Coredemption and Maternal Mediation of the Immaculate "Reparatrix of the Human Race" according to de Montfort

1. Introduction

On the occasion of the presentation of the Encyclical Fides et Ratio (1998) the Servant of God John Paul II dared to affirm that "It is time for the experience and thought of the saints to be more carefully and systematically developed for a deeper understanding of Christian truths."¹ As everyone knows, among the saints whose experience and thought Pope John Paul II himself esteemed, in a conspicuous way, was Saint Louis-Marie de Montfort (1673-1716).

Described by Henri Brémond as "the last of the great Bérullians,"² his spiritual writings constitute a source of exceptional quality for a thorough investigation of the truth about the Blessed Virgin Mary and on the Marian dimension of Christian life. Beatified by Leo XIII in 1888, then canonized by Pius XII in 1947, Saint Louis-Marie de Montfort's liturgical memorial was inscribed on the liturgical calendar of the Roman Rite by the decision of John Paul II in 1996.³ That same year, which was also that of his own golden jubilee of priestly ordination, the same John Paul II confided, in the book written to commemorate that occasion, that he considered Saint Louis-Marie de Montfort not only as a saint recognized and venerated as such in the Church, or as an author or as a master of the spiritual life to be recommended, but also as an "outstanding theologian."⁴ The novel character of this formula, subsequently adopted in the Supplex Libellus (2000),⁵ should not be undervalued: what the title "outstanding theologian" intends to express is in full continuity with the clear-sighted judgment of many commentators on the writings of Montfort since the beginning of the twentieth century. Pope Pius XII had already underscored to what point Saint Louis-Marie de Montfort "knew how to put at the disposal of the most simple souls the treasure of a solid and profound theology-and in this he excelled."⁶ Will the cause of the beatification of John Paul II, opened by Benedict XVI, be sufficiently decisive to reactivate the cause for the recognition of Saint Louis-Marie as a Doctor of the Church which the distinguished mariologist G.M. Roschini (1900-1977) called for by his vota since 1938?⁷ The future will tell.

One thing is sure: considering the profound influence of this doctrine on the spiritual life and on the magisterium of John Paul II, not only are the witness and the teaching of this venerated Pope a privileged guide for reading and interpreting the writings of Father de Montfort but, in a reciprocal way, the message of Montfort offers valuable clarification in penetrating the secrets of the mariology and spiritual theology of John Paul II.⁸ This double point of reference is verified most particularly with regard to the truth of Marian coredemption. If the study of the writings of Grignion de Montfort can, without any doubt, illumine the Marian magisterium of John Paul II on the coredemption, conversely the reading of Grignion de Montfort carried out by John Paul II can contribute enormously to a rediscovery of the clarifications on this mystery made by Montfort.⁹ This is why, before presenting the status questionis and developing our interpretation of Montfort's contribution¹⁰ to this subject, it
is appropriate to recall briefly, the profound link between the consciousness of the Redemption and true devotion to Mary in the experience and thought of John Paul II.

2. The "Wojtyłan" Reading of Grignion de Montfort and Consciousness of the Redemption

In a work published in Polish in 1972 on the implementation of the Second Vatican Council, Cardinal Wojtyła insisted on the fact that the figure of the Mother of God is "connected in a special way with the consciousness of Redemption."¹¹ Totally included in that of the Incarnate Word, the mystery of the Mother of God passes through Him into the mystery of his Mystical Body "at the same time that the work of Redemption which Jesus Christ accomplishes not only as Son of God, but also as Son of Mary."¹² The Encyclical Redemptoris Mater, published fifteen years later, specified that "Mary is present in the Church as the Mother of Christ, and at the same time as that Mother whom Christ, in the mystery of the Redemption, gave to humanity in the person of the Apostle John" (#47).¹³

The path of consecration to Jesus through Mary, of which Saint Louis-Marie de Montfort became an apostle, and is named in the following number of the same encyclical, intends to take up the same path of Saint John at the hour of the Redemption: "Like St. John the Evangelist at the foot of the Cross, I have taken her times without number as my total good and as often have I given myself to her" (The Secret of Mary #66).

On numerous occasions, Pope John Paul II acknowledged having grasped-thanks to his reading of the writings of Saint Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort-that "true devotion to the Mother of God is actually Christocentric, indeed, it is very profoundly rooted in the Mystery of the Blessed Trinity, and the mysteries of the Incarnation and Redemption."¹⁴

When he was Archbishop of Krakow, after having alluded to his personal discovery of the mystery of Mary as presented by Montfort, in the course of a meeting with his priests, Archbishop Wojtyła took care to underscore to what point true Marian devotion is rooted in the mystery of the Redemption:

I came to understand first of all that genuine devotion to the Mother of God flows from a profound understanding of the mystery of the Redemption. In order to foster a deep relation with Mary [neither superficial nor sentimental], it is necessary to relate to her within the entire context of the mystery of our Redemption. In all cases this mystery is found in the original plan ... Such has been my personal experience.¹⁵

Subsequently in his famous dialogue with the French convert journalist, André Frossard, Pope John Paul II expressed himself again on this point:

'Perfect devotion to Mary'-that is how the author of the Treatise puts it-that is, the true knowledge of her, and confident surrender to her, grows with our knowledge of Christ and our confident surrender to his person. What is more, this 'perfect devotion' is indispensable to anyone who means to give himself to Christ and to the work of redemption. Grignion de Montfort even shows us the working of the mysteries which quicken our faith and make it grow and render it fruitful. The more my inner life has been centred on the mystery of the Redemption, the more surrender to Mary, in the spirit of Saint Louis Grignion de Montfort, has seemed to me the best means of participating fruitfully and effectively in this reality, in order to draw from it and share with others its inexpressible riches.¹⁶

In the eyes of Karol Wojtyła, "true devotion to Mary," as it is proposed in the Treatise of Grignion de Montfort, is not reduced in any way to a collection of ascetical-devotional propositions, even those well organized, aimed at setting up a simple supplement of pious practices, but rather constitutes a genuine and radical itinerary of sanctification, a way of perfection which does not stop on the threshold of contemplation, but proposes an authentic Marian mysticism leading to the heights of union with God. In this the spiritual theology of Montfort effectively joins Saint Bonaventure who doesn't hesitate to describe the Virgin Mary as Purgatrix, Illuminatrix and Perfectrix of the soul.¹⁷ Even more, it is noteworthy that the explanation offered by Pope John Paul II, in the form of his personal testimony, strongly emphasizes the excellence of the "slavery of the love" of Jesus in Mary (as Louis-Marie de Montfort proposes it) as the means of "participating fruitfully and effectively" in the reality of the Redemption, otherwise known as growing in the vocation of co-redeemer which is that of all the baptized. This is exactly what is brought out, to take one example among so many others, by the illuminating witness of the Canadian religious Blessed Dina Bélanger (Marie Sainte Cécile de Rome, 1897-1929) who, after having given herself totally to the Holy Virgin according to the indications of the Secret of Mary, confided that:

I wish I could consecrate all souls to her, for it is she who leads us to Jesus; it is she that we must allow to live in us so that Christ can take the place of our nothingness; she is the safest, shortest, the most perfect way to lead us to the Infinite, to unite us with uncreated Love until we are lost in him, immersed in the Source of eternal bliss. 'O sweet Virgin, Mother of all mankind, reveal to all souls without a single exception, your sublime secret; give them the light to understand it and the generosity to make it their own.'¹⁸

Thus, as a mystagogy favoring the participation in the fruits of the work of the redemption in the development of the Christian and apostolic life, the excellent character of the teaching of Montfort is manifested. "True devotion to Mary" then shows itself to be an authentic Marian pedagogy of holiness which facilitates the collaboration of the Church and of Christians in the work of salvation.¹⁹

But a question remains: On what doctrine on the specific and unique participation of the Virgin Mary herself in the work of salvation does this wisdom of Montfort rest? We are dealing here with a disputed question. Nevertheless, an attentive reading of the corpus of his writings enables one to respond without great difficulties, since many solid studies on this matter, virtually forgotten today, were undertaken by eminent mariologists before, as well as after, the canonization of Saint Louis-Marie.