Perhaps you are a bookaholic and have bibliomania! If you are a lover of books with overflowing bookshelves, could it be possible that over these hot summer days you will be ferreting out a few books that have been waiting patiently for you all winter?

If you follow the multiple Marian feast days in July and August, you may enjoy a book themed on Our Blessed Mother to accompany you this summer. Both A Woman Clothed with the Sun, John J. Delaney (ed) and The Life of the Blessed Virgin Mary from the visions of Ven. Anne Catherine Emmerich are especially good.

The big summer feast I hold dear is the Assumption of Mary, on Aug. 15, when many years ago I made a consecration to Jesus through Mary following the spiritually powerful method of St. Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort (1673-1716). This consecration to Jesus through Mary is a specific group of readings guiding one through a gentle faith development beginning with a focus on renunciation of the world, progressing through to knowledge of self, knowledge of the Blessed Virgin and knowledge of Jesus Christ concluding with a consecration prayer on a Marian feast day that you select.

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If a life story interests you then this French priest’s18th-century life is particularly exciting, impactful and edifying. 

And then there is the Irishman, Servant of God, Frank Duff (1889-1980), whose holy work in physically impoverished parts of Dublin is a testimony to the influence of St. Louis de Montfort. For both men, Marian devotion became a source of great spiritual zeal from which heroic courage was born and sustained.

It was St. Louis de Montfort’s book True Devotion to Mary that inspired Duff and empowered his group in 1920s Dublin to bold acts of charity and mercy.

I see in St. Louis preaching and mission many similarities to Jesus. St. Louis, like Jesus, was disliked by clergy, even to the point where they drove him out of his diocese. St. Louis was not held in high esteem, for they appreciated the finer trappings of life, whereas St. Louis was poor and known more for his poverty and holiness.

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Like Our Lord, he performed miracles, such as the multiplication of bread. He was transient, he walked from parish to parish and when he came into a town crowds came bringing their sick to him for healing. He preached with power. But sadly St. Louis had enemies leading to an attempt on his life by poisoning, from which he recovered but was forever weakened. He subsequently died in April 1716 at age 43.

Such was the devil’s mission against St. Louis that his True Devotion and other manuscripts were hidden in a trunk for over 100 years only to be discovered providentially, in 1842, by a priest seeking material for a sermon. The following year the first edition of True Devotion was published in France and reprints continue to this day.

St. Louis’ book became more widely circulated and in 1921, finding its way to Duff in Ireland, it settled in the hearts and minds of a small parish group. The influential writings and prayer propelled them to act bravely in rooting out evil deeds.

Using the Miraculous medal and bolstered by the True Devotion as their inspiration they broke through the crime and vice in a red-light district in Dublin where even the law was afraid to venture. They would toss Miraculous medals into brothels and even, withstanding curses and protestations, enter them falling on their knees to pray the Rosary. These repeated, astonishing acts led to many girls leaving the destitute life of prostitution and reducing vice in that tenement area. And so began the Legion of Mary, the largest lay apostolate in the Catholic Church.

Many have reported, me included, that making the St. Louis de Montfort method of consecration to Jesus through Mary led them to a spiritual growth and enlightenment of great significance in their faith development. It is a favourite of St. Pope John Paul II and other saints, recognized as pivotal in opening one’s spiritual eyes to a deepening union with Jesus Christ through Mary.

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Summers are filled with plenty of activities that are fun and relaxing, and such a great time for book lovers. With any of these selections mentioned here, you are certain to enjoy entertaining reading, plus a shower of spiritual graces that are everlasting.

Oh, Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee.