ST. LOUIS MARIE DE MONTFORT
St. Louis Grignion De Montfort was born on 31 January 1673 in a town called Montfort in West France. Even from his childhood days he was known to be very virtuous and exhibited an extraordinary love for the poor. He admired and loved the Holy Virgin Mary, Mother of Jesus.
He became a priest and dedicated his life totally for God and man. He went about from place to place with the enduring message of God’s love. He taught and served the poor and championed their cause on all occasions. His extreme kind of love for the lowly and abandoned may have made his look rugged and turbulent but at heart and in his deeds he was an angel of peace.

He was a great scholar, a powerful speaker and an author of many spiritual works. Some of his books are “The Love of the Eternal Wisdom”, “The True Devotion to Mary” and “Secret of the Rosary”. His skills at painting and carving along with his aptitude for poetry made him a spiritual Leonardo da Vinci. He was never afraid of telling the truth and doing what was right in the eyes of God. Worldly people victimised him for his sound conviction and straightforwardness.
Persecutions did contribute to his early demise on April 28th 1716 at the age of 43. He was acclaimed a Saint by the people and then by the church. In his lifetime he had established many dedicated groups of men and women to carry on his good work, particularly in the field of education. The Montfort Brothers of St. Gabriel is one of the most important organisations that he found. Three of these brothers arrived on the shore of India at Pondicherry in 1903. They initiated their mission of education almost immediately and in 2003, we had the grand centenary celebration of the Brothers unparalleled service to the nation.