Tuesday, June 16, 2015
Wednesday, June 3, 2015
LOUIS DE MONFORT
A Saint fashioned on the Cross
"The cross is the greatest gift God could bestow on His Elect on earth.
There is nothing so necessary, so beneficial, so sweet, or so glorious as to suffer something for Jesus. If you suffer as you ought, the cross will become a precious yoke that Jesus will carry with you"
-St. Louise de Monfort.
The quotation about the Cross that we have cited above aptly describes the short life of 43 years spent in suffering by this "vagabond" missionary and Marian saint known as St. Louise de Monfort. Almost lost in obscurity he lived in so much hardship that very few thought that he would become this great years later. And what more! He shook the Church and created a storm of a new spirituality that has influenced millions,including four popes of the 20th century, the chief among them being Pope John Paul II. By his own admission, John Paul II had made a new turn in his life after reading the "True Devotion to Mary" written by the Saint who called himself the "Slave of Mary".
John Paul II made his confession in his book Gift of Mystery. On the 50th anniversary of my priestly ordination: " At one point I began to question my devotion to Mary, believing that, if it became too great, it might end up compromising the supremacy of the worship owed to Christ...."
In another book (with the title of English translation: Andre Frossard talks with John Paul II: " Do not be afraid"] ( Rusconi, 1983),the French Journalist asked the Pope about his personal devotion to the Bl.Virgin Mary and the Pope again confessed:
" Reading that book ( True Devotion to Mary)" he said, "has marked a decisive turning point in my life. I said "turning point", although this is a long inner journey.... At that very moment this unique treatise came into my hands, one of those books which it is not enough 'to have read'. I reread it constantly and certain passages in succession".
It is also easy to understand how John Paul II got his motto, " Totus Tuus" (Completely Yours) that he took from the same book in which there is a consecration to Mary written by St. Louise de Monfort that uses the same phrase, " Totus Tuus". The secret of Pope John II's success as Priest. Bishop and Pope' definitely was his devotion to Our Lady, as was clear the way he loved and spoke about this devotion on various occasions. That secret was learnt from that great Marian devotee whose life we shall present briefly below.
His Early Days
Loius Grignion De Monfort was born in the hamlet of Monfort about thirteen miles east of Rennes, on 31 January 1673. The name of his birth place gradually became his surname. He was the second of eighteen children, and was one of the bfew who survived to adulthood. As a child he was noted for his love of the bHoly Eucharist that drew him into long hours of prayer.
From his twelfth year when he was sent as a day pup[il to the Jesuit College at Rennes, he kept up his devotion to the Holy Eucharist and failed to visit the church before and after class.As a young man he joined a society of young men who during holidays ministered to the poor and to the incurables in the hospitals. Louis Mary's uncle, a priest of the Church of the Holy Savior in Rennes, became the youth's close confident. His teachers considered him to be intelligent, studios, deeply religious, artistic in nature and somewhat shy. It was under the guidance of the Jesuits that Louis' priestly vocation matured. The decision to enter the priesthood was made, so he tells us,at the shrine of Our Lady in the Carmelite Church in Rennes. Monfort's solid devotion to the Mother of the Lord was already an integral part of his spiritual life.
His Vocatonal Life
At the age of nineteen and after eight years at the Jesuit College in Rennes, Louis Mary decided to pursue his theological studies at Saint Sulpice in Paris. Having left his family and all memories behind, he trusted in Divine Providence and gave to the first beggars he met, his money, baggage and even exchanged clothes with one of them. With total abandon, he gave joyful, free expression to his deep desire to experience the radical demands of the Gospel. Begging for food and shelter along the way, he walked to Paris, arriving in the rags of the mendicant. One of his numerous hymns expresses his deep happiness- in spite of the pain of separation from family and house- in trusting so completely in Providence: "The Lord is my Good Father,Jesus, my Dear Savior, Mary,my Good Mother,could I have greater joy!"
Vagabond Preacher
He was ordained Priest at the age of twenty-seven, and for some time fulfilled the duties of chaplain in a hospital. In 1705, when he was thirty-two, he found his true vocation, and thereafter devoted himself to preaching to the common people. During the next seventeen years he preached the Gospel in countless towns and villages.As an orator he was highly gifted,his language being simple but replete with fire and divine love. His whole life was conspicuous for virtues difficult for the modern world to comprehend: constant prayer,. love of the poor, poverty carried to an unheard-of degree, joy in humiliations and persecutions.
With utter disdain for human respect, Saint Louis Mary identified with the poor and found his greatest joy in serving them with the Word of God and also with any material help he could locate. Typical of his actions was the recorded event-probably one of many similar acts on his part- when the missionary tenderly embraced a dying leprous beggar lying in the streets of Dinan, carried him to a nearby religious house crying out "Open up to Jesus Christ!" The poor even took up a collection to purchased some warm clothing for this priest whom they proudly called "one of our own".
His preaching, flowing from his own experience of God's love and Mary's maternal care, atrracted thousands back to the faith. In a Jansenistic age which harsley stressed the distance between God and people, he began, a tender devotion to the Mother of God, a lived baptismal total surrender to Jesus in Mary.
A terrible setback gracefully accepted
One day he proposed to the poor people to build a Calvary at Ponchateau a neighboring village which they enthusiastically supported.For fifteen months between two and four hundred peasants worked daily without recompense, and the task had just been completed, when king commanded that the whole should be demolished, and the land restored to the former condition. The Jansenists had convinced the Governor of Brittany that a fortress capable of affording aid to persons in revolt was being erected, and for several months five hundred peasants, watched by a company of soldiers, were compelled to carry out the work of destruction. Father de Monfort was not disturbed on receiving this humiliating news, exclaiming only: "Blessed be God!"
Founder of two Congregations
A year before his death, Father de Monfort founded two congregations -- the Sisters of Wisdom, who were to devote themselves to hospital work and the instruction of poor girls, and the Company of Mary, composed of missionaries. He had long cherished these projects but circumstances had hindered their execution, and, humanly speaking, the work appeared to have failed at his death, since these congregations numbered respectively only four sisters and two priests with a few brothers. But the blessed founder, who had on several occasions shown himself possessed of the gift of prophecy, knew that the tree would grow. At the beginning of the twentieth century the Sisters of Wisdom numbered five thousand, and were spread throughout every country; they possessed fourty-four houses, and gave instruction to 60,000 children. Grignion de Monfort died in 1716 at Saint Laurent Survovre, France and was canonized in 1947 by Pope Pius XII.
His great spiritual legacy
He may have failed in his effort to set up a Calvary to remember the passion and death of the Lord, but he did leave behind a mighty spiritual legacy that boosted the sagging spiritual life of many in the Church and even set the foundation for a more authentic Marian devotion. He defined Marian devotion as more centred on the Trinity and similarly on Christ rather than building it as separate niche parallel to God and his Son Jesus. It was so convincing and effective that several popes too used his concepts to evolve their own spirituality and that of the Church. In support of his christocentric concept of Marian spirituality he quite forcefully argues that if devotion to Mary alienates us from Jesus it is necessary to reject it as a diabolical temptation.With Mary, he says, we enter into a more intense and more immediate union with Incarnate Wisdom, without Mary we reject the plan of salvation as designed by the Father. He was one of the first charismatic preachers to stress the promises of Christ when he said, "Pray with great confidence based on the goodness and infinite generosity of God and upon the promises of Jesus Christ. God is a spring of living water which flows unceasingly into the hearts of those who pray". His motto, "God Alone" shows a radical spirituality detaching him from every human or material attachment. Such a motto too influenced the many disciples and admirers he had, particularly the members of the Congregation he founded.
Returning to the theme of his Marian devotion, we cannot forget some of his memorable qoutes:
"She [Mothr Mary] is an echo of God, speaking and repeating only God. If you say 'Mary' she say 'God'.
"If you put all the love of all the mothers into one heart it still would not equal the love of the Heart of Mary for her children."
"Never will anyone who says the Rosary every day be led astray. This is a statement that I would gladly sign with my blood."
"I feel a great desire to make Our Lord and his Holy Mother loved, and to go about in a poor and simple way, catechizing poor country people."
As a Final Word:
We should never forget this great saint who has taught us among other great things, an easy way to holiness, namely, the devotion to Our Blessed Mother. It was his total consecration to Mother Mary surrendering himself totally (Totus tuus) a formula that was adopted by Pope John Paul II that led him to sanctity. If that was possible for him, it can be also the same for us.
"The cross is the greatest gift God could bestow on His Elect on earth.
There is nothing so necessary, so beneficial, so sweet, or so glorious as to suffer something for Jesus. If you suffer as you ought, the cross will become a precious yoke that Jesus will carry with you"
-St. Louise de Monfort.
The quotation about the Cross that we have cited above aptly describes the short life of 43 years spent in suffering by this "vagabond" missionary and Marian saint known as St. Louise de Monfort. Almost lost in obscurity he lived in so much hardship that very few thought that he would become this great years later. And what more! He shook the Church and created a storm of a new spirituality that has influenced millions,including four popes of the 20th century, the chief among them being Pope John Paul II. By his own admission, John Paul II had made a new turn in his life after reading the "True Devotion to Mary" written by the Saint who called himself the "Slave of Mary".
John Paul II made his confession in his book Gift of Mystery. On the 50th anniversary of my priestly ordination: " At one point I began to question my devotion to Mary, believing that, if it became too great, it might end up compromising the supremacy of the worship owed to Christ...."
In another book (with the title of English translation: Andre Frossard talks with John Paul II: " Do not be afraid"] ( Rusconi, 1983),the French Journalist asked the Pope about his personal devotion to the Bl.Virgin Mary and the Pope again confessed:
" Reading that book ( True Devotion to Mary)" he said, "has marked a decisive turning point in my life. I said "turning point", although this is a long inner journey.... At that very moment this unique treatise came into my hands, one of those books which it is not enough 'to have read'. I reread it constantly and certain passages in succession".
It is also easy to understand how John Paul II got his motto, " Totus Tuus" (Completely Yours) that he took from the same book in which there is a consecration to Mary written by St. Louise de Monfort that uses the same phrase, " Totus Tuus". The secret of Pope John II's success as Priest. Bishop and Pope' definitely was his devotion to Our Lady, as was clear the way he loved and spoke about this devotion on various occasions. That secret was learnt from that great Marian devotee whose life we shall present briefly below.
His Early Days
Loius Grignion De Monfort was born in the hamlet of Monfort about thirteen miles east of Rennes, on 31 January 1673. The name of his birth place gradually became his surname. He was the second of eighteen children, and was one of the bfew who survived to adulthood. As a child he was noted for his love of the bHoly Eucharist that drew him into long hours of prayer.
From his twelfth year when he was sent as a day pup[il to the Jesuit College at Rennes, he kept up his devotion to the Holy Eucharist and failed to visit the church before and after class.As a young man he joined a society of young men who during holidays ministered to the poor and to the incurables in the hospitals. Louis Mary's uncle, a priest of the Church of the Holy Savior in Rennes, became the youth's close confident. His teachers considered him to be intelligent, studios, deeply religious, artistic in nature and somewhat shy. It was under the guidance of the Jesuits that Louis' priestly vocation matured. The decision to enter the priesthood was made, so he tells us,at the shrine of Our Lady in the Carmelite Church in Rennes. Monfort's solid devotion to the Mother of the Lord was already an integral part of his spiritual life.
His Vocatonal Life
At the age of nineteen and after eight years at the Jesuit College in Rennes, Louis Mary decided to pursue his theological studies at Saint Sulpice in Paris. Having left his family and all memories behind, he trusted in Divine Providence and gave to the first beggars he met, his money, baggage and even exchanged clothes with one of them. With total abandon, he gave joyful, free expression to his deep desire to experience the radical demands of the Gospel. Begging for food and shelter along the way, he walked to Paris, arriving in the rags of the mendicant. One of his numerous hymns expresses his deep happiness- in spite of the pain of separation from family and house- in trusting so completely in Providence: "The Lord is my Good Father,Jesus, my Dear Savior, Mary,my Good Mother,could I have greater joy!"
Vagabond Preacher
He was ordained Priest at the age of twenty-seven, and for some time fulfilled the duties of chaplain in a hospital. In 1705, when he was thirty-two, he found his true vocation, and thereafter devoted himself to preaching to the common people. During the next seventeen years he preached the Gospel in countless towns and villages.As an orator he was highly gifted,his language being simple but replete with fire and divine love. His whole life was conspicuous for virtues difficult for the modern world to comprehend: constant prayer,. love of the poor, poverty carried to an unheard-of degree, joy in humiliations and persecutions.
With utter disdain for human respect, Saint Louis Mary identified with the poor and found his greatest joy in serving them with the Word of God and also with any material help he could locate. Typical of his actions was the recorded event-probably one of many similar acts on his part- when the missionary tenderly embraced a dying leprous beggar lying in the streets of Dinan, carried him to a nearby religious house crying out "Open up to Jesus Christ!" The poor even took up a collection to purchased some warm clothing for this priest whom they proudly called "one of our own".
His preaching, flowing from his own experience of God's love and Mary's maternal care, atrracted thousands back to the faith. In a Jansenistic age which harsley stressed the distance between God and people, he began, a tender devotion to the Mother of God, a lived baptismal total surrender to Jesus in Mary.
A terrible setback gracefully accepted
One day he proposed to the poor people to build a Calvary at Ponchateau a neighboring village which they enthusiastically supported.For fifteen months between two and four hundred peasants worked daily without recompense, and the task had just been completed, when king commanded that the whole should be demolished, and the land restored to the former condition. The Jansenists had convinced the Governor of Brittany that a fortress capable of affording aid to persons in revolt was being erected, and for several months five hundred peasants, watched by a company of soldiers, were compelled to carry out the work of destruction. Father de Monfort was not disturbed on receiving this humiliating news, exclaiming only: "Blessed be God!"
Founder of two Congregations
A year before his death, Father de Monfort founded two congregations -- the Sisters of Wisdom, who were to devote themselves to hospital work and the instruction of poor girls, and the Company of Mary, composed of missionaries. He had long cherished these projects but circumstances had hindered their execution, and, humanly speaking, the work appeared to have failed at his death, since these congregations numbered respectively only four sisters and two priests with a few brothers. But the blessed founder, who had on several occasions shown himself possessed of the gift of prophecy, knew that the tree would grow. At the beginning of the twentieth century the Sisters of Wisdom numbered five thousand, and were spread throughout every country; they possessed fourty-four houses, and gave instruction to 60,000 children. Grignion de Monfort died in 1716 at Saint Laurent Survovre, France and was canonized in 1947 by Pope Pius XII.
His great spiritual legacy
He may have failed in his effort to set up a Calvary to remember the passion and death of the Lord, but he did leave behind a mighty spiritual legacy that boosted the sagging spiritual life of many in the Church and even set the foundation for a more authentic Marian devotion. He defined Marian devotion as more centred on the Trinity and similarly on Christ rather than building it as separate niche parallel to God and his Son Jesus. It was so convincing and effective that several popes too used his concepts to evolve their own spirituality and that of the Church. In support of his christocentric concept of Marian spirituality he quite forcefully argues that if devotion to Mary alienates us from Jesus it is necessary to reject it as a diabolical temptation.With Mary, he says, we enter into a more intense and more immediate union with Incarnate Wisdom, without Mary we reject the plan of salvation as designed by the Father. He was one of the first charismatic preachers to stress the promises of Christ when he said, "Pray with great confidence based on the goodness and infinite generosity of God and upon the promises of Jesus Christ. God is a spring of living water which flows unceasingly into the hearts of those who pray". His motto, "God Alone" shows a radical spirituality detaching him from every human or material attachment. Such a motto too influenced the many disciples and admirers he had, particularly the members of the Congregation he founded.
Returning to the theme of his Marian devotion, we cannot forget some of his memorable qoutes:
"She [Mothr Mary] is an echo of God, speaking and repeating only God. If you say 'Mary' she say 'God'.
"If you put all the love of all the mothers into one heart it still would not equal the love of the Heart of Mary for her children."
"Never will anyone who says the Rosary every day be led astray. This is a statement that I would gladly sign with my blood."
"I feel a great desire to make Our Lord and his Holy Mother loved, and to go about in a poor and simple way, catechizing poor country people."
As a Final Word:
We should never forget this great saint who has taught us among other great things, an easy way to holiness, namely, the devotion to Our Blessed Mother. It was his total consecration to Mother Mary surrendering himself totally (Totus tuus) a formula that was adopted by Pope John Paul II that led him to sanctity. If that was possible for him, it can be also the same for us.
Thursday, February 12, 2015
WHAT WE HAVE IN CHRIST
A Love that cannot be fathomed;
A Life that can never die;
A righteousness that
can never be tarnished;
A peace that can never be understood;
A rest that can never be disturbed;
A joy that can never be diminished;
A hope that can never be disappointed;
A glory that can never be clouded;
A light that can never be darkened;
A happiness that can never be interrupted;
A strength that can never be enfeebled;
A purity that can never be defiled;
A beauty that can never be marred;
A wisdom that can never be baffled;
Resources that can never be exhausted.
I do not ask, O Lord, that life may be
A pleasant road ;
I do not ask for that thou wouldst take from me
Aught of its load;
I do not ask that flowers should always spring
Beneath my feet;
I know too well the poison and the sting
Of things too sweet.
For one thing only, Lord, I plead,
Lead me aright
Though strength should falter.
And though heart should bleed
Through Peace to Light.
I do not ask, Oh Lord, that
Thou should shed
Full radiance here;
Give but a ray of peace,
That I mat tread
Without a fear.
A Life that can never die;
A righteousness that
can never be tarnished;A peace that can never be understood;
A rest that can never be disturbed;
A joy that can never be diminished;
A hope that can never be disappointed;
A glory that can never be clouded;
A light that can never be darkened;
A happiness that can never be interrupted;
A strength that can never be enfeebled;
A purity that can never be defiled;
A beauty that can never be marred;
A wisdom that can never be baffled;
Resources that can never be exhausted.
I do not ask, O Lord, that life may be
A pleasant road ;
I do not ask for that thou wouldst take from me
Aught of its load;
I do not ask that flowers should always spring
Beneath my feet;
I know too well the poison and the sting
Of things too sweet.
For one thing only, Lord, I plead,
Lead me aright
Though strength should falter.
And though heart should bleed
Through Peace to Light.
I do not ask, Oh Lord, that
Thou should shed
Full radiance here;
Give but a ray of peace,
That I mat tread
Without a fear.
Monday, September 1, 2014
Monday, February 24, 2014
WE BECOME WHAT WE WORSHIP
When we begin to adore the idol in front of us, the idol of the "self" we become selfish and begin to erect the statutes of narcissism in very nook and corner of the street and hang its photos in every room and parlour , shop and restaurant.This was from the beginning when those ambitious creatures the angels, wishing to raise themselves above the living God of heaven and earth, tasted their fall.
The new gods and goddesses of our times become furious if anyone refuses to erect or hung their photos/ statutes and to pay homage to them. Their ego gets elated and elevated to the height in the public audience and bestows manifold blessings upon their devotees. Those who refuse to oblige will not be in the good book of the new idol and should not expect any boon to any promotion or position. Just like King Nebuchednezzar the modern idols too demand the compulsory worship of their golden images under threat of extermination of those who refuse to consent to them (Dan 3:12|).Only the God-fearing souls would escape the clutches of those post modern gods/goddesses. As St. Paul once said that some of them will hold on to an "outward form of religion" but deny its power in the particular life. (2Tim 3:5).
Thursday, January 9, 2014
Dignity of birth and Dignity of death: MOTHER TERESA'S VALUE
 |
Even Jesus had a variety of names as 'Glutton", "Samaritan","possessed", "Beelzebul", and "out of mind","impostor","a friend of publicans and sinners" and similar ones. Such was the fury of those who opposed his message and his ways that they could not call him by anything kinder name than what we cited above. Granted that Mother Teresa used in her title, "Missionary" and spoke against abortion and too often spoke about Jesus, it is great wonder that the attack against her was not really very big and she was never subject to violence. She went against the unethical and immoral trends of the present age and still was the darling of the media and of celebrities and rulers all over the world. People rushed to see her as though for absolution for their sins and to re-invent themselves and make a comeback to respectability. Consider the thousands of volunteers who put up with the unbearable conditions of Calcutta to do what they could not do in the West, that is, to serve the poorest of the poor. In the same process, some even set their conscience right and do amends for the past life, as they take part in the recollection and prayer programmes at the Mother House to.
As to her legacy, the media may say what it likes but for the honest on-looker it is impossible to explain how the frail- looking nuns are able to endure the extreme hot situations in Calcutta and sleep without even fans that many of the poor today have.The giant leap of the diminutive Saint of Calcutta is unbelievable in terms of thousands of followers they have, with hundreds of centers in their care and lacks of volunteers visiting them and extending their service to them and to the many thousands of the sick and dying. It is estimated that some 80 thousand sick people who were picked up in a dying condition have been able to die with dignity and in peace in the homes of Mother Teresa. Only those who have some faith in a peaceful and happy death to gain eternal life and its bliss can understand this.
Another phenomenal achievement is the dignified life given to thousands of unwanted babies who have been either given in adoption or settled in life, something that Teresa the "Mother of the Living" from heaven will be now taking delight in. Even if the media has given wide coverage to Mother Teresa at the most important moments of her life, death and after-death glorification, yet we should say that there is a lot that still remains unnoticed. Take,for example the homes for babies, mentally challenged women and HIV patients that are located at Tangra and is known by the name Shantidan (the gift of peace)- these works which along with the HIV centre run by the male counter parts under the direction of of the MC Brothers have grown into a mini township. Now it is quite well known that may of the HIV patients from these centres are able to return to normal life after two or three years in these centres. There has been reported the case of a man who was paralyzed due to HIV and TB and the family too had stopped visiting him after admitting him in the centre of Deepshika run of the MC WBrothers of Tangra. He is now able to walk and looks cheerful.
To their credit, it must be said that the Sisters and Brothers are selfless and do not run any institution for the sake of money - something rare among many private charitable institutions, and they are not discriminatory: They care for all irrespective of caste, religion or colour. So it makes sense to say that Mother Teresa and her works have a universal character, except for that blue stripe sari that is typically Indian and even the foreigners wrap it round joyfully.
Mother Teresa has not only done much terms of charitable works but has taught us a great deal. There is no one whether abroad or in India who would forget to insert a qoute from Mother Teresa in their talk or writing.Let us take, therefore, a qoute from this Saint of the slums,
The poor give us much more than we give them. They're such strong people,living day to day with no food. And they never curse, never complain.We don't have to give them pity and sympathy. We have so much to learn from them.
A birth centenary tribute to Mother Teresa
From the STREAMS
Sunday, August 25, 2013
God's New Word Order
Mary's hymn is also a Prophetic song. It contains what God intends to do His people. Mary prophesied in that song the new word order that God would establish - about a world where the real Christian ideals reign.
William Barcley describes it this way: "A Christian society is a society where no man dares to have too much while others have too little,where every man must get only to give away." Mary spoke against the prevailing world order where lack of justice and equality was commonplace.
Christians must aspire to become prophets, like Mary, who can dare to speak against the evils of the world and act to eliminate them.Today's world needs prophets who can protest against humanity's inclination to acquire and possess; against all the hunger in the world brought about by man's own doing or lack of it; against man's insensitivity to the plight of the poor.
We also need prophets who can instill fear- the " fear of being driven away empty- handed" because of their evil appetite for that which belongs to others. We need to speak against man's desire for money and things, power and recognition.
We need prophets who can speak of the beauty and grandeur of God's reign and invite people to participate in it. We need prophets who can speak against humanity's foolishness of satiating their human desires with the ephemeral things rather than with God provides. We need prophets who can speak against humanity's own folly of thinking that we are self - made man and woman and that we can still move on with our lives without the help of God.
William Barcley describes it this way: "A Christian society is a society where no man dares to have too much while others have too little,where every man must get only to give away." Mary spoke against the prevailing world order where lack of justice and equality was commonplace.
Christians must aspire to become prophets, like Mary, who can dare to speak against the evils of the world and act to eliminate them.Today's world needs prophets who can protest against humanity's inclination to acquire and possess; against all the hunger in the world brought about by man's own doing or lack of it; against man's insensitivity to the plight of the poor.
We also need prophets who can instill fear- the " fear of being driven away empty- handed" because of their evil appetite for that which belongs to others. We need to speak against man's desire for money and things, power and recognition.
We need prophets who can speak of the beauty and grandeur of God's reign and invite people to participate in it. We need prophets who can speak against humanity's foolishness of satiating their human desires with the ephemeral things rather than with God provides. We need prophets who can speak against humanity's own folly of thinking that we are self - made man and woman and that we can still move on with our lives without the help of God.
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