Written in 1712, the manuscript remained practically unknown for more than a century, when it was discovered by chance in 1842, at the Motherhouse of the Missionaries of the Company of Mary at St. Laurent-sur-Sèvre, France. Published in 1843, the work became an instant success. It was first translated into English by Father William Faber. The book complements de Montfort's other works the Secret of the Rosary and the Secret of Mary.
True Devotion to Mary attracted attention in the 20th century when in an address to the Montfort Fathers, Pope John Paul II said that reading this book had been a "decisive turning point" in his life. According to his Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae he borrowed his apostolic motto Totus Tuus from the book. In his 1987 encyclopedia, Redemptoris Mater the Pope cited Saint Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort as a teacher of Marian spirituality.
INTRODUCTION OF SAINT LOUIS MARY DE MONTFORT
1. It was through the Blessed Virgin Mary that Jesus came into the world, and it is also through her that he must reign in the world.
2. Because Mary remained hidden during her life she is called by the Holy Spirit and the Church "Alma Mater", Mother hidden and unknown. So great was her humility that she desired nothing more upon earth than to remain unknown to herself and to others, and to be known only to God.
3. In answer to her prayers to remain hidden, poor and lowly, God was pleased to conceal her from nearly every other human creature in her conception, her birth, her life, her mysteries, her resurrection and assumption. Her own parents did not really know her; and the angels would often ask one another, "Who can she possibly be?", for God had hidden her from them, or if he did reveal anything to them, it was nothing compared with what he withheld...
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