In the Footsteps of St. Louis Marie de Montfort
"Footsteps Online"
Autumn 2005 (Volume 9, Issue 2)
Reindeer Meat, Mosquitoes and Montfortian Spirituality!
Fr. Ronnie Mitchell, S.M.M. reflects on an unusual experience of evangelization.
Imagine the scene! I was preaching the Message of Christ in English. An Italian was interpreting into Finnish. The congregation at Mass was a mixture of Vietnamese, Iraqis, Mexicans, Sudanese, Polish, Dutch, etc. A Spanish guitar was leading the singing. How much more Catholic, Missionary and Alive can the Church be? Indeed, how much more challenged can a Montfortian be?
I had travelled on a Montfortian Mission from Liverpool to the Holy Family of Nazareth Catholic Church in Oulu. This city lies on the north-western coast of Finland. This is a country bounded by Russia, Lapland and on the west beyond the sea, by Sweden. Oulu has a population of 130, 000 with about 400 Catholics. It is the home of the Nokia mobile phone and has engineered instruments for those space satellites now prodding towards Mars.
The Legion of Mary had invited me to come to Finland to give teaching on the spirituality of St. Louis Marie de Montfort. They wished their members to be motivated by his inspiration for their work of evangelization so I was ministering there for part of the summer of 2004. I also went out with the Legionaries on their crowd contact work.
Montfort's spirituality is never lived on an abstract level but is always grounded by evangelism.
The Parish Priest, Fr. Paulo Berti, was keen on open air evangelism in the city. He had invited a team of Legion of Mary members from abroad to meet people in the streets, market places and parks of the city. "Talk to them about God", said Fr. Berti.
The Legion of Mary was born out of the spirituality of St. Louis Marie de Montfort. Montfort's inspiring doctrine is taken right out of the heart of Sacred Scripture. Quite simply he tells us how to come alive with Christ through the intercession of the Blessed Mother. The purpose of life, according to St. Louis Marie, is to allow Mary to mould us into the likeness or image of Christ. We then become more fully human and more fully alive.
This spirit of Montfort was very much alive in this group of legionaries... So I felt immediately at home with them. I was deeply touched by the discipline, unity and enthusiasm of these men and women. I could see that the discipline or rules of the Legion were there to foster unity and a common purpose.
Finland was Catholic at one time but the Reformation in the Sixteenth Century divided the Western Christian Church into Catholic and Protestant. The teachings of Martin Luther, e.g. justification by faith alone, quietly replaced Catholic doctrine and worship in Finland.
Confession, the Elevation at Mass, holy pictures and statues, important Feasts such as Corpus Christi, were allowed only if the true doctrines were not preached or taught. So the Catholic Faith began to die. We need emblems, symbols, and images. These visually and emotionally generate life.
Today Finland is eighty five per cent Lutheran. There are about 8,000 Catholics out of a population of five and a half million. There are sixteen priests, mostly Polish, ministering in Finland. Two of these are Finnish born. There is one seminarian.
The miracle is that we were able to approach people in the streets of Oulu and speak to them about our Catholic Faith. We shared with them about the Eucharist and Our Lady. I sensed that they were especially touched when we spoke to them about Our Blessed Mother in Heaven.
We prayed with the people and for them. St. Louis Marie again and again in his writings and especially by his life teaches us that God's blessing on our apostolate will be determined by our commitment to prayer.
All those whom we met were respectful and while a few excused themselves, the vast majority listened with attention. The language proved no barrier. Most people under forty years of age understood and spoke English quite well. Over twelve hundred people were contacted. Approximately one thousand miraculous medals were offered and were received with a mixture of surprise, awe and gratitude.
If I had any problem on this Mission it was to avoid eating reindeer meat which I was at pains to keep off my plate. Others seemed to enjoy it. The other difficulty was the darling mosquitoes that took a liking to me, and something by the impressive name of Hydrocortison Leiras was needed to put on "the bites".
But the evangelism as such was no problem. In fact one grew in confidence and boldness through meeting more and more people. The look on their faces registered the fact that they had never before been approached in this way. Fr. Berti was pleased as some people had said to him that approaching the Finns on the streets could never be done. Montfort teaches us that with Mary nothing is impossible with God.
How did the ministry in Finland impact me? I became more convinced than ever that evangelism needs to be top of our priorities. Indeed, training schools need to be set up so that Catholics are taught how to hand on their precious faith.
Yet in saying this we also need inspiration to motivate us to share the faith. This is where Montfortian spirituality is so life giving. It fires us up with a love for God and a powerful desire to spread the Reign of Jesus through Mary.
You become an apostle of the Good News the moment you realize that apart from leading others to Christ nothing else matters very much in life. You begin to organize your life around the necessity of sharing the gift of eternal life with others.
This is what I admire about living out the True Devotion to Mary as taught by St. Louis Marie. You are compelled to share this grace with others. You are inviting the Holy Spirit to empower you with zeal and courage.
The Church has to call its members, young and old, to heroism today. This is what the Holy Father is asking. It is about more than avoiding reindeer meat and dodging mosquitoes. It is about living a heroic lifestyle. It is about reaching out to others. It is about sharing the wonder and wisdom of Montfort's teaching with our brothers and sisters.
