form the perfect Man, fully mature with the fullness of Christ himself.” (Eph 4:13)

85 “attained the fullness of your [Eternal Wisdom’s] age.” Just as he emphasized this at the beginning of his work, he also underlines the same goal at the end of the book. In the formula of the Consecration of oneself to Jesus Christ, Wisdom Incarnate, through the hands of Mary, the last lines read: “Virgin most faithful, make me in everything so committed a disciple, imitator and slave of Jesus, your Son, incarnate Wisdom, that I may become, through your intercession and example, fullness of his age on earth and of his glory in heaven. Amen” (LEW 227)147. Towards the end of his prayer found in the Secret of Mary, Montfort likewise asks “Holy Spirit, grant me these graces. (…) Give me a great trust in her [Mary] maternal heart and a continuous access to her compassion, so that with her you may truly form Jesus, great and wonderful, in me until I attain the fullness of his perfect age. Amen” (SM 67). In his explanation of the great necessity of genuine and tender devotion to Mary in the acquisition of Divine Wisdom, the saint echoes the same goal: “From these truths we must conclude: (…) that Mary must beget us in Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ in us nurturing us towards the perfection and the fullness of his age…” (TD 214). Montfort, talking about perfect practice of the devotion, again mentions that “The Holy Spirit himself will lead this faithful soul from virtue to virtue, from grace to grace, from light to light until at length he attains transformation into Jesus and in the fullness of his age on earth and of his glory in heaven”148. (TD119, cf. also TD 33) In discussing the fifth motive (i.e. it leads us to union with our Lord) which recommends the devotion he was teaching, he again underlines to say that “According to the mystical interpretation… it is in the bosom of Mary that people who are young grow mature in enlightenment, in holiness, in experience and in wisdom, and in short time reach the fullness of the age of Christ” (TD 156). Montfort ends his deep explanations of this fifth motive inviting his readers with the words “Let us take this road and travel along

147 Translation in GA is “…fully mature with the fullness of Jesus Christ possessed on earth, and with the fullness of his glory in heaven.” I make my own translation from the original French , “à la plenitude de son âge su la terre et de sa gloire dans le ciel” . 148 This is our modified translation from that of GA basing ourselves from the French version.

86 it night and day until we arrive at the fullness of the age of Jesus Christ” (TD 168).

3.3 The Means to Union with Eternal Wisdom

Montfort gives four means so as to realize this mystical goal of union with Christ-Wisdom, expressed in three aspects of “possession”, “keeping” and “fullness of age” of Christ. They are: (1) ardent desire, (2) continuous prayer, (3) universal mortification and (4) a loving and genuine devotion to the Blessed Virgin. P. Humblet, in his mystical approach to Montfort’s Love of Eternal Wisdom, takes these four means to belong to the ascending movement we have mentioned above. All four means form the appropriate response of love of every believer to the love of Eternal Wisdom for humanity (descending movement). Aside from noting the mystical character of these means, he also noted a logical process-like structure. He summarizes his observation in these words:

So, what is first of all needed to induce us to embark on this road is a solid motive: ardent desire. Welling up out of this desire, in continuous prayer, is the petition for Wisdom. In regard to the means of universal mortification, the object is the creation of room for the Wisdom desired and requested by abandoning everything that does not accord with her or might obstruct her. Then via devotion to Mary, the room, thus created, is occupied by Eternal Wisdom.149

Though all four have a logical progressive character, this does not necessarily mean that they are steps or phases one after another. We have to note that “one cannot really speak of “first this, then that.” (…) and the “logical structure” referred to is the structure of a continuing self-repeating dialogic movement”150 between Eternal Wisdom and the Christian believer. The first (ardent desire), with the second (continuous prayer) and the third (universal mortification) will all remain active means as the believer takes the fourth (true devotion to Mary). We can say that the first ones will serve as foundations for the succeeding means. We mean to say that continuous prayer rests its

149 P. HUMBLET, op. cit., 41. 150 Ibid., 42.

87 foundation on the person’s ardent desire. Universal mortification is practiced upon the effects of continuous prayer and ardent desire. Lastly, the true devotion to Mary takes its foundation on the universal mortification, continuous prayer and ardent desire. The first three means will always be necessary as they are integral elements in the practice of a genuine devotion to Mary. The fourth means entails a faithful practice of the three earlier mentioned means.

3.3.1 Ardent Desire

In this very insightful study on the Love of Eternal Wisdom as a mystical process of transformation, P. Humblet notes two main movements governing the dynamic structure of this work of Montfort. First main movement is the love of Eternal Wisdom for humanity (cf. descending movement discussed above) and the second main movement is love of humanity for Eternal Wisdom (ascending movement). In such dynamics, ardent desire is the consequence and effect of the knowledge of the boundless love of Eternal Wisdom for humanity. This is the consequential counter-movement when the love for Divine Wisdom is aroused and awakened within the heart of the believer. In short, the awareness of the self-giving love of Eternal Wisdom in his incarnation, passion and death produces in us an ardent desire to love him. It is reality in everyone’s life that we desire a person when we are in love with the person. This love is a powerful effect when the person feels being touched by such an act of love by the other. Ardent desire for Eternal Wisdom therefore, is our love-response to the expressed and proven love of Divine Wisdom for us. Eternal Wisdom’s proof of his love is the deepest and the highest expression of love. He gave himself totally to us without any reservation. He died for humanity’s sake. It was he who said “There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for his friend” (Jn 15:13). Commenting on this first means, P. Humblet says: “This desire is a consequence of the first movement of the dynamic structure: the love of eternal

88 Wisdom awakened in us makes us desire her”151 It is interesting to note that this author uses the word “awakened” and sometimes “aroused” to refer to this countermovement of humanity’s love for Eternal Wisdom. If this love is aroused and awakened, it means that this love has already been there in the believer. We agree with him in the sense that Christian tradition teaches us of the infusion of the three theological virtues of faith, hope and love whose sole object is God at the moment of baptism. (cf. CCC 1266). It is this theological virtue of love, indwelling in every baptized, that is aroused and awakened. The Catechism of the Catholic Church affirms this: “The desire for God is written in the human heart, because man is created by God and for God; and God never ceases to draw man to himself” (CCC 27). This infused love is an aspect of the divine inhabitation which we have underlined earlier in this study. To help us experience this awakening of the force of divine love within us, Montfort through the LEW has described the beauty, the excellence and the greatness of Eternal Wisdom before, during and after his incarnation. He spent fourteen chapters for such purpose (cf. LEW 1-180). And so in explaining the point on ardent desire he cries out:

Children of men, how long will your hearts remain heavy and earthbound? How long will you go on loving vain things and seeking what is false? Why do you not turn your eyes and your hearts towards divine Wisdom who is supremely desirable and who, to attract our love, makes known his origin, shows his beauty, displays his riches, and testifies in a thousand ways how eager he is that we should desire him and seek him. (LEW 181)

For Montfort, this ardent desire must lead us to go out and seek for him, long to possess and acquire him. Another important point to take note is the fact that Montfort underlines the gift character of one’s ardent desire for Divine Wisdom. In LEW 182, we read: “The desire for divine Wisdom must indeed be a great grace from God because it is the reward for the faithful observance of his commandments…”

151 Ibid.

89 Humblet notes this gift-character and comments “Desire and love are not things a person can produce on his or her own. It is rather the experience of the love of Eternal Wisdom which may evoke them in us.152 The insight of J. Ruysbroeck can further enlighten us here. This 14th century Flemish mystic wrote:

Interior fervor is a perceptible fire of love which God’s Spirit has enkindled and fanned to a flame. Such fervor burns, drives, and urges a person from within in such a way that he does not know whence it comes or what is happening to him. Interior fervor gives rise to a felt affection which penetrates a person’s heart and the concupiscible power of the soul. Felt affection and love consists in a desire, a taste, and a yearning which a person feels for God (…).153

3.3.2 Continuous Prayer

Louis Marie in the second part of chapter fourteen of the Love of Eternal Wisdom explains what he intends to mean by continuous prayer. He starts by underlining the fact that the gift of Wisdom is the greatest of all God’s gifts and that it requires much prayer and great effort. If so, the reader is made aware that it must be an effort founded on the firm and ardent desire to obtain this greatest of all gifts of God. The degree and intensity of one’s desire for Eternal Wisdom is proportionate to the extent of his search and his prayer that he may possesses Him. Ardent desire and continuous prayer are so much interrelated. Although this has a gift-character again like the first means154, yet Montfort underscores the active and total involvement of the believer. In trying to share his own experience, he writes:

Thirdly, we must pray perseveringly to obtain this Wisdom. (…) Whoever then wishes to obtain wisdom must pray for it day and night without wearying or becoming disheartened. Blessings in abundance will be his if, after ten, twenty, thirty years of prayer, or even an hour before he dies, he comes to possess it. (LEW 188)

152 Ibid., 45. 153 J. RUUSBROEC, The Spiritual Espousals and other works, J. A. WISEMAN (trans.) New York 1985, 79. 154 P. HUMBLET, op. cit., 45.

90 In his kind of persevering and continuous prayer, he underlines the essentiality of a lively, firm and pure faith:

Therefore, to possess Wisdom we must pray. But how should we pray? First, we should pray for this gift with a strong and lively faith (…). Secondly, we must pray for it with a pure faith (…) Simple [La pure foi in French version thus = pure faith] faith is both the cause and the effect of Wisdom in our soul (…). Thirdly, we must pray perseveringly to obtain this Wisdom (…). This is how we must pray to obtain Wisdom. (LEW 185-190)

Montfort moves on to underline the importance of mental prayer. In LEW 193 he says: “To vocal prayer, we must add mental prayer, which enlightens the mind, inflames the heart and disposes the soul to listen to the voice of Wisdom, to savor her delights and possess her treasures.” For the saint, mental prayer is essential. It sheds light, enkindles the fire of love and opens up the person towards docility to Wisdom’s voice and presence deep with in. In stressing the meditative dimension of prayer, Louis Marie singled out the prayer of the Rosary as the best way: “For myself, I know of no better way of establishing the kingdom of God, Eternal Wisdom, than to unite vocal and mental prayer by saying the holy Rosary and meditating on its fifteen mysteries” (LEW 193). A closer study of Montfort’s concept of prayer leads to the deeper dimension of this means of communication with God.155 In LEW 187 he says: “Simple [pure] faith is both the cause and the effect of Wisdom in our soul. The more faith we have, the more we shall possess Wisdom. The more we possess her, the stronger our faith without seeing, without feeling, without tasting and without faltering…” Thus prayer in this sense brings the believer into a mystical encounter with Christ. Humblet comments saying: “The pure and living faith, which transforms our prayer into mystical prayer, therefore functions in lively interaction with the reception of the object of prayer: Eternal Wisdom. (…) the

155 Montfort teaches that “Prayer is the usual channel by which God conveys his gifts, especially his Wisdom” (LEW 184).

91 receiving of Wisdom occurs precisely in this mystical act of praying.”156 Montfort mentions this kind of prayer in his Secret of the Rosary:

If you have already attained, by the grace of God, a high degree of prayer, keep up the practice of the holy Rosary if you wish to remain in that state and by it to grow in humility. (…) On the other hand, if God in his infinite mercy draws you to himself as forcibly as he did some of the saints while saying the Rosary, let yourself be taken by his attraction and let yourself be drawn towards him. Let God work and pray in you and let him say the Rosary in his way, and that will be sufficient for the day. (SR 78)

3.3.3 Universal Mortification

As we have said above, the knowledge of the self-giving love of Eternal Wisdom awakens in the believer an ardent desire to be united with Him, to possess him. At the same time this burning desire moves the individual to a continuous prayer, one of pure, living and strong faith. The next dialogical movement is that a prayer full of pure faith motivates the person to practice mortification. Montfort calls it universal mortification. Through constant and persevering prayer done in pure and living faith, the believer’s knowledge of the beauty, the goodness, the excellence, quality of the love of Eternal Wisdom deepens. It likewise leads the person to know “where can Christ-Wisdom be found” and where he would not be present. From his personal experience of the Holy Spirit, Montfort teaches his readers that “wisdom is not found in the hearts of those who live in comfort, gratifying their passions and bodily desires…”(LEW 194). He opens their minds saying: “Do not imagine that incarnate Wisdom… will enter a soul and a body soiled by the pleasures of the senses. Do not believe that he will grant his rest and ineffable peace to those who love worldly company and vanities…” (LEW 195). Where, then, is Wisdom to be found and in what kind of persons would he dwell? St. Louis Marie explains that Wisdom is to be found in believers who: “…have crucified their flesh with all its passions and desires”; “always bear about in their bodies the dying of Jesus”; “continually do violence to themselves,

156 P. HUMBLET, op. cit., 46-47.

92 carry their cross daily”; “are dead and buried with Christ…”(LEW 194b). So then the saint gives this advice: “… if we are to possess incarnate Wisdom, Jesus Christ, we must practice self denial and renounce the world and self.” (LEW 194c) This invitation of Montfort is followed by a list of qualities required and an enumeration of “dos” and “don’ts” in the practice of mortification (LEW 196- 202) To summarize his point, St. Louis Marie says that if we ourselves want to possess Wisdom: (1) We must either give up actually our worldly possessions… or at least we must detach our heart from material things, and possess them as though not possessing them, not eager to acquire more or anxious to retain any of them, and not complaining or worrying when they are lost; (2) We must not follow the showy fashions of the world in our dress, our furniture, or our dwellings. Neither must we indulge in sumptuous meals or other worldly habits and ways of living; (3) We must not believe or follow the false maxims of the world, or think, speak or act like people of the world; (4) We must flee as much as possible from the company of others, not only from that of worldly people, which is harmful and dangerous, but even from that of religious people when our association with them would be useless and a waste of time; (5) we must mortify the body, not only by enduring patiently our bodily ailments, the inconveniences of the weather and the difficulties arising from people’s actions, but also by deliberately undertaking some penances and mortifications, such as fasts, vigils and other austerities practiced by holy penitents; (6) We must mortify the judgment and the will through holy obedience. In other words, Montfort wants to say that the contempt of the world and mortification of the body are indispensable in our efforts to possess Divine Wisdom. In the classical terms, the practice of the universal mortification is the purification of the believer which at times could be so intense and painful that it can be compared to what St. John of the Cross called ‘the and of the senses”. Because of its total and universal character, our saint cautions the readers that the practice of this kind of mortification is not easy to live up

93 and accomplish (cf. LEW 197). Thus, it is only through ardent desire and the continuous prayer that the believer can live out such practice. Humblet calls it “the mystical death of the ‘old man’ in us with its attachment to the world and itself.”157 Montfort’s universal mortification has a mystical character. This practice comes to us and works in us as a fruit of the Holy Spirit. It has in it a very strong gift-character. It is God who grants this gift to the believer after having ardently desired and continuously prayed for union with Christ-Wisdom. The genuine practice of this way of mortifying oneself does arise from one’s own will but from God’s divine will, from obedience to God: “For exterior and voluntary mortifications to be profitable, it must be accompanied by the mortifying of the judgment and the will through holy obedience, because without this obedience all mortification is spoiled by self-will… By holy obedience we do away with self love, which spoils everything” (LEW 202).

3.3.4 True Devotion to Mary

After showing where Eternal and Incarnate Wisdom cannot be found, Montfort leads his readers where to best find Him. From his experience, he is absolutely convinced that Christ-Wisdom is perfectly found in Mary (Cf. TD 246-247). This is exactly the reason why for him: “The greatest means of all, and the most wonderful of all secrets for obtaining and persevering divine Wisdom is a loving and genuine devotion to the Blessed Virgin” (LEW 203). What the saint wants to say is that we have to go to Mary, be with Mary and stay in Mary so that we can be united with Divine Wisdom. We will be dealing more on this in the succeeding section when we treat the perfect practice of this true devotion to Mary, the consecration. St. Louis Marie’s mystical experience confirms that it is in Mary that we perfectly find Jesus. This is for him a great secret that he wants to impart to us.

157 Ibid., 48.

94 To realize this dream of his, he wrote the Secret of Mary and the True Devotion to Mary, to enlighten us of this divine secret. According to Montfort, this secret is revealed by the Holy Spirit to the person who has been ardently desirous for the possession of Wisdom, who has been praying unceasingly and who has been practicing mortification by being unworldly:

Here is a secret, chosen soul, which the Most High taught me and which I have not found in any book, ancient or modern. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, I am confiding it to you, with these conditions: 1) That you share it only with people who deserve to know it because they are prayerful, give alms to the poor, do penance, suffer persecution, are unworldly, and work seriously for the salvation of souls… (etc.). (SM 1)

But what is this secret of Mary? This secret that the Holy Spirit reveals is not other than the true knowledge of Mary:

Happy, indeed sublimely happy, is the person to whom the Holy Spirit reveals this secret, thus imparting him true knowledge of her. Happy the person to whom the Holy Spirit opens this enclosed garden for him to enter, and to whom the Holy Spirit gives access to this sealed fountain where he can draw water and drink deep draughts of the living waters of grace. That person will find only God and no creature in the most lovable Virgin Mary… But there is no place where God can be more present to his creature and more proportionate to human weakness than in Mary. (SM 20)

Just from this number, Montfort reveals to us two mystical images of Mary. She is the enclosed garden and sealed fountain whom the Holy Spirit has the power to open and give access. It is in this enclosed garden and sealed fountain, Mary, that the believer best find Eternal Wisdom. Montfort reveals this secret in summarized form in the SM and more elaborated in the TD. Let us highlight some insights of Montfort on the question of who truly Mary is as found in this two works: For Montfort, “Mary alone found grace with God for herself and for every individual person” (SM 7); “God gave to Mary every grace when He gave His Son to her” (SM 9); “The Holy Spirit produced his greatest work, the incarnate Word, in her, by her and through

95 her and continues to do so everyday in the elect” (SM 13). Mary is the living mold of God: “In her alone the God-man was formed in his human nature without losing any feature of the Godhead. In her alone, by the grace of Jesus Christ, man is made god-like as far as nature is capable of it” (SM 16). Again this is echoed in SM 17: “Mary is the great mold of God, fashioned by the Holy Spirit to give human nature to a Man who is God by the hypostatic union, and to fashion through grace men who are like to God.” Further more:

Mary is God’s garden of Paradise, his own unspeakable world, into which his Son entered to do wonderful things, to tend it and to take his delight in it. He created a world for the wayfarer, that is the one we are living in. He created a second world –Paradise—for the Blessed. He created a third for himself which he named Mary. She is a world unknown to most mortals here on earth. (SM 19)

St. Louis Marie strongly teaches that when this secret of Mary is revealed to the believer, the true devotion to her becomes indispensable. The Holy Spirit will inspire the person to a tender and loving devotion to Mary which is no other than complete dependence to her. The saint writes that genuine devotion to Mary consists in

… a full appreciation of the privileges and dignity of our Lady; in expressing our gratitude for her goodness to us; in zealously promoting devotion to her; in constantly appealing for her help; in being completely dependent on her; and in placing firm reliance and loving confidence in her motherly goodness. (LEW 215)

And it is in the practice of this true devotion to Mary that union with Christ-Wisdom is best and perfectly reached since “Mary is the surest, the easiest, the shortest, and holiest of all means of possessing Jesus Christ” (LEW 212).

3.4 The Most Crucial Point: Perfect Consecration

St. Louis Marie de Montfort ends his book The Love of the Eternal Wisdom stressing that the true devotion to Mary is the best and the easiest means to obtain Eternal Wisdom. It appears however that his explanations in this book

96 are not enough that he elaborated it in another book, the True Devotion to Mary158. The latter indeed is a very extensive treatment of the fourth means. We do not intend to study this particular work in its minute details. However, we want to focus on its second part: Consecration in Montfort’s way or the perfect practice of true devotion to Mary. For us, this consecration peculiar of Montfort has very strong mystical character and in fact we consider it as the most crucial point of the saint’s mystical way to union with Christ-Wisdom. To provide us with some light in the understanding of this theme of Montfort’s consecration, we first consider what the word means in its general sense and in the biblical sense. “Consecration” comes from the Greek word hag (aghiazein) or the Hebrew word qds that literally means holy. It fundamentally refers to a person, place or thing that is made holy or being set aside for a holy purpose. Such holiness is essentially a sharing of the life of God. In its highest meaning it can mean divinity.159 In the Bible, consecration has two aspects. First, it is a divine act that God initiates so as to render humanity holy and sanctified. We cannot speak of consecration as a spontaneous human gesture.160 Consecration is an initiative of God. He alone elects, calls and invites161. Second, consecration necessitates a free, responsible and active response on the part of humanity. Consecration is an answer of man to God’s invitation and call to holiness.162 These two dynamic movements of the consecration ring us of the first two dynamic movements in the mystical experience of Montfort which we have treated earlier in this paper. Montfort’s total consecration connotes all these basic understandings of what consecration is. The saint however has added certain aspects so unique and peculiar to his spirituality. This fact is the result of many factors that have

158 An in-depth study will convince us that these two books of Montfort (LEW and TD) are complementary works. They have to be read together and studied together so as to get the better and wholistic understanding of Montfort’s spirituality and mystical experience. Each book enlightens and enriches the other. 159P. GAFFNEY, “Consecration” in JLM, 201. 160S. DE FIORES, “Consacrazione”, 396. 161P. SUAREZ -P. GARCIA, Libro de Oro de la Espitualidad Monfortiana, Bogotà 2000, 409. 162P. GAFFNEY, “Consecration,” 202. See also P. SUAREZ-P. GARCIA, op. cit.,410.

97 affected him, his life and his spiritual experience of God. We try to consider these immediate sources by which his peculiar understanding of consecration is influenced.

3.4.1 Its Immediate Sources

St. Louis de Montfort’s’ “Consecration to Jesus through Mary” has to be put in its proper historical and spiritual context. Before him were great French spiritual writers called the Bérullians. There is no doubt that these have influenced his idea of the Consecration. In fact, Montfort can be considered a successor of the long line of development on this theme. Montfort himself cites in TD159-163 certain people of whom his doctrine takes succession. We limit ourselves to a few personalities whom we consider immediate sources of Montfort Consecration. First, we consider Cardinal de Bérulle and then Henri Boudon.

a) Pierre de Bérulle

It appears that Montfort’s primary source for his doctrine of consecration is the founder of the French School of spirituality Cardinal Pierre de Bérulle. This school singled out Christ’s state of servitude as central and fundamental. In fact, Bérulle stressed that in the complete possession of Christ’s humanity by the divinity there is an absolute renouncement of the self and total clinging to God. Basic to their understanding is this state of “infinite servitude”, where there is the total and deep renunciation of the self and at the same time total adherence to Christ. In effect, one becomes completely possessed by Him. In fact, “Adoration… in the Bérullian sense, is a persisting state of renunciation, of self surrender… and grace is a created copy of the state of servitude of Christ in the hypostatic union.”163 Montfort’s teaching of the consecration as identical to the renewal of baptismal promises and with his teaching on holy slavery, these aspects are all

163 E. A. WALSH, “French School of Spirituality” in NCE (vol. 13), New York 1967, 605. See also W. THOMPSON, (ed.) Bérulle and the French School, New York 1989.

98 echoes of de Bérulle’s mystical thought. A good example for this is TD 162 wherein the saint expressed his admiration of founder of the French School: “Cardinal de Bérulle, whose memory is venerated throughout France, was outstandingly zealous in furthering the devotion in France… He pointed out that this devotion [Holy Servitude/Slavery or total Consecration] is founded on the example given by Jesus Christ, on the obligations we have towards him and on the promises we made in holy baptism.” We will see more of such influence as we discus certain expressions used by Montfort to speak of perfect practice of the devotion he was teaching.

b) Henri Boudon

St. Louis Marie’s understanding of perfect consecration finds its roots also in Boudon’s164 insistence that any consecration is ultimately to God alone. He stresses that only God merits the loving servitude of His creatures.165 Another aspect of his teaching that Montfort has taken into account is the idea on what has to be given to our Lady, namely our merits and satisfactions.166 Just as there are many things of his doctrine that our saint followed closely, there are also a number that he has changed. For instance Montfort’s consecration is made to Jesus Christ, the Eternal and Incarnate Wisdom while Boudon’s is not; the Marian dimension of Montfortian consecration is founded on the spiritual maternity of Mary while the other on Mary’s Queenship. In many ways then we can say that though Montfort’s Consecration takes its proximate sources from the doctrines of these two abovementioned spiritual authors. Yet, it has other new aspects that St. Louis Marie must have developed and clarified though his creativity, pastoral ministry and above all his personal mystical experiences. Let us consider then the nature of this consecration.

164TD 163 165P. GAFNEY, “Consecration”, 207. 166Ibid. Cf. also Montfort’s Formula of Consecration in LEW 223-227, especially 225.

99 3.3.2 Its Nature

Three works of Montfort --- LEW, TD and SM--- speak explicitly on the Consecration. Among these three, the TD has the most extensive treatment of the theme. The saint makes use of the first part of the book (TD 14-117) as a general introduction to the “perfect consecration to Jesus Christ” (TD 120-273) which is practically forms the second part. In TD 120-134, he explains the nature of this perfect practice of the true devotion. These numbers of the TD are complemented with SM 28-34, and is summarized in LEW 219. The formula of Consecration to the Eternal and Incarnate Wisdom through the Hands of Mary is found in LEW 223-227. Studying closely these abovementioned texts makes us note of the following essential characteristics and nature of the Consecration as proposed by the saint.

a) Trinitarian and Christocentric

In all these three writings abovementioned, Montfort makes one point very clear: Jesus is the ultimate goal of such consecration he teaches. The first truth that he singles out is that “Christ must be the ultimate goal of all devotions” (TD 61) otherwise, he adds, “… if devotion to Our Lady removed us from Jesus Christ, we should have to reject it as an illusion to the devil” (TD 62). “We give ourselves to Jesus because he is our last end” (TD125). Further on he continues to affirm that: “All our perfection consists in being conformed, united and consecrated to Jesus Christ” (TD 120). Aside from being Christocentric, Montfortian consecration is Trinitarian. We find this very obvious if we consider the structure of the formula of consecration in LEW 223-227. God the Father, God the Son (Eternal Wisdom) and Holy Spirit are highlighted. Moreover, three qualities point out this Trinitarian/Christocentric nature of the consecration: First, it is for the “greater glory of God [the Father]” (TD 222-223); the goal of the consecration is Jesus, the Eternal and Incarnate Wisdom (cf. LEW, TD 61-62); the consecration in

100 itself is a life of the Spirit (TD 166, 217, 258): “The Consecration to Jesus- Wisdom necessarily entails a complete surrender to the overshadowing Spirit who both draws us into the Trinitarian life and sends us forth “other Christs”.167

b) Absolute and Total

The Consecration proposed by St. Louis Marie is total and absolute. This character could be the reason why Montfort gives the title: THE PERFECT CONSECRATION TO JESUS CHRIST.168 The consecration he proposes is perfect because it is complete, total and absolute. We see this nature clearly in the formula of the Consecration of oneself to Jesus Christ, Wisdom Incarnate, through the hands of Mary (LEW 223-227) and which the saint elaborated well in the TD 121. In this particular number the saint stresses that:

This devotion consists in giving oneself entirely to Mary in order to belong entirely to Jesus through her. It requires us to give: 1 Our body with all it senses and its members; 2 Our soul with all its faculties; 3 Our present material possessions and all we shall acquire in the future; 4 Our interior and spiritual possessions, that is, our merits, virtues and good actions of the past, the present and the future.

Looking at this carefully, we can say that Montfortian consecration is total and absolute in two senses: in the sense of content and in the sense of time. Content-wise, one has to give all that he/she possesses: his or her whole being, both in natural life as well as spiritual life. It includes the surrender of everything that he or she possesses in the order of nature, of grace and of glory in heaven, without any reservation. In the sense of time, this consecration is total for it encompasses the past, the present and the future! Hence, it is not a consecration made meant only for an hour, nor for a day, a month, a year but it is lifetime: the past, the present and to come!

167P. GAFFNEY, op. cit., 209. 168 Montfort wrote this title in capital letters as found in the manuscript. Cf. Ibid., 201.

101 Montfort in TD 123-124 points out that the totality of this consecration is even far more demanding than the vows of religious life: obedience, poverty and chastity. He writes:

In this devotion, everything is given and consecrated, even the right to dispose freely of one’s spiritual goods and satisfactions earned by daily good works. This is not done even in religious orders. Members of religious orders give God their earthly goods by the vow of poverty, the goods of the body by the vow of chastity, their free will by the vow of obedience, and sometimes their freedom of movement by the vow of enclosure. But they do not give him by these vow a the liberty and right to dispose of the value of their good works. They do not despoil themselves of what a Christian considers most precious and most dear – his merits and satisfactions. (TD 123)

Gaffney explains that by this act of total and absolute self-surrender, “We become ‘divested’ of everything, for our career, plans, possessions, spiritual goods – even glory – is freely ‘made holy,’ i.e., subject to the overriding will of Jesus.”169 In this total consecration of Montfort, one is explicitly, freely and responsibly making the prayer “Thy will be done” as the rule of all that he or she is and does. This then becomes the very foundation for a more profound life in the Holy Spirit that brings the consecrated into the depths of “belonging” to the Lord, into a very intimate union with Him… With it, one becomes an absolute possession of God, completely united with Christ and totally docile to the Spirit.

c) Marian

St. Louis Marie de Montfort insists that Consecration to Jesus Christ must be Marian, in reference to the role of Mary in salvation history. He considers the fact that consecration is closely related to the Incarnation of the Christ, Eternal Wisdom. In his intuitions on this mystery, he singles out the profound reality that the consecration of the world through the Incarnation of the Eternal Word took place along with the “yes” of Mary. He boldly says, “It is through the blessed Virgin Mary that Jesus Christ came into the world, and it is also through her that he must reign in the world” (TD 1). The saint sees this Marian

169 Ibid., 210.

102 dimension as an eternal pattern God follows in all the mysteries of salvation history. (cf. TD 15) Gaffney in his article on the consecration explains this idea saying:

St. Louis teaches, of course that Jesus alone is the Consecration to the Father. But he must also insist… that this incarnational Consecration takes place in Mary through God’s grace and her divinely willed consent. It is utterly impossible to separate the consecration of this universe --- the Eternal and Incarnate Wisdom – from the woman whose faith-consent is intrinsic to the Incarnation of the Eternal Wisdom.170

When we say that Montfortian consecration is Marian, it means in the practical sense that we are called to a particular way of life through Mary, with Mary, in Mary and for Mary so that we may be more intensely consecrated to Jesus, the Consecrated One. In fact, we will see in the succeeding discussions that this Marian dimension is a very essential element of Montfortian consecration at the level of our day-to-day existence. Montfort calls this dimension as the interior practices of this Marian Consecration (cf. TD 257- 265). He insists on this Marian character since Mary is the most conformed to Christ Jesus (TD 27, 120). In one of his exultations to Jesus, he writes “She is so completely transformed into you by grace that she no longer lives, she no longer exists, because you alone, dear Jesus, live and reign in her more perfectly that all the angels and the saints” (TD 63). One important point that Montfort makes clear is the fact that this perfect Consecration though Marian is one single consecration: “We consecrate ourselves at one and the same time to Mary and to Jesus. We give ourselves to Mary because Jesus chose her as the perfect means to unite himself to us and unite us to him. We give ourselves to Jesus because he is our last End” (TD 125). Secondly, it is important to note that this Marian character of Montfortian consecration is Scripturally founded. We recall that event at the foot of the Cross in the Johannine account:

170 Ibid., 213.

103 Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister Mary, who was the wife of Cleopas, and Mary of Magdala. When Jesus saw the Mother and the disciple, he said to the Mother, “Woman, this is your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “There is your mother.” AND FROM THAT MOMENT, THE DISCIPLE TOOK HER TO HIS OWN HOME!” (Jn 19:25-27)171

This is what we do in the Montfortian consecration in imitation of the beloved disciple of Christ who “took Mary to his own home.” We take note that in such translation “home” does not necessarily mean a physical or material house. Contemporary exegetical studies on this passage suggest a better translation of the Greek “tà idià”. Instead of the word “home”, the following phrases are used: “his heart”, “his life,” “his innermost being”172. In practicing this consecration, we are invited to freely decide “to take Mary into our innermost being” that she becomes one of our greatest interior treasures.

d) Apostolic

Montfort enumerates eight motives to recommend this consecration namely: 1) By it we give ourselves completely to God (TD 135-138); 2) it helps us imitate Christ (TD 139-143); 3) It obtains many blessings to our Lady (TD 144-150); 4) it is an excellent means of giving glory to God (TD 151); 5) it leads union with our Lord (TD 153-168); 6) The practice of this devotion gives great liberty of the Spirit (TD 169-170); 7) It is of great benefit to our neighbor (TD 171-172); 8) It is a wonderful means of preserving in the practice of virtue and of remaining steadfast (TD 173-182). The seventh motive (TD 171-172) has a very strong apostolic note: “Another consideration which may bring us to embrace this practice is the great good which our neighbor receives from it. For by it we show love for our neighbor in an outstanding way…” (TD 171). Montfortian consecration therefore has a strong apostolic dimension. The effect of one living out this consecration is seen in his or her active apostolate.

171 The highlight is mine. 172Cf. X. LEON-DUFOUR, Lettura dell’Evangelo secondo Giovanni: Capitoli 18-21, Milano 1998, 173-191; I. DE LA POTTERIE, Passione de Gesù Secondo il Vangelo di Giovanni, Milano 1998, 122-133.

104 The act of consecration needs to be translated into life. This offering of one’s self is to be seen in the form of loving service to others. It is not a “God-and-me” affair but a “God-and-me-for-the-others” affair. This we have already seen in our discussion of the three dynamic movements in Montfort’s mystical experience. The ‘lateral-movement” is essential. It completes the descending and ascending movements. As has been noted above, one of the motives of Montfortian consecration is one’s union with the Lord. The saint puts it in terms of “obtaining or possession of Jesus Christ, Eternal Wisdom”, “preserving Wisdom” in Mary until in one’s life Christ-Wisdom reaches his fullness of age. One of the marvelous effects (LEW 90-103) in the person who possesses Wisdom is the ability to make initiatives, to be active for the Kingdom of God. In TD 100 we read: “Finally, as ‘nothing is more active than Wisdom,’ he does not leave those who enjoy his friendship to languish in mediocrity and negligence. He sets them on fire, inspiring them to take great things for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.” This summarizes what the saint calls “wisdom of the missionary and of the apostolic man.”173 In LEW 30, Montfort cites the three degrees in holy living. According to him the third is to “seek to acquire light and unction you need to inspire others with that love for Wisdom which will lead them to eternal life.” Moreover in LEW 95 the saint underlines that “Wisdom gives man not only the light to know the Truth but also a remarkable power to impart it to others.” In TD 227, we read that the ultimate goal of Montfortian consecration is to bring about “the reign of Christ”. Our saint’s writings and preaching especially on the perfect Consecration or the living out of one’s baptismal promises was aimed at forming disciples of Jesus Christ” (TD 111) who would “reform the Church and renew the face of the earth” (PM 17).

173B. CORTINOVIS, Montfort Pilgrim in the Church, 241.

105 3.4.3 Its Expressions

St. Louis Marie de Montfort in his writings made use of many expressions to refer to his proposed total consecration to Jesus through the hands of Mary. Some of them are : “the perfect practice” (TD 118); “the most perfect devotion” (LEW 219); “placing everything in Mary’s hands” (LEW 221-222; SM 31); “slavery of love” (LEW 226; SM 32; TD 244-245); “offering” (LEW 222; TD 121, 124); “giving” (LEW 222, 225; SM 28-31; TD 120, 126), “entrusting” (SM 40; TD 179); “belonging entirely” or “” (TD 179, 216, 266; SM 66); “perfect renewal of baptismal promises” (LEW 225; TD 226, 131, 238; RM 56). The use of these expressions simply shows the richness of his teaching as well as the limitation of human language to express fully a sublime teaching. In this study, we intend to discuss only two expressions which we believe very relevant to our understanding of the mystical way of the saint, namely: “slavery of love” and “perfect renewal of baptismal promises”.

a) Slavery of Love

Among these abovementioned expressions, “slavery of love” is the most “controversial”. The expression has been a source of many misunderstandings because of the negative connotation of the word “slave”. We believe however that a spiritual and mystical understanding of the phrase can illumine us into its deep meaning and insight. Here again we have to make use of a “key” that could open for us its intended meaning: the key of love, a love that is beyond (ontological). It is in understanding this expression using the lens of love that we see its very positive meaning. Normally indeed, the words “slave” and “slavery” are very negative and even offensive words. They connote authority and power of one over the other or the submission of a person to the authority of another. However in the language of lovers, slavery is an expression of a very tremendous love that one has for the other. At the beginning of this paper, we have underlined the fact that Christian mysticism is about two parties who are foolishly in love with each

106 other. In Christian mystical experience, the language used is that of passionate lovers. Thus it is in the realm of mysticism that we can comprehend this sublime expression of “slavery of love”. Central to the expression “slavery of love” is not the word “slave” or “slavery” but rather the word “love”. “Slavery” is more or less a word that characterizes the kind of love exists between the believer and his/her God. In the Scriptures, we find the word “slave” being used to mean complete loving dependence on God. St. Luke says that Mary is the doulê, “slave” or servant of the Lord (Lk 1:38). Another meaning of the word “slave” is “loving submission”. St. Paul says that Christ, “took the form of a slave, being born of human likeness” (Phil 2:7). In both cases, the key to understand such expression is the intense passion of love. Mary is the “slave” of the Lord out of her love for him. Christ took the form of a ‘slave” because of his unfathomable love for humanity. These points we have raised above are in one way or another expressed by the saint. We deem it useful now to dig into Montfort’s explanation of what he intends to mean with such expression. We have noted earlier that Louis Marie was very much influenced by the French School. Among the many influences174 of P. de Bérulle and H. Boudon, this expression is obviously a re-appropriation by Montfort. He dedicated a few pages in the Secret of Mary and the True Devotion to clarify his teaching of the “slavery of love”: TD 68-77 and SM 32- 34. He writes:

There are two ways of belonging to another person and being subject to his authority. One is by ordinary service and the other is by slavery. And so we must use the terms ‘servant’ and “slave” (…) Now there are three kinds of slavery” natural slavery, enforced slavery, and voluntary slavery. All creatures are slaves of God in the first sense… The devils and the damned are slaves of the second sense. The saints in heaven and the just on earth are slaves of the third sense. Voluntary slavery is the most perfect of all three states, for by it we give the greatest glory to God who looks into the heart

174 Cf. T. KOEHLER, “Slavery of Love” in JLM, 1159-1161.

107 and wants it to be given to him. Is he not indeed called the God of the heart or of the loving will?” (TD 69-70).

The last two lines give us some clues of what Montfort had in mind when he used this expression of slave. The phrases “God who looks into the heart,” “God of the heart and of the loving will” reveal that the force enabling a person to become slave of the Lord is love. The free will moved by love is the underlying force of this “voluntary slavery”. In TD 73, another phrase of the same tone is highlighted by Montfort. “Granting this, I say that we must belong to Jesus and serve him not just as hired servants but as willing slaves who, moved by generous love, commit themselves to his service after the manner of slaves for the honor of belonging to him.” The phrase “moved by generous love” only shows that slavery of love to Jesus and Mary is the effect of the loving response of the believer. In other words, it is after an experience of being touched by the love of Christ-Wisdom that one is able to call himself/herself a “slave of love” of Jesus and Mary. It is the deep awareness of the self-giving love of God in Jesus, Eternal and Incarnate Wisdom that the believer is able to live out the perfect practice of the fourth means (true devotion to Mary) concretely done by doing the consecration. It is in this sense that consecration can be said as a “slavery of love” and the “Holy Slavery of Jesus and Mary”.175

b) Renewal of Baptismal Promises

The consecration to Jesus through the hands of Mary according to Montfort is the same as perfectly renewing the vows made at baptism. This is quite clear in some passages of the saint’s works. In the TD he writes: “… a

175It is good to note that Montfort sometimes used the phrase “Holy Slavery of Jesus and Mary”. This phrase may again cause distorted interpretation. We know however that for the saint “slavery of Jesus” is the same as “slavery of Mary”. In TD 77 he writes: “But where is my pen leading me? Why am I wasting my time proving something so obvious? If people are unwilling to call themselves slaves of Mary, what does it matter? Let them call themselves slaves of Jesus Christ, for this is the same as being slaves of Mary, since Jesus is the fruit and glory of Mary.” In certain parts of his works, Montfort is more clear: “It is not enough to give ourselves just once as a slave to Jesus through Mary (…) The chief difficulty is to enter into its spirit, which requires an interior dependence on Mary, and effectively becoming her slave and the slave to Jesus through her.”(SM 43)

108 perfect and complete consecration of oneself… the devotion I teach… is the perfect renewal of baptismal vows promises of holy baptism” (TD 120). He repeats almost the same words in TD 126: “I have said that this devotion could rightly be called a perfect renewal of the vows and promises of holy baptism.” A closer look of Montfort’s explanation whereby he equated consecration with the baptismal renewal leads us to a deeper insight closely related to the expression “slavery of love” we treated a while ago. Baptism for Louis Marie is closely linked to “slavery”. He writes: “Before baptism, we belong to the devil as slaves, but baptism made us in very truth slaves of Jesus” (TD 68). The same thought is expressed in SM 34: “But happy, very happy indeed, will the generous person be, who prompted by love, consecrates himself entirely to Jesus through Mary as their slave, after having shaken off by baptism the tyrannical slavery of the devil.” TD 73 echoes this point. After stressing that “… we must belong to Jesus and serve him… as willing slaves who, moved by generous love, commit… to his service…” then Montfort underlines his understanding that: “Before we were baptized we were slaves of the devil, but baptism made us slaves of Jesus” (TD 73). In this link between the two expressions “slave of love” and “perfect renewal of baptismal promises,” we are led back to the deeper mystical aspect of consecration. P. Gaffney captures this in the lines: “Through Baptism, we become slaves of love, accepting that we are loved by God in Christ Jesus to such a point that we are being transformed into the holiness of God.”176 The Christian becoming a slave of Jesus at baptism is carried out either personally or through his sponsors by solemnly renouncing Satan, his seductions and his works. At the same time, the believer also “has chosen Jesus as his Master and sovereign Lord and undertaken to depend upon him as a slave of love.” (TD 126) The saint makes his readers aware that the same is done when one does the total consecration to Divine Wisdom through Mary:

This is what is done in the devotion I am presenting to you. We renounce the devil, the world, sin and self, as expressed in the act of consecration, and we give ourselves entirely to Jesus through Mary.”

176P. GAFFNEY, op. cit., 212.

109 Indeed, this is formula of consecration he proposed: “I, an unfaithful sinner, renew and ratify today through you [Mary] my baptismal promises. I renounce forever Satan, his empty promises, and his evil designs, and I give myself completely to Jesus Christ, the incarnate Wisdom… (LEW 225)

Montfort calls his proposed consecration perfect renewal of the baptismal vows (cf. TD 120, 126, 162, 238) because at least three things not done at the moment of baptism are explicitly made. First, the act of consecration is more meaningful in the sense that the act is not done by godparents but by the person himself or herself. In the act of consecration the believer pronounces the words with full awareness of the meaning all by himself or herself and not by proxy. “In this devotion we give ourselves personally and freely and we are fully aware of what we are doing.” (TD 126) With Montfortian consecration as a renewal of the baptismal vows, we are made so aware and conscious that in baptism, we entered into the realm of the Holy, we are consecrated, anointed by the Holy Spirit and thus we participate in the essential consecration of Christ. Second at baptism, we do not “give Him [the Lord] the value of all our good actions”. This is done in the act and practice of the total consecration. Lastly, at baptism “we do not give ourselves to Jesus by the hands of Mary, a least not in an explicit manner” (TD 126) as we do in the perfect Consecration.

110

CHAPTER IV

STAGES OF THE MYSTICAL UNION WITH CHRIST-WISDOM ACCORDING TO MONTFORT: A PASTORAL PRESENTATION

St. Louis Marie de Montfort never explicitly says in his writings that his spiritual path is mystical. However we have made an in-depth study of his spiritual experience and noted that he reached such an intimate union with Jesus Christ which in the Church tradition is considered mystical. He himself confessed that he arrived at the spiritual marriage with Christ-Wisdom (L 20). Likewise, we have also seen that his teachings, insights and intuitions written in his literary works have strong mystical tones. We have singled out some basic elements of Montfort’s spiritual experience and we could easily note that they belong to the mystical sphere and are in accordance with the teachings of the Church. In the previous section, we have pointed out that the fourth means, or more specifically his proposed perfect practice of the true devotion by one’s consecration to Jesus through the hands of Mary, is the most crucial point of Montfort’s mystical way. The faithful practice of this perfect consecration leads ultimately to an intimate union with Christ expressed in the possession of and fidelity to the fullness of Christ-Wisdom. One of the greatest puzzles left unsolved in the study of Montfort’s spirituality is a systematic and schematic presentation of his spiritual journey, of his mystical way to union with Christ-Wisdom. The saint never wrote a step-by- step description of his spiritual path. This problem however does not diminish Montfort’s being a great mystic. As we know, most of our Christian mystics have written something about their intimate experiences with God with the primary purpose of conveying and leading the others to the same experience. They (except for some like St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross) usually do not intend to present a step-by-step path of the mystical journey.

111 As regards Montfort’s spiritual path however, attempts have been made in the past177 to individualize some of its steps or phases. All these theories and proposals are very enlightening. As a contribution to these proposals we present our own. We take into great consideration the pastoral relevance in our schematic presentation. We hope that it can speak to our people of today. Like the other suggestions, we do not mean that this is the mystical scheme of Montfort. It is just our personal attempt to present it in a language that people of today might easily understand. Though it is a theory, nonetheless we try to base it on the discussions we have made in the previous sections of this paper. At the beginning of this paper we mentioned that we intend to use “the language of falling in and staying in love” in studying Montfort’s mystical path. For pastoral reasons, we employ again here the dynamics of falling and staying in love in the affective sense of the human relationships. However we keep in mind that this language of lovers is transposed into the ontological level since mysticism is an intimate relationship of love between the Creator and the creature, between God and the human person, between Jesus-Wisdom and the consecrated believer. We propose a schema of seven phases in Montfort’s mystical way to Christ-Wisdom, namely: a) “Love at First Sight”; b) Captivated by Divine Wisdom; c) “Dating with and Courting Wisdom in Mary”; d) Mutual Exchange of the Final Yes; e) Spousal union with Divine Wisdom; f) Fidelity to Divine Wisdom and g) Lover transformed into the Beloved. In its entirety, we grouped these seven phases into three stages of falling and remaining in love. First Stage which we call the “Falling in Love” is composed of phases a and b. Second which is the “Courtship and Engagement Stage” has two phases: c and d. The Third Stage which we call “Spiritual Marriage” is composed of the phases e, f and g. These stages are not to be understood in a linear sense. They form a spiral journey inward into the deepest and the heart of the believer’s union with Divine

177 P. GAFFNEY-S. DE FIORES, “Montfort Spirituality” in JLM, 815-840.

112 Wisdom. We will explain this point further using illustrations towards the end of this chapter.

4.1 First Stage: Falling in Love

The very first systematic study of Montfort’s Love of Eternal Wisdom with a mystical approach has been The Mystical Process of Transformation in Grignion De Montfort’s “Love of Eternal Wisdom” by Pierre Humblet. It has opened up a new way of reading the LEW and a new way of understanding the spirituality of Montfort. The author has singled out two dynamic structures as reflected in the title and design of the work. His in-depth study of these structures made him to underline that: “It is fundamental for the dynamics of the relationship between humans and Eternal Wisdom that the love of humans has to be aroused by the love of Eternal Wisdom: ‘to win the affection of the beloved’ (LEW 65)”.178

4.1.1 “Love at First Sight”

We have called this first phase of the Montfortian mystical path “Love at First Sight”. This is justified by the fact that with even a mere acquaintance or initial knowledge of Divine Wisdom’s captivating beauty, his inexpressible gentleness, and the sublime quality of his love for humanity, we cannot help but be charmed and be fall in love with Him. Christ-Wisdom’s attractiveness, even at first sight, is irresistible. But again, before one is charmed and starts to fall in love with Him, one has to “meet” and to know him. The believer has to “see” him at the affective mystical sense of seeing. The heart level knowledge is a prerequisite. In fact, St. Louis de Montfort at the start of the LEW reminds his readers that: “to love and seek divine Wisdom, we need to know him.”179 He writes: “Can we love someone we do not even know? Can we love deeply someone we only know vaguely? Why is Jesus, the adorable, eternal and incarnate Wisdom loved so

178 P. HUMBLET, op. cit., 22. 179 This is the very title of Chapter One of the LEW.

113 little if not because he is either too little known or not known at all?” (LEW 8). This leads us to note that in the field of any love relationship, knowing and loving are inseparably connected. Falling in love presupposes a heart level knowledge and some degree of acquaintance with the “Object” of love. Indeed, loving connotes the act of knowing for knowing leads to loving. The theme of “knowledge” is thus a very basic in the mystical way of Montfort. For the saint, it is the first thing that we have to do: to know him in order that we may be charmed by His loveliness and hence fall in love with Him. To answer to this fundamental need, this great lover and preacher of Wisdom has dedicated the first fourteen chapters of the LEW describing in a very captivating way the exceptional beauty of Eternal Wisdom. Likewise, he illustrates in a “moving” manner the love with which Incarnate Wisdom has shown humanity in the entire history of salvation. It appears that Montfort’s great aim through these chapters is to impart a very captivating and “touching” knowledge of Divine Wisdom with the hope of awakening the love infused in the heart of the believer. He was so aware from his personal experience that only through the knowledge of the beauty and loveliness, of the unfathomable and self-giving love of Eternal Wisdom for humanity that a responsive love in the believer’s heart can be aroused. So then, the saint invites the reader to contemplate Eternal Wisdom before, during and after Christ’s incarnation (LEW 8-180). There are many ‘touching” and “love-awakening” passages in the entire discourse of Montfort on Eternal Wisdom. We may not be able to mention all of them but at least we will mention some: We will follow the way Montfort presents Eternal and Incarnate Wisdom in his LEW.

a) Charming Excellence of Eternal Wisdom

The saint starts his exposition of Wisdom in chapter two describing Him dwelling in the womb of his Father. This intimate relationship of Wisdom with the Father constitutes His excellence. This excellence of Divine Wisdom is the first motive of the believer’s being charmed by Him. It inspires the person to

114 love, to search and to seek union with Him. To explicitly describe this excellence, Montfort writes:

“Eternal Wisdom is a breath of the power of God, a pure emanation of the glory of the Almighty… He is the reflection of eternal light, the spotless mirror of God’s majesty, the image of his goodness… He is the substantial and eternal idea of divine beauty (…) splendor of dazzling and incomprehensible light of which the apostles caught a glimpse in the Transfiguration, filled them with delight and lifted them to the heights of ecstasy” (LEW 16-17, 19).

After saying all these, Montfort leads the reader to a sense of wonderment saying: “My words fail to give even the faintest idea of his beauty and supreme gentleness, and fall infinitely short of his excellence: for who can ever form an adequate idea of him? Who could ever portray him faithfully? You alone, great God, know who he is and can reveal him to all you wish” (LEW 19). After having presented Wisdom’s origin in God and His excellent beauty, Montfort moves on to the “effects of His activity in souls” (LEW 20). Here he made use of the “love-inducing” descriptions of Wisdom in the Book of Sirach (Sir 24). All these effects will surely enchant and create a certain degree of desire to know him more and to be united with Him.

b) The Marvelous Power of Divine Wisdom

In chapter three, the saint brings the reader to a deep sense of wonderment through the contemplation of the beauty of Creation. He underlines the fact that Creation is the fruit of the marvelous power of Divine Wisdom:

… Eternal Wisdom is the mother and maker of all things (…) This mysterious game of Wisdom is clearly seen in the great variety of all he created. Apart from considering the different species of angels whose number is well-nigh infinite, and the varied brightness of the stars and the different temperaments of men, we are filled with wonderment at the changes we see in the seasons and the weather, at the variety of instincts in animals, at the different species of plants, at the diversified beauty of the flowers and the different tastes of the fruits. (LEW 31-33)

115 The key word used by Montfort here is “wonderment”: “we are filled with wonderment”. This sense of wonder elicits in the person desire and great affective attraction. Furthermore, using Wisdom theology of the Old Testament, St. Louis Marie opens the eyes of the reader to the foremost revelation of Wisdom, in fact, his masterpiece:

If the power and gentleness of eternal Wisdom were so luminously evident in the creation, the beauty and order of the universe, they shone forth far more brilliantly is the creation of man. For man is his supreme masterpiece, the living image of his beauty and his perfection, the greatest vessel of his graces, the wonderful treasury of his wealth and his unique representative on earth. (LEW 35)

c) Wisdom’s Exceptional Goodness and Mercy

After portraying the magnificent presence of Divine Wisdom in his masterpiece, humanity, the saint reminds the reader that this original beauty and excellence of humankind is destroyed by sin. The beauty of humanity is shattered. Montfort then brings to consciousness what Divine Wisdom, out of his boundless love, has done so as to restore humanity’s beauty and excellence. Chapter four of LEW describes Wisdom just before his coming down to earth in his incarnation. The saint dramatizes what happened within the Blessed Trinity by describing how the incarnation was decreed: “I seem to see this lovable Sovereign convoking and assembling the most holy Trinity, a second time, so to speak, for the purpose of rehabilitating man in the state he formerly created him” (LEW 42). Of course, it is theological doctrine but in dramatization. Montfort here simply wants to highlight the immense concern and love of the Trinity, of Divine Wisdom for humanity. This heroic gesture of Eternal Wisdom again charms the believer to desire for Him.

d) Divine Wisdom’s Self-sacrifice for Humanity

In chapter six comes another love-provoking account on “the earnest desire of Divine Wisdom to give himself to men”. Montfort’s words here are so

116 powerful that the reader will end up falling in love with Christ-Wisdom. He writes:

This eternal beauty, ever supremely loving, is so intent on winning man’s friendship that for this purpose he has written a book, in which he describes his own excellence and his desire for man’s friendship. This books reads like a letter written by a lover to win the affections of his loved one, for in it he expresses such ardent desire for the heart of man, such tender longings for man’s friendship, such loving invitations and promises (…) In this pursuit of man, he hastens along the highways, or scales the loftiest mountain peaks, or waits at the gates, or goes into public squares and among the gatherings of people, proclaiming at the top of his voice, “You children of men, it is you I desire and seek; it is you I am claiming. Listen, draw close to me, for I want you to make happy. (LEW 65- 66)

To portray further this Wisdom’s love for humanity so as to arouse love in the hearts of his reader the saint reminds him/her that:

Finally, in order to draw closer to men and give them a more convincing proof of his love, Eternal Wisdom went so far as to become man, even to become a little child, to embrace poverty and to die upon the cross for them (…) Eternal Wisdom, on the other hand, wished to prove his love for man by dying in his place in order to save him, but on the other hand, he could bear the thought of leaving them. So he devised a marvelous way of dying and living at the same time, and of abiding with man until the end of time. So, in order to fully satisfy his love he instituted the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist and went to the extent of changing overturning nature itself. (LEW 70-71)

As he did earlier, Montfort reinforces the sense of awe of the reader by saying:

If only e could realize what Wisdom actually is, i.e. an infinite treasure made for man – and I must confess that what I have said about him really amounts nothing at all – we would be longing for him night and day. We would fly as fast as we could to the ends of the earth, we would cheerfully endure fire and sword, if need be, to merit this infinite treasure. (LEW 73)

117 e) Wisdom’s Captivating Gentleness

The other chapters in the LEW present a discourse on the captivating beauty and inexpressive gentleness of incarnate Wisdom. Montfort portrays Wisdom as gentle in his origin (LEW 118); declared gentle by the Prophets (LEW 119); gentleness in hi name (LEW 120); gentle in his looks (LEW 121); gentle in his words (LEW 122); gentle in his actions (LEW 123-126); continues to be gentle in heaven (LEW 127-132). St. Louis Marie likewise underlines Jesus humility and love for the poor sinners using his gentle looks, gentle words and gentle actions. Obviously, the affective knowledge of all these awakens love in the heart of every baptized Christian.

f) Wisdom’s Indescribable Sorrows Out of Love for Us

At the peak of all these love-provoking descriptions of Eternal Wisdom, Montfort writes: “Among all the motives impelling us to love Jesus Christ, the Wisdom incarnate, the strongest in my opinion, is the sufferings he chose to endure to prove his love for us” (LEW 154). To bring through his point he cites St. Bernard:

‘There is’, says St. Bernard, ‘one motive which excels all others which I feel most keenly and which urges me to love Jesus. It is dear Jesus, the bitter chalice which you drank for our sakes, and the great work of Redemption which makes you so lovable to us. Indeed this supreme blessing and incomparable proof of your love makes us want to return your love. This motive attracts us more agreeably, makes the most demands upon us, moves us more pressingly and influences us more forcibly. (LEW 154)

The circumstances of Wisdom’s passion make us realize more clearly the infinite love of Eternal Wisdom for us. St. Louis Marie singles out four main circumstances, namely: a) the perfection of his person – being infinite he gave infinite value to all the sufferings of his passion (LEW 155); b) the condition of the people for whom he suffered – Jesus Christ proved how well he loved us because though we were sinners – and consequently his enemies – he died for us (LEW 156); c) the amount, the grievousness and the duration of his sufferings –

118 he suffered in honor and reputation, in his wisdom, in his disciples, from all kinds of people, and in every member of his body (LEW 157-161). To emphasize his point, the saint says: “… our good Jesus suffered more than all the martyrs both those if the past ages and those of the future up to the end of the world” (LEW 163).

g) Wisdom’s Utmost Expression of Love in the Cross

The theme of the Cross is the culminating discourse of the saint: “the Cross … greatest secret of the King – the greatest mystery of Eternal Wisdom” (LEW 167).

The Cross is precious (…) Because when it is well carried it is the source, the food and the proof of love. The Cross enkindles the fire of divine love in the heart by detaching it from creatures. It keeps this love alive and intensifies it; as wood is the food of flames, so the Cross is the food of love. And it is the soundest proof that we love God. The Cross was the proof God gave of his love for us; and it is also the proof which God requires to show our love for him. (LEW 176)

It is appears again here that Montfort wants to touch the heart of the reader it was through Wisdom’s passion and death on the Cross that Incarnate Wisdom manifested the utmost expression of His love. Hence, this knowledge that touches the heart paves way to the awakening of one’s love for Divine Wisdom. P. Humblet comments:

The cross is in the first place a sign of God’s love and nearness, a love and nearness which go so far that in the person of his Son God gave himself for us. This sense that we are loved at the deepest level even before we are capable of, or have arrived at, any responsive love or service, may persuade us that we are accepted as we are; that as such - as we are – loved and called. It is precisely that fact which can prompt our responsive love and furnish the strength to cope with the suffering that is inseparable from the course of our life and vocation. 180

180P. HUMBLET, op. cit., 37.

119 As a summary, the affective knowledge of who Eternal Wisdom -- his charming excellence, his captivating beauty and gentleness, his utmost expression of love for humanity through the his passion and his Cross – all these, if contemplated at the level of the heart will surely arouse a responsive love in the reader towards Christ-Wisdom. What Montfort meant when speaking of knowledge therefore is not only intellectual knowledge but an affective one. It is a knowledge which is not only at the level of the head but at the level of the heart. We know from experience that real love is aroused by knowing oneself loved and by the experience of being charmed, captivated and touched by such love. Being touched by Eternal Wisdom’s unfathomable love expressed in his suffering and death can possibly serve as a means through which genuine and lasting responsive love comes about. Our saint pleads: “With this knowledge of Eternal Wisdom, shall we not love him who has loved us and still loves us more than his own life; and whose beauty and meekness surpass all that is loveliest and most attractive in heaven and on earth?” (LEW 131) There are many ways to know Eternal Wisdom. Spiritual readings and biblical studies are some. On his part, Montfort proposes the meditation and contemplation of the mysteries of the Holy Rosary as a special means to an affective knowledge of Christ-Wisdom that charms and captivates one’s loving desire:

To encourage you still more in this devotion practiced by so many holy people, I should like to add that the Rosary recited with meditation of the mysteries brings about the following marvelous results: it gradually brings us a perfect knowledge of Jesus Christ; (…) The knowledge of Jesus Christ is the science of Christians and the science of salvation: (…) Blessed is the Rosary which gives us the science and knowledge of our Blessed Lord through our meditations on his life, death, passion and glory (…) But happier still are the faithful who carefully meditate on the life, virtues, sufferings and glory of our Savior, because by this means they can get perfect knowledge of him…” (SR 81-82)

120 It is important to note that for Montfort, the mysteries of the Rosary must be meditated upon181 so that we may gain the knowledge of Christ-Wisdom: “… we must not only say the Rosary with our lips in honor of Jesus and Mary, but also meditate upon the sacred mysteries while we are saying it” (SR 67). So he exhorts saying: “Let us meditate, then, on the life and sufferings of our Savior by means of the Holy Rosary” (SR 70). The Rosary has also to be contemplated: “Before beginning a decade, pause for a moment or two, depending on how mush time you have, and contemplate the mystery that you are about to honor in that decade” (SR 126, see also 141). Montfort inspires his reader to practice this devotion of the Rosary saying:

“ The meditation on the mysteries and prayers of the Rosary is the easiest of all prayers, because the diversity of the virtues of our Lord and the different situations of his life which we study, refresh and mortify our mind in wonderful way and help us to avoid distractions (…) We need to learn this easy form of meditation before progressing to the highest state of contemplation (…) that is the way we arrive at a really intimate union with God, since without that union, contemplation is nothing but an illusion which can lead souls astray” (SR 76).

4.1.2 Captivated by Divine Wisdom

The loving meditation and contemplation of the charming excellence, the beauty and gentleness, the excessive love of Divine Wisdom, the believer cannot resist from being totally captivated by Him. St. Louis Marie expresses this experience saying: “Now I see and understand that is knowledge is so excellent, so captivating, so profitable, so admirable that I no longer take any interest in other branches of knowledge that I used to like so much. Everything else is so meaningless, so absurd and a foolish waste of time” (LEW 12). These words of Montfort clearly reflect how taken he is by Eternal Wisdom. He is so touched and struck that he cannot do anything else but to ardently desire, seek and pray that he may obtain and possess him.

181 Cf. SR 9, 55, 64, 66-68, 70, 74, 80, 82, 141.

121 In this second spiral phase of the mystical way of Montfort, we can note the very active manifestation of the first three means the saint has given in acquiring Eternal Wisdom, namely ardent desire, continuous prayer and universal mortification. Though we have treated these means earlier we deem it necessary to deepen certain important aspects related to this current phase. We can probably see ardent desire and continuous prayer as consequences of being captivated and touched by Eternal Wisdom’s love. Ardent desire is a result of the captivating knowledge of Eternal Wisdom and the work of the Holy Spirit: “The Holy Spirit has revealed to us the grandeur and the beauty of Wisdom and the desire for God to bestow this gift upon us, and our own need of him. Here we find motives strong enough to make us want him and pray God for him with unbounded faith and eagerness” (LEW 186). Through this awakening of the burning desire for Divine Wisdom, the believer is empowered to pray unceasingly. In this continuous prayer, the Rosary is singled out by the saint:

To vocal prayer we must add mental prayer, which enlightens the mind, inflames the heart and disposes the soul to listen to the voice of Wisdom, to savor his delights and possess his treasures. For myself, I know of no better way… than to unite vocal and mental prayer by saying the holy Rosary and meditating on its fifteen mysteries. (LEW 193)

The other side of being captivated by Eternal Wisdom would be the dynamic of universal mortification. It is best expressed in the form of contempt of the world. Such form of universal mortification is a consequence of being so in-love with Eternal Wisdom. We recall that in chapter seven of LEW, Montfort makes the reader aware that other kinds of wisdom exist in the world, which are opposed to Eternal Wisdom. These false wisdoms as he called them must be treated with great contempt: “Mary’s faithful servants must despise this corrupted world. They should hate and shun its allurements, and follow the exercises of the contempt of the world which we have given in the first part of this treatise” (TD 256). It is interesting to note that these exercises of the

122 contempt of the world are the ones mentioned in the universal mortification as the third means of acquiring Eternal Wisdom (LEW 194-200). What are these false wisdoms of the world that the believer are inspired to move away from? Let’s go directly to the list that the saint has provided for us. First, there is the wisdom of the world which “… consists in exact conformity to the maxims and fashions of the world; a continual inclination towards greatness and esteem; and a subtle and endless pursuit of pleasure and self-interest, not in an uncouth and blatant way by scandalous sin, but in an astute, discreet and deceitful way” (LEW 75). Aside from worldly wisdom, there are the wisdom of the flesh and diabolical wisdom.

The wisdom of the flesh is the love for pleasure. This is the wisdom shown by the worldly-wise who seek only the satisfaction of the senses. They want to have good time. They shun anything that might prove unpleasant or mortifying for the body, such as fasting and other austerities (…) Diabolical Wisdom is the love and esteem for honors. This is the wisdom of the worldly-wise who, secretly, of course, long for distinctions, honors, dignities and high offices. They strive to be seen, esteemed, praised and applauded by men. In their studies, their work, their undertakings, their words and actions, all they want is the esteem and praise of men, to be reputed as devout of learned people, as great leaders, eminent lawyers, men of great and distinguished merit or deserving of high consideration. They cannot bear insult or blame and so they hide their shortcomings and parade their better qualities. (LEW 81-82)

The practice of this inspired universal mortification is made sweet and easy because it is a founded on the knowledge and experience of being touched and captivated by the love of Eternal Wisdom. Any banal experience of persons who are deeply in love with each other explains this point. When a person is genuinely in-love, he or she can make all sorts of sacrifices all solely because of love – of the tremendous love he/she has for the other. We know that lovers endure suffering after suffering for the sake of the one they love. For them wakeful nights are pleasant, fatigue is delightful, labor is restful once they are assured that the one they love is pleased and grateful. The person in-love would never dare do a thing contrary to the values, to the likes, the person of the

123 beloved. He or she is very willing to set aside anything which is harmful to their relationship. It is in this analogical sense, though very inadequate, that universal mortification can be taken as the other side of the consequences when the believer is captivated by Eternal Wisdom’s love.

4.2 Second Stage: Courtship and Engagement

As the beginning of love grows and the desire for union with Divine Wisdom deepens throughout the phases mentioned earlier, the spiritual journey enters into what we can call the stage of courtship and engagement. This generally starts when the believer is gifted by the Holy Spirit with the knowledge of the secret of Mary in spiritual life. We point out two phases here, namely: “dating with and courting Wisdom in Mary” and “the mutual exchange of the final yes” between Christ-Wisdom and the believer. The first phase in this second stage is characterized by the practice of the true devotion and the second phase by the living out of the consecration taught by Montfort.

4.2.1 “Dating with and Courting Wisdom in Mary”

In God’s time, a divine secret is revealed by the Holy Spirit to the person who has ardently been desiring union with Christ-Wisdom, through continuous prayer and the practice of universal mortification. This revelation of the secret is the heart of this third phase without which the believer would not be able to enter. The believer receives this heavenly gift only after journeying through the “stage of falling in love” wherein the practice of prayer has become continuous and the practice of mortification has become universal in the form of contempt of the world. St. Louis Marie has become a channel of the revelation of this secret. Montfort says: “Here is a secret, chosen soul, which the Most High taught me and which I have not found in any book, ancient or modern. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, I am confiding it to you, with these conditions: 1) That you share it only with people who deserve to know it because they are prayerful, give alms to the poor, do penance, suffer persecution, are unworldly, and work seriously for the salvation of souls… (etc.)” (SM 1).

124 But what is this secret of Mary? This secret that the Holy Spirit reveals is no other than the secret of the true knowledge of Mary:

“Happy, indeed sublimely happy, is the person to whom the Holy Spirit reveals this secret, thus imparting him true knowledge of her. Happy the person to whom the Holy Spirit opens this enclosed garden for him to enter, and to whom the Holy Spirit gives access to this sealed fountain where he can draw water and drink deep draughts of the living waters of grace. That person will find only God and no creature in the most lovable Virgin Mary… But there is no place where God can be more present to his creature and more sympathetic to human weakness than in Mary” (SM 20).

In highlighting these two mystical images of Mary -- the enclosed garden and sealed fountain whom the Holy Spirit has the power to open and give access – Montfort is showing us that we can best find Eternal Wisdom in the mystical dwelling place called Mary. Thus it is in Mary that the believer has “to meet Him for a date” and it is also in Mary that he/she has “to court Incarnate Wisdom”. All these encounters with Christ-Wisdom in Mary is concretely done through the practice of a tender and genuine devotion to her. We would probably ask, why is it in the mystical dwelling place called Mary that we have to meet Christ-Wisdom? Montfort provides us with very convincing answers. He says: “Mary alone found grace with God for herself and for every individual person. (SM 7). God gave to Mary every grace when He gave His Son to her (SM 9). The Holy Spirit produced his greatest work, the incarnate Word, in her, by her and through her and continues to do so everyday in the elect (SM 13). Mary is the living mold of God: “In her alone the God-man was formed in his human nature without losing any feature of the Godhead. In her alone, by the grace of Jesus Christ, man is made god-like as far as nature is capable of it. (SM 16). “Mary is the great mold of God, fashioned by the Holy Spirit to give human nature to a Man who is God by the hypostatic union, and to fashion through grace men who are like to God” (SM 17). “Mary is God’s garden of Paradise, his own unspeakable world, into which his Son entered to do wonderful things, to tend it and to take his delight in it. He created a world for

125 the wayfarer, that is the one we are living in. He created a second world – Paradise—for the Blessed. He created a third for himself which he named Mary. She is a world unknown to most mortals here on earth. St. Louis Marie strongly teaches that in order to comprehend the secret of Mary, the believer has to have a genuine devotion to her. “The difficulty, then, is how to arrive at the true knowledge of the most holy Virgin and so find grace in abundance through her (…) That means a complete dependence on Mary his Mother, which is true devotion to her” (SM 23). Montfort underlines that genuine and loving devotion to Mary means a total dependence to her. He writes that genuine devotion to Mary consists in “… a full appreciation of the privileges and dignity of our Lady; in expressing our gratitude for her goodness to us; in zealously promoting devotion to her; in constantly appealing for her help; in being completely dependent on her; and in placing firm reliance and loving confidence in her motherly goodness” (LEW 215). By now, we may have understood why our saint says that the tender and genuine devotion to Mary is “the greatest means of all, and the most wonderful of all secrets for obtaining and preserving divine Wisdom” (LEW 203). “Dating with and Courting Wisdom in Mary” however has to be done in the right way. In other words, our devotion to the Blessed Virgin has to be true. Montfort was so aware of the existence of false devotions to Mary and so he clarifies these things for our aid. In order that we could practice an authentic devotion to Mary, Montfort makes us aware of the reality of false devotions: “We must beware of those false devotions which the devil makes use of to deceive and ruin many souls” (LEW 216). And the saint gives us a very good advice: “It is therefore very important, first, to recognize false devotions to our Blessed Lady so as to avoid them, and to recognize true devotion in order to practice it” (TD 91). He describes seven false devotions to Mary as follows: + Critical (TD 93). This is the devotion of those proud scholars, people of independent and self-satisfied minds who criticize nearly all those forms of

126 devotion to her which simple and pious people use to honor their good Mother just because such practices do not appeal to them. Such people cannot bear to see simple and humble people on their knees before an altar or statue of Our Lady… accusing them of idolatry. + Scrupulous ( TD 94). This devotion is the practice of those who think and are fearsome that they are belittling Jesus by honoring Mary. These people with a scrupulous devotion cannot bear to see people giving to Our Lady the praises due to her. It annoys them to see more people kneeling before Mary’s altar than before the Blessed Sacrament. They do not want others to speak too often of her or to pray so often to her. + Superficial (TD 96). As the word connotes, this devotion is external. Superficial devotees are people whose entire devotion to Mary consists in exterior practices. There is no interior spirit in this kind of devotion. These false devotees say many with great haste and attend Masses distractedly. They join confraternities without reforming their lives or restraining their passions or imitating Mary’s virtues. + Presumptuous (TD 97). Montfort associates this kind of false devotion to sinners who give full reign to their passions or their love of the world, and who, under the fair name of Christian and servant of our Lady, conceal pride, avarice, lust, drunkenness, anger, swearing, slandering, injustice and other vices. They sleep peacefully in their wicked habits, without making any great effort to correct them, believing that their devotion to our Lord gives them this sort of liberty. They convince themselves that God will forgive them, that they will not die without confession, that they will not be lost for all eternity. + Inconstant (TD 101). The word itself tells us that this kind of devotion is wavering. Louis Marie describes the people with such false devotion as those who are sometimes fervent and sometimes lukewarm. They are devotees who are good at the start and then later warmth disappears. They make all sorts of devotions, but they are only good at the start. They are as changeable as the moon.

127 + Hypocritical (TD 102). This is the devotion of great pretenders. These false devotees hide their sins and evil habits under the mantle of the Blessed Virgin so as to appear to their fellowmen different from what they are. + Self-interested (TD 103). In this kind of false devotion, the devotees only turn to Mary for selfish motives. They usually turn to her so as to win a court-case, to escape from danger, to be cured of some ailment or have some similar need satisfied. They remember Mary only in times of need. To renew his call of getting away from false devotions to Mary, Montfort writes:

We must, then, carefully avoid joining the critical devotees, who believe nothing and find fault with everything; the scrupulous ones who, out of respect for our Lord, are afraid of having too much devotion to his Mother; the exterior devotees whose devotion consists entirely in outward practices; the presumptuous devotion who under cover of a fictitious devotion to our Lady wallow in their sins; the inconstant devotees who, being unstable, change their devotional practices or abandon them altogether at the slightest temptation; the hypocritical ones who join confraternities and wear emblems of our Lady only to be thought of as good people; finally, the self-interested devotees who pray to our Lord only to be rid of bodily ills or to obtain material benefits (TD 104).

a) The Practice of True Devotion

To complete his much needed explanation of the practice of the true devotion, Montfort writes: “After having explained and condemned false devotions to the Blessed Virgin, we shall now briefly describe what true devotion is. It is interior, trustful, holy, constant and disinterested.” (TD 105) + interior (TD 106). True devotion according to the saint must be coming from within our mind and our heart and follows from the esteem, the high regard and the love we bear for her. + trustful (TD 107). Genuine devotion fills us with trust and confidence in Mary, as a child has for a loving mother. A trustful devotion prompts us who are baptized to approach her in any need, bodily or spiritually, with simplicity and affection. This loving confidence moves us to pray that she: enlighten us in

128 times of doubt; put us back on the right path when we go astray, protect us when we are tempted, strengthen us when we are weakening, lifts us up when we fall into sin, encourage us when we are losing heart, help us be rid of our scruples, console us in the trials, crosses and disappointments of life. In other words, it is a devotion filled with tender trust in Mary, the most loving Mother (cf. TD 183- 212). + holy (TD 108). Authentic devotion must lead us to avoid sin and inspires us to imitate the virtues of Mary which principally are: deep humility, lively faith, blind obedience, unceasing prayer, constant self-denial, surpassing purity, ardent love, heroic patience, angelic kindness, and heavenly wisdom. In other words, an authentic devotion to Mary leads the person to become holy. + constant (TD 109). True devotion for Montfort is one that strengthens us in our desire to do good and be steadfast. True devotion perseveres through any trial thus preventing us from giving up our devotional practices so easily. If ever one loses all taste and feeling for devotion, he/she is not at all upset because a good and faithful servant of Mary is guided in his life of faith, in Jesus and Mary and not by feelings. It is a devotion for all seasons and not only during trying ones. + disinterested (TD 110). Lastly, Louis Marie tells us that genuine devotion to Mary inspires us to seek God alone in his Blessed Mother and not to seek ourselves. We love her not so much because she is good to us or because we expect something from her but simply because she is lovable. We love and serve her just as faithfully in weariness and dryness of soul as in sweet and sensible fervor. In short, it is true devotion when it is only motivated by love and love alone. Knowledge and constant awareness of these characteristics surely helps us in the way we practice our devotions to Mary so that they be loving and authentic. With the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and with the light of these traits of practice of the true devotion, we can “lovingly date with and court Christ- Wisdom” in this mystical and divine dwelling place of Mary.

129

4.2.2 Engagement: “Mutual Exchange of the Final Yes”

For St. Louis Marie de Montfort, there is quite a difference between the practice of the true devotion to Mary which we have just explained a while ago and the perfect practice of true devotion. The saint explains that:

There are indeed several true devotions to our Lady…. The first consists in fulfilling the duties of Christian state, avoiding mortal sin, performing our actions for God more through love than through fear, praying to our Lady occasionally and honoring her as the Mother of God, but without our devotion to her being exceptional. The second consists in entertaining for our Lady deeper feelings of esteem and love, of confidence and veneration (…) This devotion, in keeping us from sin, is good, holy and praiseworthy, but it is not perfect as the third, nor as effective in detaching us from creatures, or in practicing that self-denial necessary for the union with Jesus Christ. The third devotion to our Lady is one which is unknown to many and practiced by very few. This is the one I am about to present to you: the Perfect Practice of Devotion to Mary. (SM 24-27)

Thus he exhorts us saying “… among so many different forms of true devotion to our Blessed Lady we should choose the one most perfect and the most pleasing to her, the one that gives greater glory to God and is most sanctifying for us” (TD 91). He continuous to teach us saying:

Having read nearly every book on devotion to the Blessed Virgin and talked to the most saintly and learned people of the day, I can now state with conviction that I have never known or heard of any devotion to our Lady which is comparable to the one I am going to speak of. No other devotion calls for more sacrifices for God, none empties us more completely of self and self-love, none keeps us more firmly in the grace of God and the grace of God in us. No other devotion unites us more perfectly and more easily to Jesus. Finally, no devotion gives more glory to God, is more sanctifying for ourselves and more helpful to our neighbor. (TD 118)

As we mentioned above, this perfect practice of true devotion to Mary is no other than the perfect or total consecration to Jesus, eternal and incarnate Wisdom through the hands of Mary. The difference between the practice of true

130 devotion and the perfect practice of true devotion can be translated in terms of the difference between the phase of “dating with and courting Christ-Wisdom” and the engagement: “the mutual exchange of the final yes”. The degree of relationship differs however they are done in the same divine milieu of Mary. We have already dealt with the immediate sources and the nature of this perfect consecration proposed by Montfort. What we intend to consider now are the essential practices of such perfect consecration. Our aim is that in deepening the insights of the saint, we reach into the core and the most essential of the practice of the consecration.

a) Living out of Perfect Consecration

Montfort underlines the fact that exterior and interior practices are essential in the living out of this consecration. He made it very clear that the interior ones form the core of the entire perfect practice. Nevertheless, he does not discount the great value of external practices: “Although this devotion [perfect consecration] is essentially an interior one, this does not prevent it from having exterior practices which should not be neglected. ‘These must be done but those not omitted.’ If properly performed, exterior acts help foster interior ones” (TD 226). Just as our main concern is on interior practices, for they form the core of the Montfortian Consecration, in this paper we do not intend to describe in detail the exterior practices as we will do with the interior practices. Yet, we intend to innumerate them and say a word about each. Montfort gives seven exterior practices which help foster the interior ones and therefore should not be omitted. They remind the person and bring him to constant awareness of the interior practices.

131 + Preparation and Act of Consecration (TD 227-233).182 Montfort sets some guidelines on how to prepare oneself into this holy act. He proposes a number of weeks of Spiritual exercises which are divided into: “twelve days of emptying ourselves of the spirit of the world.” (TD 227); one week to acquire knowledge of self (TD 228); one week to acquire an understanding of Mary (TD 229); and one week … to understand Jesus better (TD 230).

+ The Little Crown of the Virgin Mary (TD 234-235). It is a prayer composed of three Our Fathers and Twelve Hail Marys in honor of the twelve glorious privileges of Mary.

+ The Wearing of Little Chains (TD 236-242) is an external token of the slavery of love. Montfort however stresses that this is not essential for those have willingly recognized their loving slavery to Jesus in Mary.

+ A Special Devotion to the Mystery of the Incarnation (TD 243). Montfort encourages the people to have a special devotion to the mystery of the Incarnation which is the foundation of his spirituality.

+ Saying the and the Holy Rosary (TD 249-254). For the saint, the Hail Mary and the Holy Rosary are prayers that really help a person towards the contemplative dimension of the Consecration.

+ Praying of the (TD 255).According to St. Louis Marie, the Magnificat is Jesus prayer spoken through the lips of Mary that we too need to recite.

+ Contempt of the World (TD 256). To despise the world is basic in living out the Consecration.

Montfort makes it clear that consecration “is essentially an interior one” (TD 226) and that “it consists in a state of the soul” (TD119). These interior practices are

182 Cf. M. BELOTTI-C. SIGOUIN, Totus Tuus: A Marian Way to Christ-Wisdom,, Balaka 2001. See also M. BELOTTI, The Quest for Wisdom, Balaka 2000; J.M. DAYET, Les Exercises Preparatoires à la Consécration de Saint Louis-Marie de Montfort. Ponchateau 1957.

132 “the pulsing heart of the total Consecration. Without them, it is nothing more than a cadaver”183 He presents basically four interior practices necessary for what we call a Marian mystical experience namely: Through Mary, With Mary, In Mary, and For Mary (TWIF). They are not independent practices as they form one interior attitude with four aspects. + Through Mary (TD 258-259). In the living out of the consecration, Montfort underlines that: “We must do everything through Mary, that is, we must obey her ways and be led in all things by her Spirit, which is the Holy Spirit of God” (TD 258). Mary’s Spirit as identified with the Holy Spirit brings to mind the episodes of the Annunciation and of the Pentecost. The Holy Spirit came upon Mary, overshadowed Mary (Luke 1: 35) and at Pentecost Mary was one of those whom the Spirit descended (Acts1:12-14; 2:1-4). The Blessed Virgin was so docile to the Spirit. She was an attraction of the Third Person of the Trinity. Those led by the Spirit of Mary are children of Mary and are children of God (TD 29-30). However, Montfort reminds us that among the many servants of Mary, only those who are truly and faithfully devoted to her are led by her Spirit (TD 217). What then are the traits of the Spirit of Mary? Montfort describes Mary’s faith as gentle yet strong, zealous yet prudent, humble yet courageous, pure yet fruitful. We take the Sacred Scriptures to illuminate these characteristics in us. First, the Spirit of Mary is gentle yet strong. At Cana (Jn 2:1-11), Mary was so gentle in her request for “wine” from her Son, yet her spirit was so strong and firm that her request would be granted. In the Magnificat, (Lk 1:46-55), in the Finding of Jesus in the Temple (Lk 2:41-52), in the Flight to Egypt (Mt 2:13- 18) we see Mary’s spirit as both of gentleness and firmness. Second, the Spirit of Mary is zealous yet prudent. Mary’s inquiry to the angel at the Annunciation “How can this be since I do not know man?” manifests how prudent she was. Afterwards she shows her zeal “Let it be done

183P. GAFFNEY, “Consecration”, 226.

133 to me as you have said” (Lk 1:34, 38). We can also see sparks of this zealous yet prudent character of Mary’s faith in the Visitation (Lk 1:39ff), at Jesus Birth (Lk 2:1-20), at the Presentation (Lk. 2:22ff), At the Finding of Jesus in the Temple (Lk. 2:41-52), also at Cana (Jn. 2:2-11) and the Flight to Egypt (Mt 2:13-18). Third, Mary’s Sprit is humble yet courageous. At the Foot of the Cross (Jn 19:25-27) one cannot but admire the courage of the humble Mary to see her beloved Son die in such a horrible death. At the Annunciation, Mary said “I am the humble servant of the Lord… (Lk 1:38). Moreover she showed the great courage in facing the possible consequences of her virginal conception. In the Magnificat (Lk 1:46-55) Mary’s courageous spirit resounds all throughout the canticle (Lk. 1:51-53) yet she remains in her humble and lowly spirit: “For He has looked with favor on his lowly servant” (Lk.1:48) Lastly, Mary’s Spirit is pure yet fruitful. Mary though a virgin gave birth to a son, to the Son of God ( Cf. Annunciation in Lk 1:26-38 and Birth of Jesus : in Lk 2:6ff). In other Lucan texts like Lk 8:19-21, and Lk 11:27-28, the evangelist portrays this pure and yet fruitful spirit of Mary. Montfort explains some steps one needs to do in order to receive the gift of the Spirit of Mary (TD 259). The saint teaches that only those who are ready can receive this great gift. By readiness he means that we are prompt to: • Renounce our own spirit, own views and own will before doing anything, like praying, carrying out of our daily activities both religious and domestic. This step requires active collaboration on our part. Our active collaboration into the discipline is a must. • Give ourselves up to the Spirit of Mary so as to be moved and directed as she wishes. Montfort compares this attitude to becoming like a tool in the hands of a craftsman. We are the ‘instruments” and Mary (with the Spirit) is the “craftswoman.” In this second step we note that we become less active and more passive. We leave and place ourselves into the hands of Mary in an attitude of self-surrender. Using various analogies, I attempted to describe this step in a poem:

134 I Feel Like…

…. a little stone dropped into the ocean! …. a drop of water lost into the deep blue sea! …. a second carried away by eternity! …. a feather constantly blown by the whispering wind, so free and so light! …. a guitar that Mary plays and strums melodious symphonies of love! …. a piece of musical book on which Mary writes the Spirit-composed hymns that she sings for Jesus! …. a book of psalms that the Spirit composes and which Mary chants to her dear Son! …. at last I am nothing but Mary for God alone!

• From time to time during an action and after it, renew the same act of offering and union. This third aspect completes the act of self-emptying and surrender to the Spirit of Mary through offering and union. By highlighting the “during” and “after” of the act, St. Louis Marie seems to say that everything we do must be done in the Spirit of Mary before, during and after the act. As these steps are being practiced with perseverance, sooner or later we realize that “emptying” and “offering” in union with the Spirit of Mary becomes as if “automatic”. When this happens, it will be the time of which Montfort describes “the soul breathing Mary” as the body breathes air (TD 217).

+ With Mary (TD 260). St. Louis Marie says that in living out the perfect consecration:

We must do everything with Mary. We must look upon Mary in all our actions, taking her as the perfect model of every virtue and perfection, fashioned by the Holy Spirit for us to imitate, as far as our limited capacity allows. In every action then we should consider how Mary would perform it if she were in our place. (TD 260)

135 We are to interpret this not in the material sense ( e.g. whether Mary would use an electric stove or gas stove in cooking) but in the spiritual sense. This means that we should consider the spiritual attitude and disposition of Mary for and in doing a certain task. Montfort seems to say that when we pray, we are to do it with the faith and humility of Mary. In other words, in everything we do we need to imitate Mary’s virtues184. Montfort highlights ten virtues of her in TD 108. They are: 1) deep humility, 2) lively faith, 3) blind obedience, 4) unceasing prayer, 5) constant self-denial, 6) surpassing purity, 7) ardent love, 8) heroic patience, 9) angelic kindness and 10) heavenly wisdom. Let us consider Mary’s lively faith as an example since we cannot discuss all of these virtues here. The Lukan infancy narratives show us the faith of Mary capable of saying “be it done to me according to your word” (Lk 1: 38). Her faith is so alive, she is capable of believing the fulfillment of the Lord’s promise (Lk 1:45). In the Gospel of John, it is the lively faith of Mary that made her strong to stand at the Foot of the Cross ( Jn 19:25-27). It was her lively faith that paved way to the first miracle of Jesus ( Jn 2:1-11). Montfort describes Mary’s faith as invincible and fruitful (TD 34), lively (TD 198), stronger than the faith of patriarchs, prophets, apostles and saints, firm, active, proving and courageous faith (TD 214). I would like to add a poem on the faith of Mary inspired by the writings of Montfort I composed during my thirty-day Montfortian retreat:

The Faith of Mary

The Faith of Mary is a pass-key That opens for us the heart of the Trinity. The Faith of Mary is an alley That leads us to Wisdom’s narrow Way. The Faith of Mary is a sun That warms up the love of every man and woman.

184 Cf. S. DE FIORES, “Il tipo antropologico-trinitario proposto da Montfort” in Spiritualità trinitaria in comunione con Maria secondo Montfort, CORTINOVIS, B.- DE FIORES S.-VIDAU E. (ed.), Roma 2002, 99.

136 The Faith of Mary is honey That sweetens the cross that we daily carry. The Faith of Mary is a river That floods graces direct from the Giver. The Faith of Mary is a lamp That sheds light into the secret ways to the divine Camp. The Faith of Mary is a star That guides us during dark moments, near and far. The Faith of Mary is a shield That protects us from illusions in the worldly field. The Faith of Mary is a sword That cuts and penetrates into the mysteries of the Incarnate Word. The Faith of Mary is a banquet That provides us the sweetest and tastiest fruit of the divine Market. The Faith of Mary makes a miracle That makes the impossible very much possible. The Faith of Mary is a rock That keeps us steadfast amidst a stormy shock. The Faith of Mary is a secret fund That sustains us in Divine Wisdom now and beyond. The Faith of Mary is a courageous warrior That helps us carry out the mission started by our Savior. The Faith of Mary is a secure anchor That keeps our fidelity firmly at our heart’s core. And, the Faith of Mary is a gift That is shared to those whom the Spirit has made a lift!

LET US PRAY AND BEG FOR THIS GREAT GIFT!

+ In Mary (TD 261-264) Gaffney describes this third practice of the Montfortian consecration as the “culmination of the interior practices, the fruit of fidelity and to living by [through] and with Mary. It is the innermost Montfort castle.”185 We take note of the difficulty in explaining this highly mystical aspect of the Consecration as the saint himself says, “Only the Holy Spirit can teach us the truth” (TD 261) hidden in this interior practice! The saint however, as taught by the Spirit, illuminates us to the meaning of “doing things in Mary” TD 217 provides us with a glimpse of what it is all about:

185P. GAFFNEY, “Consecration”, 229.

137 The soul of Mary will be communicated to you … Her spirit will take place of yours… When will souls breathe Mary as body breathes air? … when will that happy time come, that age of Mary, when many souls…. Becoming living copies of her, loving and glorifying Jesus?

In other words, it is the communication of the Spirit of Mary in the faithful. In the language of St. Paul we could compare this to: “It is no longer I that lives but Christ lives in me” (Gal 2:20). We note here of a mutual indwelling of “Christ living in me” and “I live in Christ”. Transposing this to our expression “in Mary,” then we can say “Mary lives in me and I live in Mary!” Montfort does not hesitate to say that in this practice the person becomes “Mary” --- “Mary’s life in the soul, so that it is no longer the soul that lives but Mary who lives in it… Mary’s soul becomes identified with the soul of her servant. (SM 55) To enter or to dwell in Mary mystically means to enter into the Spirit of Mary that we become one moral person with Mary. “Moral” means ways of doing and thinking, having the attitudes and dispositions of Mary. The key for this is to lose ourselves in Mary through the habit of recollection and contemplation. In SM 47, Montfort explains: We must always act in Mary, that is to say, we must gradually acquire the habit of recollecting ourselves interiorly and so form within us an idea or a spiritual image of Mary. She must become, as it were, an Oratory of for the soul where we offer up our prayers to God… a tower of David… where we can seek safety from all enemies… a burning lamp lighting up the inmost soul and inflaming us with love for God… a sacred place of repose where we contemplate God in her company… When we pray, we will pray in Mary. When we receive Jesus in Holy Communion we will place him in Mary… If we do anything at all, it will be in Mary, and in this way Mary will help us to forget self everywhere and in all things.

The aim of living or dwelling in Mary is double.186 First, it makes the consecrated person safeguarded and defended from the dangers in spiritual life.

186S. DE FIORES, Sulla Lunghezza d’onda di Maria. 31 attualizzazioni per vivere con Maria la consacrazione a Cristo, Roma 1983, 126.

138 Mary is immaculate and always open to God. Second, the person living in Mary dwells in the maternal womb of Mary that recreates one into grace. After having conceived the Son of God through the power of the Spirit, her mission is to continue to generate Jesus in Christians… so that Christ can be born and grow in the life of the faithful. To use the language of lovers, it is in this mystical milieu called Mary that the believer and Christ-Wisdom make their mutual final yeses. In TD 261-264, Montfort makes use of marvelous symbols to help us understand that living our lives in Mary means dwelling in the: …new earthly paradise of untold riches, beauties, rarities and delights… the most holy place… real Tree of Life… perfumed flowerbeds of virtue… meadows verdant with hope… impregnable towers of fortitude… blazing furnace of love… river of humility… sanctuary of divinity… Resting-place of the Trinity… throne of God… city of God… altar of God… world of God… virgin and immaculate soil… holy place of the Spirit… closed garden… sealed fountain… house of divine secrets…

This series of symbols aims to introduce us at the understanding of the mystery of grace who is Mary and flashes into our minds how beautiful and fascinating it is to live in her. These symbols are not exaggerations, rather they are reliable truths that Montfort himself experienced in his life.187 In the Montfortian mystical way, living a life in Mary means living a life of the Spirit. The communication of the Spirit of Mary in the soul as highlighted earlier exactly means a life full of the Holy Spirit. Mary is the new creation, the prototype of those who walk in the Spirit.188 Montfort explains “When the Holy Spirit, her Spouse, finds Mary in a soul he hastens there and enters fully into it” (TD36). “When Mary is present… the person is led by the Spirit of God.” (TD 166) To live in Mary in the practical sense of our daily life, the saint suggests that we consider the following five important attitudes especially done during moments of contemplation (cf. TD 264):

187Ibid., 125. 188Ibid.

139 - To be delighted to REMAIN in Mary; - To REST there (in Mary) peacefully; - To RELY on Her confidently; - To HIDE ourselves there with safety; - To ABANDON/LOSE ourselves unconditionally to Her.

We do all these for the purpose of being: - Nourished with the mild of her grace and motherly compassion - Delivered from all anxiety, fear and scruples - Be safeguarded from all enemies - Be formed in our Lord and on Lord formed in us.

+ For Mary (TD 265). Commenting on this last aspect of the interior practice of the perfect consecration to Christ-Wisdom through the hands of Mary, Montfort says:

Finally, we must do everything for Mary. Since we have given ourselves completely to her service, it is only right that we should do everything for her as if we were her personal servants… This does not mean that we take Mary as the ultimate end of our service for Jesus alone is our ultimate end. Mary is only our approximate end, our mysterious intermediary and the easiest way of reaching him. (TD 265)

This attitude of doing everything for Mary is a consequence when one lives a life in Mary. In the Montfortian insight, doing things for Mary makes a person live a life more intensely for Jesus for the glory of God alone: “We offer and leave everything to the free disposal of our Lady, for her to use as she wills for the greater glory of God, of which she alone is perfectly aware” (SM 29). We need to do everything for Mary because she is the most conformed human being to Christ. She knows best and does her best to make our tainted actions and our life itself more pleasing to Jesus.

140 In summary, we do everything for Mary so that: - We can give more glory to God189 - We cease to be master over any good we do (cf. SM 30) - Mary can distribute and apply the merits of our good actions to whom she pleases (SM 31). We have called this phase the engagement part wherein the consecrated person and Christ-Wisdom exchanges and lives out faithfully their mutual love- yeses. As the engagement progresses, a deepening of affective knowledge of Christ-Wisdom is revealed and known by the believer. And after a period of the faithful practice of this consecration – a period of engagement that only Christ- Wisdom decides how long – that this Groom finally says His Yes for spiritual marriage.

4.3 Third Stage: Spiritual Marriage

Based from his experience, Montfort knew how hard and demanding it is to be faithful in living out the perfect practice of the true devotion or total consecration. Referring to this perfect practice he says:

As this devotion essentially consists in the state of the soul, it will not be understood in the same way by everyone. Some – the great majority – will stop short at the threshold and go no further. Others – not many – will take one step into its interior. Who will take the second step? Who will take a third? Finally, who will remain in it permanently? Only the one whom the Spirit of Jesus reveals the secret. (TD 119)

St. Louis Marie extols the person who really lives it out in the sense of its interior spirit and perseveres. “But happy, very happy indeed, will the generous person be, who prompted by love, consecrates himself entirely to Jesus through Mary as their slave…”(SM 34). This Montfortian beatitude is experienced because the blessed person acquires the greatest treasure of all: the possession of or better union with Jesus Christ, Eternal Wisdom. And if this possession and

189(cf. SM 29, 46, 49, TD 122, 151, 205, 222- 223, 243, LEW 222, 225)

141 union is lived faithfully, the saint prophesies that such blessed one will move with giant strides “from grace to grace, from light to light, until at length he attains transformation into Jesus in the fullness of his age on earth and of his glory in heaven” (TD 119). This then is last and the culminating stage of the entire mystical way of Montfort. We call it the spousal phase. We delineate three moments of this highest stage, namely: the “Marital Union with Christ-Wisdom”, the “Fidelity to Christ-Wisdom” and the “Lover transformed into the Beloved”.

4.3.1 “Spousal Union with Christ-Wisdom”

These last three phases are the ultimate goal of the mystical path of St. Louis Marie de Montfort mentioned in Chapter three. The possession of Wisdom which is the first moment of this spousal stage is the beginning of a life of intimate union with Christ-Wisdom. In fact, if we use the language of lovers, it is the “marital union of the believer with Christ, Eternal and Incarnate Wisdom”. In the language of espousal mystical experience, this is spiritual marriage. Montfort confesses in his letter the height of his mystical experience he was living. He says: “In my new family – the one I belong now – I have chosen to be wedded to Wisdom and the Cross, for in there I find every good, both earthly and heavenly. So precious are these possessions that, if they were but known, Montfort would the envy of the richest and most powerful kings on earth” (L 20). In the life of any Christian, how can we know that he or she has reached this summit of Christian mysticism? It is not quite easy to know (cf. LEW 91) and discern whether a faithful person who after having faithfully practiced the perfect consecration has reached this phase. Nevertheless, Montfort provides us with a key for discernment. In chapter eight of the LEW, he enumerates the marvelous effects of Wisdom in the souls who possess him”. He seems to teach us here that the best way to know that one is in the “spiritual marital union” is to

142 see the fruits and effects in the consecrated believer. We try to mention most of these effects which St. Louis Marie took from his personal experience:

When divine Wisdom enters a soul, he brings all kinds of good things to him and bestows vast riches upon that soul” (…) Among the countless effects Eternal Wisdom produces in souls, often in such a secret way that the soul is not aware of them, the more usual are the following:…” (LEW 90-91)

We will try to summarize the other wonderful effects mentioned in the succeeding numbers of the LEW: + Eternal Wisdom communicates his Spirit of enlightenment to the soul that possesses him. This subtle and penetrating spirit enables the blessed person to judge all things with keen discernment and deep penetration (LEW 92). + Eternal Wisdom communicates to the believer the great science of holiness as well as the natural sciences, and even the most secret when they are needed (LEW 93). + Aside from communicating the light to know the truth, Wisdom also gives the remarkable power to impart it to others, communicating to him or her the art of saying it well (LEW 95). The words that Divine Wisdom communicates in that person are powerful, touching, piercing words, “sharper than a two-edged sword,” words that go from the heart of the one through whom he speaks straight to the heart of the listener (LEW 96). In other words, Wisdom grants them the gift of eloquence that his listeners would hardly be able to resist his words (LEW 97). + Eternal Wisdom becomes the source of purest joy and consolation for the person who possesses him, giving him a relish of everything that comes from God and makes him lose his taste for created things. Wisdom enlightens his mind with the brightness of his own light and pours into his heart an indescribable joy, sweetness and peace even when he/she is in the midst of the most harrowing grief and suffering (LEW 98). + When Eternal Wisdom communicates himself to a soul, he gives the soul all the gifts of the Holy Spirit and all the great virtues to an eminent degree.

143 They are: the theological virtues – lively faith, firm hope and ardent charity; the cardinal virtues – well-ordered temperance, complete prudence, perfect justice, invincible fortitude; the moral virtues profound humility, pleasing gentleness, blind obedience, complete detachment, continuous mortification, sublime prayer, etc. (LEW 99). + Finally, Eternal Wisdom sets persons who possess him on fire, inspiring them to undertake great things for the glory of God and the salvation of souls. In order to discipline them and make them more worthy of himself, he permits them to engage in strenuous conflicts and in almost everything they undertake they encounter contradictions and disappointments. At times, he allows the devil to tempt them, the world to calumniate and scorn them, their enemies to defeat and crush them, their friends and relatives to forsake and betray them. In short, Wisdom tests them thoroughly in the crucible of tribulation like gold is tested in a furnace (LEW 100). Aside from these effects found in the LEW, we could add the first two wonderful effects of the consecration listed by Montfort in the TD. We are inclined to say that these two are immediate effects of the faithful practice of the consecration in the hearts of the believers. Montfort says in the first part of TD 213: “My dear friend, be sure that if you remain faithful to the interior and exterior practices of this devotion… the following effects will be produced in your soul:” The first effect is the “knowledge of our unworthiness”. The blessed person who has obtained the gift of Wisdom and is spiritually married feels within himself a deep and genuine sense unworthiness. The saint adds: By the light which the Holy Spirit will give you through Mary, his faithful spouse, you will perceive the evil inclinations of your fallen nature and how incapable you are of any good apart from that which God produces in you as Author of nature and of grace. As a consequence of this knowledge you will despise yourself and think of yourself as a snail that soils everything with its slime, as a toad that poisons everything with its venom, as a malevolent serpent seeking only to deceive.[190] Finally, the humble Virgin Mary will

190 We have to take note that these analogies and symbols have a very mystical tone. They are not exaggerations rather real feelings and realizations. They are to be interpreted however in

144 share her humility with you so that, although you regard yourself with distaste and desire to be disregarded by others, you will not look down slightingly upon anyone. (TD 213)

The second effect that we could associate in this phase is the “gift of pure love”. Montfort explains that the

Mother of fair love will rid your heart of all scruples and inordinate servile fear. She will open and enlarge it to obey the commandments of her Son with alacrity and with the holy freedom of the children of God. She will fill your heart with the pure love of which she is the treasury… You will look upon him [God] as a loving Father and endeavor to please him at all times. You will speak to him as a child does to his Father. If you should have the misfortune to offend him you will abase yourself before him and humbly beg for his pardon. You will offer your hand to him with simplicity and lovingly rise from your sin. Then, peaceful and relaxed and buoyed up with hope you will continue on your way to him. (TD 215)

4.3.2 Fidelity to Christ-Wisdom

For the consecrated faithful who has obtained the greatest gift, spiritual marital union with Christ-Wisdom, Montfort gives the advice:

To be then in some way wiser than Solomon, we should place in Mary’s care all that we possess and the treasure of all treasures, Jesus Christ, that she may keep him for us. We are vessels too fragile to contain this precious treasure, this heavenly manna. We are surrounded by too many cunning and experienced enemies to trust in our own prudence and strength. And we have had too many sad experiences of our fickleness and natural thoughtlessness. Let us be distrustful of our own wisdom and fervor. (LEW 221)

We have cited LEW 7 and 14 earlier and have underlined the fact that great need to keep and preserve Eternal Wisdom in the blessed person is the goal next to the reception of Wisdom. In the language of love, we call this “fidelity”. Being and remaining faithful then is another phase in the mystical path of

the mystical horizon and in the context of one’s littleness and ugliness as emphasized when they are placed in contrast with a giant and the most beautiful. A good analogy we could make is that one sees the tiny dust of the air when seen in upon a very white paper. Or else, a tick of the clock is audible when there is absolute silence.

145 Montfort that the consecrated person has to keep until he/she reaches the maturity and fullness of Divine Wisdom, which is the ultimate goal. Based on his personal experience, Montfort underlines the fact that it is difficult for us to keep the graces we received from God. He says: “It is difficult, considering our weakness and frailty to keep the graces and treasures we have received from God” (TD 87). There are three reasons for this (TD 87-89). First, because we carry this treasure [gift of Divine Wisdom] in fragile vessels, that is, in corruptible body and in a weak and wavering soul which requires very little to depress and disturb it. Second, the evil spirits, cunning thieves that they are, can take us by surprise and rob us of all we possess. They are watching day and night for the right moment. They roam incessantly seeking to devour us and to snatch from us in one brief moment of sin all the grace and merit we have taken years to acquire. Their malice and their experience, their cunning and their numbers ought to make us ever fearful of such a misfortune happening to us. People, richer in grace and virtue, more experienced and advance in holiness than we are, have been caught off their guard and robbed and stripped of everything. The reason for this, according to the saint, is their lack of humility, for they thought themselves well able to hold on to their treasures. It was because of their unconscious reliance on self -- although it seemed to them that they were relying solely on the grace of God – that the most just Lord left them to themselves and allowed them to be despoiled. Third, it is difficult to persevere in holiness because of the excessive corrupting influence of the world. The world is so corrupt that it seems almost inevitable that religious hearts be soiled, if not by its mud, at least by its dust. For these reasons above, Montfort exhorts the blessed believer who has already acquired the greatest of treasures, Eternal Wisdom in spiritual marriage, to give such marvelous treasure back to Mary for keeping. In other words, one has to entrust Christ-Wisdom to the powerful and faithful Virgin. She will keep Eternal Wisdom for us as if it were her very own personal possession. Louis Marie says in TD 89 that: “It is something of a miracle for anyone to stand firm

146 in the midst of raging torrent of the corrupt world and not to be swept away; to cross the stormy sea without getting drowned or robbed by pirates; to breathe this pestilential air and not be contaminated by it.” And for him, it is in Mary, the singularly ever-faithful Virgin over whom Satan never had any power, she who works this miracle for all those who truly love her. This entrustment of the gift of Eternal Wisdom is done in the faithful living out of the total consecration. Montfort reminds us that through it, we give everything for Mary: “By this devotion we entrust all we possess to Mary, the faithful Virgin. We choose her are the guardian of all our possessions in the natural and supernatural sphere” (TD 173); “In adopting this devotion, we put our graces, merits and virtues into safe keeping by making Mary the depositary of them” (SM 40). What then could be the effects for those who are faithful in living out the perfect consecration, after having received and obtained Wisdom? The greatest treasure of Divine Wisdom is kept and preserved in the blessed one by Mary: “This devotion, if well practiced, not only draws Jesus Christ, Eternal Wisdom, into our soul, but also makes it agreeable to him and he remains there to the end of our life” (LEW 220). This conservation of this union with Christ-Wisdom continues until at last the fullness of the age of Jesus Christ is attained. To help us discern of the authenticity of this reality, we may use again the wonderful effects that are brought about by fidelity to Christ-Wisdom. We are inclined to say that one of which is the great confidence in God and in Mary. Montfort explains this saying:

Our Blessed Lady will fill you with unbounded confidence in God and in herself, firstly because you will no longer approach Jesus by yourself but always through Mary your loving Mother. Secondly, since you have given her all your merits, graces and satisfactions to dispose as she pleases, she imparts to you her own virtues and clothes you in her merits. So you will be able to say confidently to God: ‘ Behold Mary, your handmaid, be it done to me according to your word.’ Thirdly, since you have now given yourself completely to Mary, body and soul, she, who is generous to the generous, and more generous than even the kindest benefactor, will return give herself to you in a marvelous but real manner. Lastly, what will still further increase your confidence in her is that, after having given her

147 in trust all that you possess to use or keep as she pleases, you will place less trust in yourself and much more in her whom you are made your treasury. (TD 216)

Another wonderful effect we could mention is the communication of the Spirit of Mary in the soul of the believer:

The soul of Mary will be communicated to you to glorify the Lord. Her spirit will take the place of yours to rejoice in God, her Savior, but only if you are faithful to the practices of this devotion. (…) When will souls breathe Mary as the body breathes air? When that time comes wonderful things will happen on earth. The Holy Spirit, finding their Spouse present again in souls, will come down into them with great power. He will fill them with his gifts, especially wisdom, by which they will produce wonders of grace. My dear friend, when will that time come, that age of Mary, when many souls, chosen by Mary and given her by the Most High God, will hide themselves completely in the depths of her soul, becoming living copies of her, loving and glorifying Jesus? That day will dawn only when the devotion I teach is understood and put into practice. (TD 217)

4.3.3 “Lover Transformed into the Beloved”

The last paragraph of the formula of the consecration of oneself to Jesus Christ, Wisdom incarnate, through the hands of Mary reads: “Virgin most faithful, make me in everything so committed a disciple, imitator and slave of Jesus, your Son, incarnate Wisdom, that I may become, through your intercession and example, fullness of his age on earth and of his glory in heaven. Amen. (LEW 227)”. The highest stage of the mystical way of Montfort is this fullness and maturity of Christ-Wisdom in the blessed person (Cf. also LEW 1, 221; TD 119, 214; SM 67). This phase, in which Montfort is influenced by Ephesians 4:13, is none other than the mystical identification and the transformation of the consecrated person to Christ-Wisdom. In the language of lovers again, we call this phase the “Lover transformed into the Beloved”. This is identical to what St. Paul says: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the

148 flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal 2:20). Referring to the transformation of the believer into the likeness of Jesus, Montfort writes:

If Mary, the Tree of Life, is well cultivated in our soul by fidelity to this devotion, she will in due time bring forth her fruit which is none other than Jesus. (…) if we follow the immaculate path of Mary, living the devotion that I teach, (…) Mary is a mold capable of forming people into the image of the God-man. Anyone who is cast into this divine mold is quickly shaped and molded into Jesus and Jesus into him. At little cost and in a short time he will become Christ-like since he is cast into the very same mold that fashioned God-man (TD 218-219).

This same idea is found in SM 17:

Mary is the great mold of God, fashioned by the Holy Spirit to give human nature to a Man who is God by the hypostatic union, and to fashion through grace men who are like to God. No godly feature is missing in this mold. Everyone who casts himself into it and allows himself to be molded will acquire every feature of Jesus Christ, true God, with little pain or effort, as befits his weak human condition. He will take on a faithful likeness to Jesus with no possibility of distortion…

Fullness and maturity of Eternal Wisdom means indeed Christ-like transformation of the person who has been faithful in perfect consecration: “The Lover is transformed into the Beloved”. We want to underscore however the fact that it is a mystical transformation and identification into Christ-Wisdom. Obviously, it is not physical but spiritual. Externally and physically, it is not verifiable except that it is only seen by its effects in the believer. It is seen in terms of Christ-like zeal to preach the good news, in terms of the Christ-like love especially for the poor and the marginalized, in terms of Christ-like selflessness and willingness to offer oneself for the salvation of the others. Montfort in fact says: “Finally, as ‘nothing is more active than Wisdom,’ she does not leave those who enjoy her friendship to languish in mediocrity and negligence. She sets

149 them on fire, inspiring them to undertake great things for the glory of God and the salvation of souls” (LEW 100). In other words, this divine transformation and identification is best manifested in terms of the literal following of Gospels in the carrying out of the mission of the Church to inaugurate God’s kingdom here on earth. The missionary zeal of the person is seen as singular by some, and sometimes foolishness for others. We know that in the life of Montfort, this missionary dimension of his life is very well lived out. In fact Blain narrates to us an episode of his encounter with the saint. This biographer of Montfort recounts:

I began by unburdening my heart of all I had to say or had heard said against his [Montfort’s] conduct and manner of acting…. I pointed out to him that a life so poor, so hard, so abandoned to Providence, was for apostles, for men of rare fortitude, grace and virtue, for extraordinary men,… By way of answer he showed me his New Testament; and then asked me if I could find fault with anything which Jesus Christ had practiced and taught, and if I could show him a life more like that of our Blessed Lord and His apostles than a life which was poor, mortified and founded upon abandonment to Providence; and he added that he had no other object but to follow such as life, and no other design but to persevere in the same… So far as he was concerned, he had no other course to take but to follow the Gospel, and to walk in the footsteps of Jesus Christ and of His apostles…. He then replied that, if his way of acting was singular or extraordinary… he did not perceive it… if by that were understood actions of zeal, charity and mortification, and other practices of heroic and uncommon virtue, then he esteemed himself happy in being in that sense singular; and that, if this kind of singularity was a defect, it was the defect of all the saints…191

From the scores of biographies on the life of Montfort, we come to know that he has spent all through out his priestly life doing genuinely heroic acts of charity, literally though in his own way, following that zeal and self-giving love of Eternal Wisdom for humanity. Most of his sixteen years as a priest were spent caring for the sick, proclaiming the good news, leading people back to God, doing parish missions. All these simply tell us that Montfort experienced the on-

191 J-B. BLAIN, op. cit., 177-179.

150 going mystical transformation into his Spouse, Eternal and Incarnate Wisdom. With such life, his growing into the fullness and maturity of Divine Wisdom is clearly manifested. Consequently, this mystical divine transformation gives greater glory to Christ. “If you live this devotion sincerely, you will give more glory to Jesus in a month than in many years of a more demanding devotion” (TD 222). Eternal Wisdom is glorified because the believer becomes a living sacrament of God in the world. Through him the mission of Christ is continued and carried out. This fulfillment of Eternal Wisdom’s mission of love is made a reality in the person of the mystic. A good proof for this is the life and apostolate St. Louis Marie de Montfort himself. Through his faithful living out of the perfect consecration, he became another “Christ” for the poor, the weak and the marginalized. And again since all these acts of charity and love are done in the spirit of the consecration -- that is giving to Mary all the merits of such works of love -- the glory of God is best given: “This devotion, when faithfully undertaken, is a perfect means of insuring that the value of all our good works is being used for the greater glory of God. Scarcely anyone works for that noble end, in spite of the obligation to do so, either because men do not know where God’s greatest glory is to be found or because they do not desire it. Now Mary, to whom we surrender the value and merit of our good actions, knows perfectly well where God’s greatest glory lies and she works only to promote that glory” (TD 151).

151

Lover Transformed into the Beloved

4.4 Illustrations Fidelity to Christ-Wisdom 4.4 Illustrations Union with Wisdom “Spousal Union with Christ-Wisdom” “Mutual Exchange of the Final Yes” “Dating with/Courting Wisdom in Mary”

Captivated by Divine Wisdom

“The Love at First Sight” A Perfect Consecration p ostolic Mission

Touched by Wisdom’s love 4.4.1 Figure 1

152

Lover Transformed into the Beloved

Fidelity to Christ-Wisdom

Union with Wisdom “Spousal Union with Christ-Wisdom” “Mutual Exchange of the Final Yes”

“Dating with/Courting Wisdom in Mary”

Captivated by Divine Wisdom

“Love at First Sight” Perfect Consecration A p ostolic Mission

Touched by Wisdom’s love 4.4.2 Figure 2

153 4.4.3 Explanations We have just presented and explained the seven stages of the mystical way of St. Louis Marie de Montfort in the previous section. In an attempt to perhaps clarify and visualize the entire mystical path, we have made these two illustrations. As they are, each of these figures is only an aid for our understanding of the Montfortian mystical way. Thus we immerse ourselves into the ocean of limitations these illustrations carry with them. An explanation of each would perhaps clarify our aim. First, let us enumerate some symbolisms used in these illustrations. The heart is a symbol to signify love of which the entire mystical journey of Montfort is all about. Montfort’s mystical path is all about love-relationship. The concentric hearts – seven hearts in progression -- symbolize the seven phases of Montfort’s mystical way. The biggest, “The Love at First Sight”, represents the first phase. The succeeding smaller heart, “Captivated by Divine Wisdom”, symbolizes the second phase, the next marked “Dating with/Courting Wisdom in Mary”, represents the third, and so on. The white arrows represent the movement and the journey around a particular heart (phase). The blue arrows symbolize the entrance or the journey into the succeeding heart or stage. The different colors of the hearts, with their intensity of darkness symbolize the intensity of love of the consecrated believer for Eternal Wisdom. The big green Cross behind the concentric hearts symbolizes the background on which the mystical journey is experienced by the faithful one. It represents the unfathomable and self-giving love of Eternal and Incarnate Wisdom which is the context of such mystical journey of transformation. Each of the hearts belongs to a corresponding stage as we show them below.

A. First Stage: Falling in Love Heart 1 : “Love at First Sight” Heart 2 : Captivated by Divine Wisdom

154 B. Second Stage: Courtship and Engagement Stage Heart 3 : “Dating with and Courting Christ-Wisdom in Mary Heart 4 : Engagement: Mutual Exchange of the Final Yes

C. Third Stage: Spiritual Marriage Heart 5 : Marital Union with Christ-Wisdom Heart 6 : Fidelity of Christ-Wisdom Heart 7 : “Lover Transformed into the Beloved”

Figure 1 shows us that the journey from Heart 1 to Heart 7 -- from the “Love at First Sight” to “Lover Transformed into the Beloved” -- is a spiral movement. We can easily note from this illustration that the Montfortian mystical path is not linear. It is a progressive, continuing and ever-deepening spiral process of loving union with Jesus Christ, Eternal and Incarnate Wisdom and until Christ-like transformation is attained. The blue arrow, as we have said a while ago, signifies the entrance of the believer into the next phase. Blue color symbolizes its being a gift of God. The entrance or the progress of the spiritual journey is effected by God’s grace, yet, of course, with the active collaboration of the believer. As Montfort says: “The Holy Spirit himself will lead this faithful soul from strength to strength, from grace to grace, from light to light, until at length he attains transformation into Jesus in the fullness of his age on earth and of his glory in heaven” (TD 119). It is not the believer who decides when to enter, and how long he/she has to stay in a particular phase. The saint writes: “Whoever wishes to obtain Wisdom must pray for it day and night without wearying or becoming disheartened. Blessings in abundance will be his if, after ten, twenty, thirty years of prayer, or even an hour before he dies, he comes to possess it” (LEW 188). Obviously, we see four phrases on the wings of the ‘green” Cross, namely: touched by Wisdom’s love; perfect consecration; union with Wisdom and apostolic mission. These are four elements of Montfort’s mystical way that are so inter-related. These representations signify that as the mystical journey

155 progresses, these elements interact with each other. The deepening experience of being touched by Eternal Wisdom’s love leads to a deepening living out of perfect consecration; this deepening practice of the perfect consecration to Jesus through the hands of Mary in turn leads to an ever-deepening possession or union with Christ-Wisdom. This ever-deepening union with Christ-Wisdom – a journey of Christ-like transformation – leads to an ever-increasing commitment to mission.

In Figure 2 on the other hand shows the great possibility that a believer can remain in a certain stage and never would enter into the deeper phases (hearts). The yellow arrows demonstrate this possibility. Montfort makes the reader reflect:

As this devotion essentially consists in a state of a soul, it will not be understood in the same way by everyone. Some – the great majority – will stop short at the threshold and go no further. Others – not many – will take but one step into its interior. Who will take a second step? Who will take the third? Finally, who will remain in it permanently? Only the one to whom the Holy Spirit of Jesus reveals the secret. (TD 119)

Worse can happen; that is when the believer, who has already gone into the inner stages, by his/her infidelity and pride could lead himself/herself away from the center. This is signified by the gray arrows going in the opposite direction. Montfort makes this warning: “People, richer in grace and virtue, more experienced and advanced in holiness than we are, have been caught off their guard and robbed and stripped of everything. (…) What has brought about this unexpected reverse? Not the lack of grace, for this is denied [to] no one. It was lack of humility...” (TD 88).

156

PASTORAL RELEVANCE AND CONCLUSIONS

We find this study relevant, first and foremost and in the stricter sense for the members of the Company of Mary founded by St. Louis Marie de Montfort. The saint dreamt of a little flock with members characterized by “the kindly nature of a man --witness their selfless and beneficent love of neighbor; the face and boldness of a lion – witness of their holy anger, their burning and prudent zeal against the devil…; the strength of an ox -- witness their apostolic labors and their self-mortification; the soaring flight of an eagle – witness the height of their contemplation” (PM 21). These are the missionaries who for St. Louis Marie as to be the “true apostles of the latter times”.192

“True Apostles of the Latter Times”

In two of his writings, St. Louis Marie de Montfort describes who these “true apostles of the latter times” would be. His descriptions seem for us a great dream. Maybe it is a dream not only his but of the Trinity of which Montfort is made an instrument for its revelation. We find these descriptions in TD 56-59 and PM 7-25. We will enumerate some of them here. In the numbers of the TD, we read:

• But what will they be like, these servants, these slaves, these children of Mary? They will be ministers of the Lord who, like a flaming fire, will enkindle everywhere the fires of divine love. They will become Mary’s powerful hands, like sharp arrows, which she will transfix her enemies (…) thoroughly purified by the fire of great tribulations and closely joined to God. They will carry the gold in their heart, the frankincense of prayer in their mind and the myrrh of mortification in their body. They will bring to the poor and the lowly everywhere the sweet fragrance of Jesus… (TD 56)

• They will be like thunder clouds flying through the air at the slightest breath of the Spirit. Attached to nothing, surprised at nothing, troubled at nothing, they will shower down the rain of God’s word and of eternal life… (TD 57)

192 What Montfort meant with the phrase “latter times” is beyond the scope of this paper. Our main concern is to describe who these “true apostles” are of whom he dreamt to be members of his little flock.

157 • They will be true apostles of the latter times to whom the Lord of Hosts will give eloquence and strength to work wonders… They will have the silver wings of the dove enabling them to go where the Spirit calls them, filled as they are, with the resolve to seek the glory of God and the salvation of souls. Wherever they preach, they will leave behind them nothing but the gold of love… (TD 58)

• They will be true disciples of Jesus Christ, imitating his poverty, his humility, his contempt of the world and his love… They will carry the crucifix in their right hand and the rosary on their left, and the holy names of Jesus and Mary on their heart. The simplicity and self-sacrifice of Jesus will be reflected in their whole behavior (…) Such are the great men who are to come. By the will of God Mary is to prepare them… But when and how will thus come about? Only God knows. For our part we must yearn and wait for it in silence and in prayer. (TD 59)

In the PM, Montfort’s descriptions are more concrete. We do not intend however to enumerate here everything but we summarize some of them: • Men who are free, priests who are free… detached from everything, without father, mother, brothers, sisters or relatives and friends as the world and the flesh understand them, without worldly possessions to encumber or distract them, and devoid of all self-interest. (PM 7) • Men who are free but still in bondage to your love and your will; men after your heart who, without taint or impediment of self-love, will carry out your will to the full. (PM 8) • Men as free as the clouds that sail above the earth, filled with the dew of heaven, and moving, without let or hindrance, according to the inspiration of the Spirit. (PM 9) • Men who are available, always ready to obey you when those in authority speak. (PM 10) • True children of Mary whom she has conceived and begotten by her love, bore in her womb, attached to her breast, nourished by her milk, upheld by her and enriched by her graces.193 (PM 11) • True servants of the Blessed Virgin who will range far and wide, with the Holy Gospel issuing from their mouths and the Rosary in their hands. (PM 12)

193 A modified translation than that of GA. In the French it reads: “ “portés dans son sein, attachés à ses mamelles, nourris de son lait, élevés par ses soins, soutenus de son bras et enrichis de ses graces,”

158

All these and still many others are the descriptions of the “true apostles of the latter times” that St’ Louis Marie de Montfort dreams, and prays to the Blessed Trinity. Using his own words, his visions and his convictions we declare:

When that time comes wonderful things will happen on earth. The Holy Spirit, finding his dear Spouse present again in souls, will come down into them with great power. He will fill them with his gifts, especially wisdom, by which they will produce wonders of grace. My dear friend, when will that happy time come, that age of Mary, when many souls, chosen by Mary and given her by the Most High, will hide themselves completely in the depths of her soul, becoming living copies of her, loving and glorifying Jesus? That day will dawn only when the devotion I teach is understood and put into practice. (TD 217)

After doing this study, we may add that, the realization of this divine dream is possible when the members of the Company of Mary take seriously and faithfully the mystical path which Montfort himself has traveled led by the Holy Spirit dwelling within him. All these descriptions of the “true apostles of the latter times” come to reality in the little flock that the saint prayed for when the “perfect consecration” is understood and lived out. That will be the time when every “lover” of Christ-Wisdom is transformed into the likeness of the “Beloved”. When such dawn comes, then there will be the “deluge of the fire of love and of justice”: “When will it happen, this fiery deluge of pure love with which you are to set the whole world ablaze and which is to come, so gently yet so forcefully…” ( PM 17). And so Montfort ardently prayed: “Send this all consuming Spirit upon the earth to create priests who burn with this same fire and whose ministry will renew the face of the earth and reform your Church” (Ibid.). This following poem may inspire us members of the Company of Mary to be charmed by this mystical way of our founder:

THE MONTFORTIAN BEATITUDES

Blessed are you who in your true devotion discover the tenderness of Mary You will taste the sweetness of the cross you daily carry.

Blessed are you who empty yourselves in Mary

159 You’ll be drenched with the outpouring Rain of graces from the divine Treasury

Blessed are you who always act with, through, in and for Mary You will be immersed in the Ocean of virtues direct from the divine Armory.

Blessed are you who enslave your love to the Trinity in Mary You will have the fragrance of Incarnate Wisdom wherever you tarry.

Blessed are you who in your heart you cultivate Mary You will bear the Priceless Fruit of this Mystical Tree.

Blessed are you who permanently dwell in Mary You will be bathed with the highest degree of holiness in this divine Sanctuary.

Blessed are you in this true devotion to Mary You’ll be transformed by the Spirit, that hastily the Bridegroom comes to marry.

Blessed are you who totally entrust yourselves to Jesus through Mary You will be transformed by the Fire of Love to Christ-Wisdom’s perfect imagery.

Now, let’s consider the wider pastoral relevance of this study. Last year upon the close of the Jubilee Year, Pope John Paul II wrote an Apostolic Letter entitled: Novo Millennio Ineunte wherein his Holiness opens our gaze to the horizon of mystical life, Duc in altum! (Lk 4:5). In the Letter he says:

The time has come to re-propose wholeheartedly to everyone this high standard of ordinary Christian living: the whole life of the Christian community and of Christian families must lead in this direction. It is also clear however that the paths to holiness are personal and call for a genuine "training in holiness", adapted to people's needs. This training must integrate the resources offered to everyone with both the traditional forms of individual and group assistance, as well as the more recent

160 forms of support offered in associations and movements recognized by the Church (NMI 31).

The Holy Father presents to us this goal as the culminating point of our Christian journey: a progressive growth in prayer and in the commitment to charity with our fellow Christians and to all the peoples of the world. Many of us Christians, lay and religious alike, dream for an experience of mystical life. We long for a life of intimate union with the Father in Christ through the Holy Spirit. It is like a gentle yet persuasive voice that cries deep within our innermost being. We desire for that moment when we can totally allow the power of the Spirit to work in us, to effect in us an intimate union with Jesus Christ in love. John Paul II notes this as he says:

Is it not one of the "signs of the times" that in today's world, despite widespread secularization, there is a widespread demand for spirituality, a demand which expresses itself in large part as a renewed need for prayer? (…) we who have received the grace of believing in Christ, the revealer of the Father and the Saviour of the world, have a duty to show to what depths the relationship with Christ can lead (NMI 33).

This paper could be of help for the realization of such noble dream. By our in-depth study of Montfort’s path to mystical union with Christ, who for our saint is the Eternal and Incarnate Wisdom, we may have opened to the people this great possibility. In considering his mystical experience and studying the spiritual journey St. Louis Marie proposed for us, we see its strong pastoral relevance for us all, lay, priests and religious alike. In this sense we borrow the phrase of K. Rahner when he said: “Christians of the future will be mystics”194

“Christians of the Future will be Mystics”

A very common question that immediately comes to mind when our dream for union with God is awakened, “Is it possible that I can reach these considered higher states of Christian life?” “Can a person like me reach the

194 K. RAHNER, Elemente der Spiritualität in der Zukunft, in Schriften zur Teologie XIV, Einsiedeln 1980, 375.

161 summit of mystical life?” To answer us, let’s consider what St. John of the Cross says on the matter: And here ought to be pointed out why there are so few who reach this high state of perfection with God. It should be known that the reason is not because God wishes that there be only a few of these spirits so elevated; He would rather want all to be perfect, but He finds few vessels that will endure so lofty and so sublime a work (…) There are many who desire to advance and persistently beseech God to bring them to this state of perfection. Yet when God wills to conduct them through initial trials and mortifications, as is necessary, they are unwilling to suffer them, and they shun them, flee from the narrow road of life (…) Thus they do not allow God to begin to grant their petition.195

Our awareness of this reason could provide us with hope that on the one hand there is a chance for anyone to arrive at such spiritual heights only if we cooperate actively with God’s grace. Our collaboration and willingness to be made worthy for this great gift of God is the one in question. John Paul II puts before us this hope of reaching this state of sublime union with God.

The great mystical tradition of the Church of both East and West has much to say in this regard [widespread demand for spirituality]. It shows how prayer can progress, as a genuine dialogue of love, to the point of rendering the person wholly possessed by the divine Beloved, vibrating at the Spirit's touch, resting filially within the Father's heart. This is the lived experience of Christ's promise: "He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him" (Jn 14:21). It is a journey totally sustained by grace, which nonetheless demands an intense spiritual commitment and is no stranger to painful purifications (the "dark night"). But it leads, in various possible ways, to the ineffable joy experienced by the mystics as "nuptial union". How can we forget here, among the many shining examples, the teachings of Saint John of the Cross and Saint Teresa of Avila? (NMI 33)

The Pope singles out here two great Christian mystics, St. John of the Cross and St. Teresa of Avila, who could enlighten and inspire us to be hopeful

195 ST. JOHN OF THE CROSS, “The Living Flame of Love” in The Collected Writings of St. John of the Cross, 604

162 for the fulfillment of our dreams. This study of Montfort’s mystical path to union with Christ-Wisdom could be another star to guide us towards the realization of this sublime aspiration of union with God. In some ways after this study, we can say that St. Louis Marie de Montfort is along the line these two Carmelite mystics. His teaching on the mystical journey is so deep, so rich and the same time simple. All we need is to leave ourselves be foolishly in love with God. The Holy Father in this passage also highlights the important role of the Holy Spirit in the realization of each one’s desire for mystical union with God. In this paper we have underlined the fact that in Christian mystical experience, as in St. Louis Marie de Montfort, the Holy Spirit is the Agent. This divine inhabitation in us prompts us and awakens in us an ardent desire for God even up to the level of spousal union with Christ. Since each baptized Christian has received this divine indwelling at baptism, it only follows that each member of the Church, lay and religious alike are “potential mystics”. L.J. Gonzalez re-echoes this vision in his article entitled: “La mistica: pienezza dei cristiani del futuro”196 (Mysticism: Fullness of the Future Christians). He highlighted the fact that the fullness of mysticism is an object of hope for the Church, for each member of this Mystical Body of Christ. For us having been enlightened, motivated and awakened by the mystical experience of St. Louis Marie de Montfort, this hope becomes more concrete. Our saint has shown us the way. All that is needed is only to leave ourselves totally moved by the Holy Spirit who is the Worker of this mystical union with Christ-Wisdom from the very start of the journey. And he teaches us that this is best done through, with, in and for Mary --- the spirit of perfect consecration to Christ, Eternal and Incarnate Wisdom.

Conclusions

We have made a journey in this paper. First, we made a study of what Christian mystical experience is as understood in the Catholic tradition. We explained that it is an

196 J. L. GONZÀLEZ, “La mistica: pienezza dei cristiani del futuro” in RVS 55 (2001), 463-484.

163 ontological and lived experience of the union with God --- a union of love between the Creator and the creature man. It is a loving union with God qualified and mediated by Christ. He defines it as a filial union addressing God as Father through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Trinity is the origin and the ultimate end of any mystical life. The Fountain spring of Christian mystical experience is the Mystery of love of the Most Holy Trinity. It does not end in another but a union of love with the Father in Christ through the Holy Spirit which constitutes the active dynamism of a filial Christogenetic transformation and a mystical identification with Christ. The anthropological foundation of the divine inhabitation of the Spirit renders possible for human beings to have a personal communication with God. However, the extraordinary phenomena like visions, ecstasies, stigmata, etc are not essential for its authenticity. The Cross is essential for it is the dialectical means for this transcendental union of love. Mary is the divine dwelling where any mystical relationship is realized and where spiritual marriage is lived with fidelity. The summit or culmination is the spiritual marriage between the creature and the Creator, between the believer and his God which eventually leads to divine transformation and mystical identification with Christ. This treatment of the Catholic Church’s understanding of Christian mystical experience has served as the objective foundation in the study of the mystical experience of St. Louis Marie de Montfort. In the light of this Christian tradition, we have theologically founded our inquiry into the saint’s sound teaching on the Christian journey to union with God. We have seen that the basic and fundamental elements of what Christian mysticism are essential elements too in Montfort’s teaching and life. For instance, the Trinitarian dimension, Christ as the center and the ultimate goal, the divine inhabitation in the believer, the Role of the Holy Spirit and Mary, the aspect of spiritual marriage and divine transformation. St. Louis Marie’s experience moreover unveils for us the unique dimensions of the mystical path to union with God, like the close collaboration of the Holy Spirit and Mary in the entire process of divine union and transformation. The strong Marian dimension led Montfort to stress the necessity of a perfect consecration to Christ- Wisdom through the hands of Mary. Another

164 thing so unique of Montfort is his mystical experience of Christ as the Eternal and Incarnate Wisdom of God who is mystically present in the poor. We dealt with the spiritual culture the saint was in. We have seen how the teachings of the Jesuits, the Sulpicians, the Domenicans and the Bérullians of the seventeenth century France have influenced the saint. Among the many, we singled out P. de Bérulle, J.J. Olier, J. Eudes of the French School of Spirituality as the major ones. We have underlined the fact that though Montfort took a lot of his insights from these abovementioned spiritual writers, he was unique in many respects. This is obvious in the fact that his mystical experience with Christ-Wisdom is uniquely his. His spirituality is totally a fruit of his mature and very intimate relationship of love with the Trinity. In our attempt to make this mystical experience of Montfort pastorally understandable and relevant, we have proposed seven phases composing the three stages of the mystical path to union with Christ-Wisdom according to St. Louis Marie. We have adopted the language of lovers -- of falling and staying in love – as a pastoral approach. Moved by the teachings of the Church that each baptized, lay and religious alike, is called to an intimate union with God, we proposed the same mystical path of our saint to everyone. Likewise, we wish to present this study to each and every member of the Company of Mary as a renewed invitation to respond to our Montfortian vocation. We believe that it is a call for each of us members in view of our founder’s dream that we may become the true apostles of the latter times. In fact, it is not only Montfort’s dream but also of the Blessed Trinity for us:

Remember, Lord, this Congregation, which you have possessed from all eternity. You have made it your own from the beginning, when your mind dwelt on it before time began. You made it your own from the beginning, when you held it in your hand as you created the world out of nothing. You made it your own when you took it to your heart while your dear Son, dying on the Cross, bedewed it with his blood, consecrated it by his death and entrusted it to his holy Mother’s keeping. (PM 1)

165 We are inclined to say that to journey in this mystical path to union with Christ-Wisdom according St. Louis de Montfort is most probably a vocation within our vocation as Montfortians. It is a precious gift given to us by the one who has gone ahead of us, our founder. We feel that we are all called to participate in this divine dream. Through this study, we have gained a certain degree of knowledge of Montfort’s mystical way. However, we must echo our founder’s words as he says: “Experience will teach you much more about this devotion than I can tell you…” (SM 53). J. Gerson teaches us the same thing and provides us with the following reminders using an analogy. He says: “One can know the nature about honeybee hearing about it or by studying books, without ever having savored the sweet taste of honey. Doctors know about the nature of illnesses and have more knowledge than those who are ill. But in terms of feeling pain or experiencing it, it is obvious that sick persons feel it more and know more about it not at all through reason but by experience.”197 After having said all the above, we therefore make the following conclusions: + That St. Louis Marie de Montfort is a Christian mystic and his mystical experience is theologically founded and is very much along the line of the Catholic Church’s teaching. + That though the saint’s mystical path was experienced in its own spiritual and pastoral context, yet it is something beyond time and space, something beyond a specific epoch and race. His mystical way is relevant even for our present time and our world of today. It is an answer to the Catholic Church’s contemporary “universal call for holiness” (LG) and to intimate union with God (NMI). It is a way for an intimate union with God which is for all, lay and religious alike. + That this sublime experience of our founder is both a vocation and a precious gift to each and every member of the Company of Mary. Each of us is

197 J. GERSON, Jean Gerson:Early Works, BP MCGUIRE (trans.) New York 1998, 79.

166 called not just to know it intellectually but above all experience it ourselves! May this paper be a catalyst for our journey as we reflect and contemplate the captivating beauty of Christ-Wisdom through this (our) poem:

WISDOM, THE LOVING BEAUTY THAT CAPTIVATED ME!

Splendor so lofty! Abyss of humility! All powerful and almighty! In a womb made self-captivity! Magnificence in infinity! Child in utter fragility! Full incomprehensibility! Fully revealed in humanity!

Gushing Fountain of joy and gentleness Overflowing Ocean of beauty and loveliness Flooding River of peace and goodness Oozing Spring of justice and kindness.

You are the beauty that has charmed me so irresistibly The fragrance that has seduced me so completely The magnet that has attracted me so forcefully The sweetness that has captivated me so totally.

But how come you love me so dearly? Me, dust of this earth, sinful and ugly You picked me up and sang whisperingly “I love you so much dearest one, always and eternally!”

You left the splendor of your throne in your Father’s home You became one like us, died for us, all because of love, love alone! From eternity to time you traveled, and even ‘til now you roam Searching for me, from morning ‘til night and again at dawn.

How unworthy yet blessed am I for to me you made this known So that I can open my heart for You to completely own And with the Spirit I will be freely and constantly blown ‘Til of You, Wisdom my Love, I am fully grown.

I offer my all and fly on the wings to places unknown To make You, Christ-Wisdom, Loving Beauty well known That all Your children will dwell under the shelter of the Dawn All this I do only for the greater glory of God alone!

167

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