Book Reviews and More: Louis Marie de Montfort His Life, Message and Teaching - Rev Paul Allerton SMM

Sunday, 13 April 2025

Louis Marie de Montfort His Life, Message and Teaching - Rev Paul Allerton SMM - CTS Biographies

Louis Marie de Montfort:

His Life, Message and Teaching

CTS Biographies

CTS Great Saints

Paul Allerton SMM

Catholic Truth Society
ISBN 9781784690946

eISBN 9781784692414

ASIN B072HN8WT2

CTS Booklet B765

Louis Marie de Montfort His Life, Message and Teaching - Rev Paul Allerton SMM - CTS Great Saints

I discovered the books and booklets of the Catholic Truth Society in 2018. Since that time I have read over 430 different titles, and many of them more than once. This is one that was original part of the CTS Great Saints Series, but is not part of the CTS Biographies. This volume was originally published as part of the CTS Great Saints Series, which is a subset of the CTS Biographies. The eBook edition still had the Great Saints cover but the print edition is currently out of print. This booklet was first published in 2016 and the eBook released in 2017. There is also an older biography of this saint in the CTS Great Saints Series by Alan J. Foster that was published in 2004, that I plan to track down and review as well.

The descriptions of this volume is:

“A fascinating reflection on the life and legacy of one of the greatest teachers of devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary the world has ever seen.

St Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort is one of the greatest teachers of devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary the world has ever seen. His teaching and preaching renewed large areas of North-west France until his death in 1716, work continued to this day by religious institutes inspired by him.

Written for the 300th anniversary of his death, this booklet offers a fascinating reflection on his life and the legacy he left to the whole Church.”

This booklet is an excellent volume on this saint and it is part of a wonderful series and I can easily recommend it. The chapters in the booklet are:

Preface

Early Life

Training for the Priesthood

Early Hopes and Frustrations

Missions in the Diocese of Nantes

Last Years

The Legacy of a Saint

I highlighted a few passages while reading this volume some of them are:

“Louis Grignion was born on 31st January 1673 in the little town of Montfort-sur-Meu (then known as Montfort-la-Cane), approximately 30 km to the west of Rennes, the provincial capital of Brittany.”

“The only name given to him at his Baptism was Louis, though today he is better known as Louis Marie. It is likely that he took the name Marie, in honour of his beloved spiritual Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, at his Confirmation, though we have no certainty regarding this.”

“In all his missionary work as a priest as well as in his writings, the renewal of baptismal commitment was a privileged theme. For himself, Montfort was the place of his Baptism, his entry into the real life of relationship with God, so Montfort remained for him a very important place.”

“A more significant influence from this time at the Jesuit College was the strong emphasis placed by the Jesuits on devotion to the Blessed Virgin.”

“His growing awareness of Mary’s place is reflected in the numerous visits he used to make at this time to various shrines of Our Lady to be found in the town of Rennes.”

“Later, he would teach, both in his writings and in his preaching, that devotion to Mary is one of the most important means of being in the right relationship with Jesus himself; and here in Rennes, we can see the foundations of his teaching being solidly laid.”

“The trouble was that Louis Marie Grignion could never fit into this mould; he was not in the least concerned with making a career for himself, and his enthusiastic embracing of both devotion to the Blessed Virgin and the practice of penance was seen, both by many of the staff of the seminary as well as by most of the students, to be ‘over-the-top’.”

“A particular focal point of all his missions was a solemn renewal of the vows of Baptism. For this he would organise a special service which would often begin outside the church. The people would process into the church and make their way, one by one, to the baptismal font, where they would solemnly declare their intention to live up to their baptismal commitments and would bless themselves with the water in the font. They would then make their way to the altar or chapel of Our Lady, where they would make a special offering, asking her to aid them in their Christian lives.”

“Three hundred years after his death, St Louis Marie de Montfort continues to exert his influence in the Church, both as a missionary (through his followers in the Montfortian congregations) and as a fervent champion of Our Blessed Lady, his ‘good Mother’.”

“Sound teaching on the love of God for each one of us, genuine devotion to the Blessed Virgin, the efficacy of meditation on the Rosary, and the importance for Christians of embracing the Cross of Christ: such is the written legacy of this great saint. May he long continue to inspire Christians of all ages and conditions, to be faithful witnesses to the Gospel.”

This is a short biography but it is still packed full of great information. Over the years I have done a few different versions of the Consecration to Mary, and plan to work through the CTS edition at some point. But reading more about the man and his life was absolutely fascinating.

This is I believe the only volume published by Rev Paul Allerton, either from the CTS or any publishers. I did numerous searches and could only find this single volume. I think it is a pity his writing style reminds me of J.B. Midgley who wrote numerous volumes for the CTS and whose works grew my addiction to the books and booklets from the CTS. The writing is engaging and often entertaining, it is the story of the saints life but really draws you in. It is an excellent biography and one I can easily recommend, another great resource from the Catholic Truth Society.

Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2025 Catholic Reading Plan! For other reviews of books from the Catholic Truth Society click here.

For reviews in the CTS Biographies Series Click here.