The Daughters of Wisdom Again

De Montfort, with his usual thoroughness and dedication, also completed his plans for the Daughters of Wisdom, and selected as their Superior Madame Trichet, afterwards known as Sister Marie-Louise of Jesus. As the saint predicted, the nuns were given the administration of the hospital at Poitiers, where the congregation had been founded, and later became equally famous not only in other cities of Europe, but also in missionary countries throughout the world.

A severe illness from which de Montfort suffered in 1713 was treated by the barbarous methods of the time, and his survival of the ordeal seemed almost miraculous. His cheerfulness during these operations, performed without anesthetics, was only an expression of the spirit of penance that had characterized his whole life. At this time he told a priest friend that, God had “favored him with a very special grace, which was the abiding presence of Jesus and Mary in the depth of his soul.” He did not attempt to explain it theologically and it is doubtful if he could have done so. It seemed a wholly mystical experience of his union with Jesus, through Mary, which had been the inspiration of his life and apostolate.

He was destined now for a final glorious spring of missionary activity—preaching and praying the rosary in churches, shrines, and streets, and even in the midst of a ribald crowd aboard a market boat. He established innumerable Rosary Confraternities and it was his great love for the rosary that led him to become a Dominican Tertiary.