APRIL 28TH, ST. PAUL OF THE CROSS, PRIEST AND CONFESSOR;

Commemoration of Saint Vitalis, Martyr

Month in honor of the Most Blessed Sacrament.

Today is jam-packed with outstanding Saints! We have, of course, Saint Paul of the Cross founder of the Order of the Cross and Passion of OLJC. We also have Saint Gianna Molla, the Italian Catholic doctor who chose to forego cancer treatments so that they did not harm her baby. Then, there is also Saint Peter Chanel, Priest and Martyr, and then we have

Saint Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort

Born to a poor family in Brittany, Louis de Montfort studied theology in Paris, and was ordained a priest in AD 1700. While a seminarian he delighted in researching the writings of Church Fathers, Doctors and Saints as they related to the Blessed Virgin Mary, to whom he was singularly devoted. Under Mary's inspiration, he founded the Daughters of Divine Wisdom, a religious institute of women devoted to the care of the destitute, and a brother organization, the Brothers of Saint Gabriel. During this work, he began his apostolate of preaching the Rosary and authentic Marian devotion. He preached so forcefully and effectively against the errors of Jansenism that he was expelled from several dioceses in France. In Rome, Pope Clement XI. conferred on him the title and authority of Missionary Apostolic, which enabled him to continue his apostolate after returning to France. He preached Mary everywhere and to everyone. A member of the Third Order of Saint Dominic, Saint Louis was one of the greatest apostles of the Rosary in his day, and by means of his miraculously inspiring book, The Secret of the Rosary, he is still so today; the most common manner of reciting the Rosary is the method that originated with Saint Louis's preaching. In AD 1715, he founded the group of missionaries, now known as the Company of Mary or Montfort Missionaries. Perhaps his greatest contribution to the Church and world is his work Total Consecration to the Blessed Virgin. He propagated this in his day by preaching and after his own death by his other famous book True Devotion to Mary. Consecration to Mary is, for Saint Louis, the perfect manner of renewing one's baptismal promises. His spirituality has been espoused by millions, and most notably by Pope John Paul II., who had consecrated not only himself but every place he has visited as pope. In True Devotion to Mary, Saint Louis prophesied that the army of souls consecrated to Mary will be Her instrument in defeating the Devil and his Antichrist. As Satan gains power in the world, so much more shall the new Eve triumph over him and crush his head.