Dedicated To Helping Catholics Make Consecration To The Blessed Virgin Mary Work For Them And Achieve Everything St. Louis de Montfort Promised!
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Hello! I’m Casimir.
As a member of two Marian Confraternities, it’s my life’s mission (and responsibility) to help you grow closer to Jesus through Mary, specifically, by helping you understand and live the Marian devotion St. Louis de Montfort calls a… “…mystery of grace unknown to even the wisest and most spiritual among Christians” (“True Devotion to Mary”, #21). As you probably know, St. Louis said this “mystery of grace” remains a mystery even for those who’ve made their consecration to Mary. |
The original image of Our Lady of Perpetual Help (Church of Sant'Alfonso- Rome)
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Listen…
“As the essential of this devotion consists in the interior which it ought to form, it will not be equally comprehended by everybody. Some will stop at what is exterior in it, and will go no further, and these will be the greatest number.
“Some, in small number, will enter into its inward spirit; but they will only mount but one step. Who will mount to the second step? Who will get as far as the third? Lastly, who will so advance as to make this devotion his habitual state?” (True Devotion, #119).
Plus…
“I have found many people who, with admirable zeal, have adopted the exterior practices of this holy slavery of Jesus and Mary, but I have found only a few who have accepted its interior spirit, and still fewer who have persevered in it” (“The Secret of Mary”, #44).
In a nutshell, here’s my story…
On the cold evening of the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception on December 8, 1989, I made my consecration to Mary.
And I was expecting my devotion to her to take off like a rocket. But instead, it crashed and burned.
I found myself firmly planted in the group of people who St. Louis said get almost nowhere in their consecration to Mary.
“As the essential of this devotion consists in the interior which it ought to form, it will not be equally comprehended by everybody. Some will stop at what is exterior in it, and will go no further, and these will be the greatest number.
“Some, in small number, will enter into its inward spirit; but they will only mount but one step. Who will mount to the second step? Who will get as far as the third? Lastly, who will so advance as to make this devotion his habitual state?” (True Devotion, #119).
Plus…
“I have found many people who, with admirable zeal, have adopted the exterior practices of this holy slavery of Jesus and Mary, but I have found only a few who have accepted its interior spirit, and still fewer who have persevered in it” (“The Secret of Mary”, #44).
In a nutshell, here’s my story…
On the cold evening of the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception on December 8, 1989, I made my consecration to Mary.
And I was expecting my devotion to her to take off like a rocket. But instead, it crashed and burned.
I found myself firmly planted in the group of people who St. Louis said get almost nowhere in their consecration to Mary.
St. Louis had admitted…
“I have now said many things about 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, in the design which I have to form a true client of Mary, and a true disciple of Jesus Christ” (True Devotion, #111).
And…
“As I have not much time for writing, nor you for reading, I shall say everything as briefly as possible” (Secret, #2).
I spent years looking for books which would fill in those gaps, and expand on what he’d written.
Long story short, my big break came when I was able to meet Montfort Father Battista Cortinovis at the Montfort Fathers’ headquarters in Rome.
He’s the Postulator for the Cause to have St. Louis de Montfort declared a Doctor of the Church. So, he’s definitely got all of this ducks in a row. And he’s got access to everything on St. Louis and his Marian spirituality.
He gave me and pointed me to books about St. Louis’ Marian spirituality which most people have never heard of and never will, because…
1. Because they’re all in French, and…
2. Even these French editions are almost all out-of-print, or buried in libraries the general public doesn’t have access to.
He even gave me a copy of the original manuscript of St. Louis’ “True Devotion to Mary”.
“I have now said many things about 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, in the design which I have to form a true client of Mary, and a true disciple of Jesus Christ” (True Devotion, #111).
And…
“As I have not much time for writing, nor you for reading, I shall say everything as briefly as possible” (Secret, #2).
I spent years looking for books which would fill in those gaps, and expand on what he’d written.
Long story short, my big break came when I was able to meet Montfort Father Battista Cortinovis at the Montfort Fathers’ headquarters in Rome.
He’s the Postulator for the Cause to have St. Louis de Montfort declared a Doctor of the Church. So, he’s definitely got all of this ducks in a row. And he’s got access to everything on St. Louis and his Marian spirituality.
He gave me and pointed me to books about St. Louis’ Marian spirituality which most people have never heard of and never will, because…
1. Because they’re all in French, and…
2. Even these French editions are almost all out-of-print, or buried in libraries the general public doesn’t have access to.
He even gave me a copy of the original manuscript of St. Louis’ “True Devotion to Mary”.
While in Rome, the late Msgr. Arthur Calkins introduced me to Fr. Etienne Richer of the Community of the Beatitudes. Fr. Richer gave me a copy the doctoral dissertation he’d just written on St. Louis.
He encouraged me to make use of his extensive bibliography, which contained many valuable resources on St. Louis’ Marian spirituality. And that’s exactly what I did.
I’ve also read 9 biographies about St. Louis, including the one by Canon Blain, St. Louis’ best friend. The Montfort Fathers published it “in-house” only for the members of their religious order. Fortunately, they let me have a copy.
So, I collected all of the books which Fr. Cortinovis and Fr. Richer made me aware of. And as I started reading them, it was clear that they were exactly what I’d been looking for.
They filled in the gaps St. Louis admitted were in his writings, and expanded on what he had written.
They’ve helped my devotion to Mary tremendously. And although I don’t claim to be ready for canonization, I’m farther along than I would’ve been without these books.
He encouraged me to make use of his extensive bibliography, which contained many valuable resources on St. Louis’ Marian spirituality. And that’s exactly what I did.
I’ve also read 9 biographies about St. Louis, including the one by Canon Blain, St. Louis’ best friend. The Montfort Fathers published it “in-house” only for the members of their religious order. Fortunately, they let me have a copy.
So, I collected all of the books which Fr. Cortinovis and Fr. Richer made me aware of. And as I started reading them, it was clear that they were exactly what I’d been looking for.
They filled in the gaps St. Louis admitted were in his writings, and expanded on what he had written.
They’ve helped my devotion to Mary tremendously. And although I don’t claim to be ready for canonization, I’m farther along than I would’ve been without these books.
St. Louis assures you…
“She is on the look-out, as Rebecca was, for favorable occasions to do them good, to ennoble and enrich them. She sees clearly in God all goods and evils…; and then she so disposes things from afar, that she may exempt her servants from all sorts of evils, and heap upon them all sorts of goods” (True Devotion, #203).
I can 100% say that I’ve experienced what St. Louis promised. The Blessed Mother has done (and continues to do) things in my favor which I never could’ve foreseen or thought to ask for.
And the same will happen for you, because, since countless numbers of Catholics are now making their consecration to Mary… and St. Louis said most of them don’t get very far… I’ve done the first and only translations of the books which Fr. Cortinovis helped me discover on St. Louis’ Marian spirituality.
I put them all into what I’ve named the “True Devotion to Mary Series”.
And as proof that they fill in the gaps in St. Louis’ writings, and expand on what he wrote, here’s what the Montfort Fathers said about one of the books in the Series, the “Commentary on the Treatise on the True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin”…
“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 assure you this Commentary “furnishes to readers everything they must know in order to understand and taste the doctrine of Bl. Louis-Marie de Montfort.”
Even the Vatican chimed in about the merits of this Commentary…
The Vatican’s Substitute Secretary of State, Giovanni Battista Montini (now known as Pope St. Paul VI), wrote a letter to Montfort Father Armand Plessis (the author), in which he says this Commentary is “completely penetrated with the Marian piety which animated Bl. Grignion de Montfort.”
“She is on the look-out, as Rebecca was, for favorable occasions to do them good, to ennoble and enrich them. She sees clearly in God all goods and evils…; and then she so disposes things from afar, that she may exempt her servants from all sorts of evils, and heap upon them all sorts of goods” (True Devotion, #203).
I can 100% say that I’ve experienced what St. Louis promised. The Blessed Mother has done (and continues to do) things in my favor which I never could’ve foreseen or thought to ask for.
And the same will happen for you, because, since countless numbers of Catholics are now making their consecration to Mary… and St. Louis said most of them don’t get very far… I’ve done the first and only translations of the books which Fr. Cortinovis helped me discover on St. Louis’ Marian spirituality.
I put them all into what I’ve named the “True Devotion to Mary Series”.
And as proof that they fill in the gaps in St. Louis’ writings, and expand on what he wrote, here’s what the Montfort Fathers said about one of the books in the Series, the “Commentary on the Treatise on the True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin”…
“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 assure you this Commentary “furnishes to readers everything they must know in order to understand and taste the doctrine of Bl. Louis-Marie de Montfort.”
Even the Vatican chimed in about the merits of this Commentary…
The Vatican’s Substitute Secretary of State, Giovanni Battista Montini (now known as Pope St. Paul VI), wrote a letter to Montfort Father Armand Plessis (the author), in which he says this Commentary is “completely penetrated with the Marian piety which animated Bl. Grignion de Montfort.”
Think of the “True Devotion to Mary Series” like this…
Steve Jobs once gave a talk, during which he said…
“Let’s look at automobiles. Compare a Volkswagen Rabbit, a dump truck, and a Mercedes Benz, let’s say. They all have transmissions, they all have engines, four wheels, seats. Basically, they all perform the same basic function: transportation. The difference is emphasis. There’s a difference in emphasis. And that’s what we’re going to look at doing – computers with a different emphasis.”
The books which make up the “True Devotion to Mary Series” all emphasize a different aspect of this devotion to Mary, from preparing for your consecration to her all the way to preparing for the End Times in union with her.
St. Louis de Montfort promises you…
“This devotion to the Blessed Virgin is a short road to find Jesus Christ, both because it is a road which we do not stray from, and because, as I have said, it is a road we tread with joy and ease, and, by consequence, with speed. We make more progress in a brief period of submission to and dependence on Mary than in whole years of our own will and of relying upon ourselves” (True Devotion, #155).
Plus…
“It is a short road, which leads us to Jesus in a little time” (True Devotion, #168).
And most importantly…
“By this practice, faithfully observed, you will give Jesus more glory in a month than by any other practice, however difficult, in many years” (True Devotion, #222).
Since you recognize the importance of devotion to Mary, and you’re going to practice devotion to her anyway, why not use the devotion to her which God Himself revealed to St. Louis?
As you already know, he revealed…
“Predestinate soul, here is a secret the Most High has taught me, which I have not been able to find in any book, old or new. I confide it to you, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit” (“The Secret of Mary”, #1).
That’s why he promised…
“For an egg she (Mary) gives an ox; that is to say, for a little that is given to her, she gives much of what she has received from God” (True Devotion, #181).
And…
“The strongest inclination of Mary is to unite us to Jesus Christ her Son; and the strongest inclination of the Son is that we should come to Him by His holy Mother” (True Devotion, #75).
If you’re ready to let Mary unite you to her Son with head-spinning speed, just CLICK HERE. That will take you to the BOOKS page where you’ll see the books contained in the “True Devotion to Mary Series”, and decide which is best for you at this stage of your spiritual journey.
Steve Jobs once gave a talk, during which he said…
“Let’s look at automobiles. Compare a Volkswagen Rabbit, a dump truck, and a Mercedes Benz, let’s say. They all have transmissions, they all have engines, four wheels, seats. Basically, they all perform the same basic function: transportation. The difference is emphasis. There’s a difference in emphasis. And that’s what we’re going to look at doing – computers with a different emphasis.”
The books which make up the “True Devotion to Mary Series” all emphasize a different aspect of this devotion to Mary, from preparing for your consecration to her all the way to preparing for the End Times in union with her.
St. Louis de Montfort promises you…
“This devotion to the Blessed Virgin is a short road to find Jesus Christ, both because it is a road which we do not stray from, and because, as I have said, it is a road we tread with joy and ease, and, by consequence, with speed. We make more progress in a brief period of submission to and dependence on Mary than in whole years of our own will and of relying upon ourselves” (True Devotion, #155).
Plus…
“It is a short road, which leads us to Jesus in a little time” (True Devotion, #168).
And most importantly…
“By this practice, faithfully observed, you will give Jesus more glory in a month than by any other practice, however difficult, in many years” (True Devotion, #222).
Since you recognize the importance of devotion to Mary, and you’re going to practice devotion to her anyway, why not use the devotion to her which God Himself revealed to St. Louis?
As you already know, he revealed…
“Predestinate soul, here is a secret the Most High has taught me, which I have not been able to find in any book, old or new. I confide it to you, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit” (“The Secret of Mary”, #1).
That’s why he promised…
“For an egg she (Mary) gives an ox; that is to say, for a little that is given to her, she gives much of what she has received from God” (True Devotion, #181).
And…
“The strongest inclination of Mary is to unite us to Jesus Christ her Son; and the strongest inclination of the Son is that we should come to Him by His holy Mother” (True Devotion, #75).
If you’re ready to let Mary unite you to her Son with head-spinning speed, just CLICK HERE. That will take you to the BOOKS page where you’ll see the books contained in the “True Devotion to Mary Series”, and decide which is best for you at this stage of your spiritual journey.
In the hearts of Jesus and Mary,
Casimir Valla
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