Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Dublin (Fides Service) - The “Treaty on true devotion to Mary”, written by Saint Louis Grignion de Montfort (1673-1716) at the beginning of 1700, although addressed to all Christians in general can be especially applied to priests, that they may be as Pope John Paul II desired “holy”, priests “after the Heart of Jesus”. The importance of the “Treaty” in his priestly life was the subject of a conference given on 24 May in Dublin by Cardinal Ivan Dias, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples, at a seminar in New Evangelisation: priests and laity. The great challenge of the new millennium”.
Cardinal Dias told those present that in the small book providentially purchased in a bookshop in Bombay, he found Saint Louis Grignion de Montfort's secret “a short cut to holiness”: “the secret is Mary, the masterpiece of God's creation. Louis de Montfort shows us how to know, love and serve Our Lord with Mary as our Mother, Model and Guide. The book is a priceless treasure”. In the Treaty, recommended by many Popes, Saint Louis Grignion de Montfort “presents a vivid image of the Blessed Virgin Mary which is most relevant for her relationship with priests”.
The Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples then spoke of the three principal dimensions of the vocation to the priesthood: a call to holiness, a call to service, a call to the spiritual battle. “ Saint Louis de Montfort shows how Mary can play an essential role in each of these dimensions ” said the Cardinal. Holiness is loving God above all things and with our whole heart, soul and mind. To reach this goal, Grignion de Montfort says we must consecrate ourselves totally through Mary, to Jesus in a sort of “slavery of love”. A slavery which far from degrading human dignity, instead ennobles and uplifts the person.
The Blessed Virgin Mary is an example to follow: “She gave herself entirely to God as his creature keeping nothing for herself. Her whole life was only for God. In this way Blessed Mary teaches us priests to avoid putting ourselves on a pedestal or taking for ourselves glory which is due to God alone. A priests must remind himself continually that his vocation to the priesthood is a freely given gift of God, given no for personal merit, talents or achievements, but rather for his sanctification and for the edification of the people of God”.
With regard to the theme of the humble service of love which characterises the priestly vocation, Cardinal Dias recalled that at the school of Monfort's spirituality “a priest who consecrates himself as a slave of love can never consider anything he possess as his personal property: his position, his talents, his material goods, the people entrusted to his pastoral care. Everything is given to him to administer”. When the archangel Gabriel left her after the Annunciation, Mary was not complaisant about the new dignity with which she had been invested, the dignity of being the Mother of God, instead “she went in haste to help her cousin Elisabeth advanced in age who was expecting a child”. At the Wedding Feast at Cana, while everyone was celebrating at the banquet, Mary noticed that the jars of wine were empty and she convinced Mary to work his first miracle. “For Mary, to belong to the Lord creature meant to reach out to meet the needs of others and this she continues to do today from her throne in heaven. Mary teaches us… to put our time and our talents at the service of God and neighbour”. The Cardinal then cited some Gospel episodes in the life of Jesus connected with service which are valid examples for carrying out the priestly ministry.
The third consideration made by Cardinal Dias with regard to the priesthood was spiritual combat. The fight against evil which began in the Garden of Eden, at the beginning of human history. Already then God wished for Mary to enter the scene and to remain there until the end of time. In the over two thousand years of the Church's history the battle between the forces of good and those of evil has continued with intensity, in the Church, in general and in individual men and women. The Saints in particular experienced this battle more fully, with persecution, suffering all kinds of difficulties. “Many, including priests, prefer to live a mediocre life so as not to be attacked by Lucifer and his demons- the Cardinal said -. De Montfort understood this combat very early and suffered greatly the astuteness of the Evil One”. The antidote to all the Devil's temptations (wealth, success, power) is poverty of spirit, which means detachment from everything that distances us from God, and above all humility which touches the heart of God who looks on the poor and the humble. This is precisely what Montfort proposes in consecration to Jesus through Mary. Cardinal Dias then recalled Mary's apparitions to Saint Catherine Labouré and the significance of the Miraculous Medal, on which is portrayed the Blessed Virgin as she crushes with her heel the head of the serpent, the Devil. “For Lucifer the greatest humiliation - said the Cardinal - is to be crushed by the Blessed Virgin Mary, a purely human being belonging to a category inferior to that of the angels: She crushed him not only because she was the Mother of God, but because of her humility which is the hammer with which she crushed the hardened pride of Lucifer”.
Cardinal Dias concluded his intervention recalling that in the present times the sublime call to the priesthood demands that priests be “men of God and men for others”, and “in the Treaty on True devotion to Mary we have a secret which can help us priests to who are pleasing to the eyes of God. The secret is Mary, who through Saint Louis Grignion de Montfort calls us to consecrate ourselves as slaves of love to Jesus”. (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 26/5/2007; righe 69, parole 1034)
