Thelagathoti Joseph Raja Rao

The Mystical Experience and Doctrine
of St. Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort

Tesi Gregoriana. Serie Spiritualità 10
Editrice Pontificia Università Gregoriana, Roma 2005, 384 p.

St. Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort (1673-1716) has been called the last of the Bérullians and is also known in the Catholic world as the "apostle of Mary". This thesis attempts to trace his mystical journey through his life and writings. His own mystical transformation in Wisdom enabled him to make God known to others. With the missionary mandate of Pope Clement XI, Montfort preached the Gospel anew to the people in western France through parish missions whose lasting impact was assured by a daily living of the Consecration to Jesus through Mary, a kind of mystical itinerary for the faithful.
Similarly, his many writings, The Love of Eternal Wisdom, True Devotion to Mary, The Secret of Mary, The Prayer for Missionaries, and the Hymns teach the riches of mystical union in a simple key revealing different types of Mysticism. The Consecration to Jesus through Mary which he taught, was meant as a perfect renewal of the baptismal vows. Saying this Louis-Marie holds the view that mysticism is meant for every one, since it is the ordinary flowering of baptismal grace through the practice of faith, hope and charity. It has had a significant impact on the spiritual life of Pope John Paul II, which he expressed in his Episcopal motto: Totus Tuus.

Thelagathoti Joseph Raja Rao was born in 1952 in the Indian State of Andhra Pradesh. Entering the Montfort Missionaries in 1975 he made his theological studies at the Gregorian University in Rome, and was ordained priest in 1980. While engaged in formation ministry, he also obtained a Master's Degree in Biblical Theology from Dharmaram Vidyakshetrarn in Bangalore and taught there and at other institutes for several years. As the Superior of the Montfort Missionaries in India he also worked on the Executive Committee of the Conference of Religious in India from 1992-1997.