In the Footsteps of St. Louis Marie de Montfort

"Footsteps Online"

Autumn 1998 (Volume 3, Issue 3)

To be a Pilgrim in the Footsteps of Montfort and Marie Louise

This year many of you will have been on pilgrimage, and some of you may have participated in the Montfortian pilgrimages to Walsingham , St. Laurent-sur-Sèvre and Lourdes and will have many memories of these visits. We gathered our bits and pieces for the journey and we set out ready to bear the pain, ready to spend the time in prayer, ready to walk with our companions on pilgrimage to places made holy by the feet of many generations. To be a Montfortian is to be a life-long pilgrim, it is rooted in our spirituality and is lived out daily by each of us on our journey through life in our homes, in our places of work and in our relationships with each other.

Montfort and Mother Marie Louise both understood very well what it meant to be a pilgrim.

Montfort's whole life was, in effect, a pilgrimage - he saw himself as a Pilgrim for Christ and in his hymns referred to himself as a vagabond, a troubadour, a hunter, a seeker of souls…………

A friend of the cross travels through the world like a visitor and pilgrim……

He (Jesus) undertook such long and arduous journeys for them, and would I undertake none………

I am a hunter of souls, I've taken a vagabond spirit, to save my neighbour.

Several years ago (1991) I had the experience of participating in a pilgrimage along with other English speaking Sisters called 'In The Footsteps of Montfort and Marie Louise'. I hasten to add that we did not actually walk it ! However, as we travelled the roads of France - and Italy - in the relative comfort and security of a mini-bus, I was very struck by the answer that Montfort gave when he was asked why he walked the roads of France - put simply , the reply he gave was, 'In order to touch hearts'.

So we see that Montfort actively chose and lived like Jesus walking out among his people, journeying with them whether it be in the poorhouse, at the side of the road, on a Mission, building a Calvary, with people as they were dying, in schools or simply as he was walking along the road. His journey, his pilgrimage was to be among people, not just giving food and lodging but actually becoming one with them.

Montfort began his life as a pilgrim in the most concrete way at the bridge of Cesson when he set out for Paris to begin his studies for the priesthood. He let go and broke with the past, he stripped himself of all he possessed and set out on a road of uncertainty, ambiguity and lack of security - he walked away from the expectations of respectable society to walk with people, to be among people on their journey towards God, with Mary as his constant companion. Mary who had herself undertaken many journeys both inwardly and outwardly. In preparing this article I was personally amazed at how many of Mary's journeys are actually recorded in scripture.

  • Mary set out……to see Elizabeth
  • Mary and Joseph set out for Bethlehem
  • Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night and went to Egypt.
  • They took him up to Jerusalem to present him to Jesus
  • Every year his parents used to go to Jerusalem
  • His mother stored up all these things in her heart…..she pondered them in her heart.
  • She also clearly journeyed with him on some of His travels, attended a wedding, walked with him and was present at Calvary, and journeyed with the disciples in their fear in the Upper Room before the Spirit came at Pentecost.

Montfort actually lived like Jesus walking out among people and accompanied them on their journey precisely to touch hearts with the love of God.

Like Jesus, Montfort walked the streets and the market squares and preached Good News at the street corners - he delighted to be with people on their journey.

Montfort journeyed with people who had no voice, or who were sad and lonely !

Montfort journeyed with those who were consistently overlooked and ignored !

Montfort journeyed with those who were despised as dirty and ignorant and powerless and who had no hope !

And he said of his own journey, his own pilgrimage;

'My Master led me there in spite of myself'

He didn't just do it from the margins - he lived like them, he touched them personally;

  • He told them that they were important by his words and actions.
  • He preached Good News to them.
  • He let them know that they were loved and loveable

Montfort too sought times of prayer and solitude on his journey and these also took on a certain rhythm of prayer and missionary activity.

For Mother Marie Louise, the first Daughter of Wisdom, there was also this significant moment of letting go, of setting out on a journey not knowing where she was going, and perhaps for her this setting out was even more of a risk than Montfort's. Some may say that the defining moment for her was when she entered the confessional, but I believe it was when she stated her intent clearly;

'I have reflected on what you told me, and I want to come and live with the poor. Take me as an inmate'

Marie Louise chose;

To be among people, with people!
And why!
In order to touch hearts!
 

But perhaps her longest journey was only just beginning - the journey of her ten long years alone in the poor house at Poitiers. As he leaves to cover many miles on foot, her dual journey, afar and within begins, as she walks in the footsteps of Jesus Wisdom.. And for the rest of her life, and long after Montfort died, she sought and desired to follow Jesus Wisdom, bringing her new communities and sisters to be among people and to touch hearts. She herself, well into old age, spent many hours and days on the roads, personally involved with the sisters, the setting up and continuation of communities; always ready to set out once again leaving Poitiers for La Rochelle. Who can doubt that her prayer was continual, even to saying the Prayer for Wisdom daily during those long ten years, which Montfort gave her and which even he forgot about!

Truly, she was a pilgrim for Christ !

What of ourselves today as friends of the Montfortian family, following in the footsteps of Jesus Wisdom and in the footsteps of Montfort and Marie Louise?

Did this pilgrimage change your life?
Do you see each new day as a journey or pilgrimage ?
What are your greatest hopes ?
Is Mary your constant companion on the journey?
Is prayer part of your daily pilgrimage ?
Will you allow your heart to be touched by love ?
Whose hearts will you touch with the love of God , at home, in the workplace and throughout each day ?

And when you returned home from your pilgrimage did you let its message dwell in your heart and let it grow daily ? As we draw near to the Year 2000 who will we walk with, who will be our companions on the journey and whose hearts will we touch as Pilgrims for Christ ? It is about being a Pilgrim for Christ, it is about being among people and it is about touching hearts in the bits and pieces of our everyday lives.

But whatever the pilgrimage or for whatever purpose, at the heart is the journey. And at the heart of the journey is an awakening into God, into our deepest selves and a greater love for our companions on the journey of life.

Like the disciples on the road to Emmaus, we find ourselves in step with a God who perseveres with us to the end of the road and is recognised in the breaking of bread. So Continue your pilgrimage and give God the chance to walk beside you on every step of life's journey.

Open wide the door of your pilgrim heart to Jesus Christ !!!!

Sr. Shirley, D.W.