I recently came across several stories of St Louis de Montfort, the great French priest dedicated to Our Lady, and wanted to share an insight about him that affects our influencer culture.

St Louis de Montfort was a French Catholic priest who lived in the late 1600s to early 1700s.

He re-evangelized the people of Brittany and the Vendee in France (important later!).

He died in 1716, over seventy years prior to the French Revolution.

In the French Revolution, one region in particular rose up against the diabolical Reign of Terror of the Revolutionaries: the Vendee.

St Louis de Montfort's work among them, by God's grace, steeled their resolve and conviction to fight the bloodthirsty Revolutionaries, and fight they did.

Most of them had no combat experience or martial training of any kind, but they had a strong faith in Christ and a dedication to His Church, and they were appalled at the godless brutality that they were witnessing, the destruction of their churches, the...

“The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, ‘You
are a priest forever after the order of Melchiz′edek.’”
—Psalm 110:4

I was a new Catholic and very happy. I was single, had recently
graduated college, and had started my first job in my new
career.

Shortly after becoming Catholic, I encountered St. Francis
of Assisi. Even as an atheist, I had heard of St. Francis, but now,
as a Catholic, I began to learn more deeply about how he actually
lived his life.

I learned that he practiced extreme poverty and made vows
of chastity and obedience. At the time, I could not imagine a
more radical way of following Jesus than these.

What if God was calling me to such a radical way of life as
well, to religious life or to the priesthood?

I wanted to follow wherever God led me, but I was still not
completely healed of all my anxieties. Being a priest meant you
had to be in the spotlight, with all eyes on you, and I wondered
whether I could ever do that.

I also had a fear...