I was so excited I could barely sleep the night before the Mass with the Holy Father.
The next day was Tuesday, December 20, 1994.
A few classmates and I decided to go to Rome for Christmas. One of them got a letter from his bishop, which he used to get us into Pope St. John Paul II's morning Mass in his private chapel.
Msgr. (now Cardinal) Dziwisz came out with the Lectionary, and I practically snatched it out of his hands. That's how I was able to do the readings. And since I was facing the Holy Father, I was able to see this passage of St. Paul take place right before my eyes:
"For we know not what we should pray for as we ought; but the Spirit Himself asks for us with unspeakable groanings" (Rom. 8:26).
I actually heard and saw the Holy Father groaning as he was praying. It shocked me at first.
I'm telling you this story because Pope St. John Paul II is widely known as the most Marian Pope in history. He made his consecration to Mary, and took his motto "Totus tuus" from St. Louis de Montfort.
And he told the Montfort Fathers:
"Someday I'll have to tell you Montfortians how I discovered De Montfort's
"Treatise on True Devotion to Mary"
, and how often I had to reread it to understand it.
The good news is that with this Commentary, it won't take you a long time to understand the "True Devotion". Here's why...
St. Louis admitted...
"I have now said many things about the Most Holy Virgin; but I have many more to say, and there are infinitely more which I shall omit, whether from ignorance, inability, or want of time" (True Devotion, #111).
This Commentary fills in all the gaps. Don't take my word for it. Here's what the Montfort Fathers said about it...
"The
"Commentary on the Treatise on the True Devotion"
points out everything the reader must know or remember in order to penetrate completely the immortal masterpiece of St. Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort. It is an essential book for whoever desires to learn the Perfect Devotion."
And elsewhere they said it "...furnishes to readers everything they must know in order to understand and appreciate the doctrine of Bl. Louis-Marie de Montfort."
St. Louis warns that taking any other path to God will make your life much harder...
"It is true that we can attain to divine union by other roads; but it is by many more crosses and exceptional setbacks, and with many more difficulties, which we shall find it hard to overcome" (True Devotion, #152).
On the other hand, he calls this devotion...
"...a path of roses and honey compared with the other paths" (True Devotion, #152).
Furthermore, he assures you that this devotion...
"...is a path trodden by Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Wisdom, our sole Head" (True Devotion, #168).
That's why he emphasized...
"Oh, how highly we glorify God, when, to please Him, we submit ourselves to Mary, after the example of Jesus Christ, our sole Exemplar!" (True Devotion, #18)
God the Father tells us:
"This is My most beloved Son; hear ye Him" (Mk. 9:6).
That means any thoughts of ignoring this devotion or of delaying to put it into practice can't possibly come from God. Because God will never tell you to ignore His Son's example or to delay putting into practice a devotion to Mary which Jesus lived.
God gives us this backdrop to human history...
"The Lord God then asked the woman: "Why did you do such a thing?" And she answered: "The serpent deceived me, and I did eat" (Gen. 3:13).
If Eve responded immediately to the diabolical suggestion of the devil...
Doesn't it make much more sense for you to get started following Jesus just as quickly on the path of this devotion to His holy Mother?
I think you know the answer. Your next step is easy: Just order your copy of this book today, and let Our Lady lead you to her Son.