What do you think?
Rate this book
Behold the Handmaid of the Lord: A 10-Day Personal Retreat with St. Louis de Montfort’s True Devotion to Mary
Considered by many to be the greatest book of Marian spirituality in one volume, True Devotion to Mary is St. Louis de Montfort's classic statement on the spiritual way to Jesus Christ though the Blessed Virgin Mary. In Behold the Handmaid of the Lord , Marian theologian Fr. Edward Looney masterfully summarizes the central teachings of St. Louis in a ten-day personal retreat that will bless even those who have completed the full devotion. During the course of ten days, you’ll explore ten different titles for Mary popularized by St. Louis. Each presents a distinct aspect of her motherhood and protection while illuminating the spiritual path to Jesus through Mary. You’ll get to know Mary and become devoted to her Each day you will reflect on Mary’s role in your life and the practical implications of that connection before wrapping up with a brief closing prayer tailored to the day’s title. You’ll come away prepared to begin or renew your consecration to Mary and with a refreshed love for the Mother of Jesus. The book includes an appendix for step-by-step consecration to Mary.
- GenresCatholicNonfiction
128 pages, Paperback
Published October 8, 2021
4 people are currently reading
27 people want to read
About the author
Edward Looney
17 books16 followersFr. Edward Looney was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Green Bay June 6, 2015, and currently serves as Administrator of St. Francis and St. Mary Parish, Brussels and St. Peter/St. Hubert Parish, Lincoln/Rosiere.
At a young age, Fr. Looney fostered a devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, which has remained with him to this day. As a young boy, he joined the parish community for the Rosary after daily Mass. While growing up, he regularly watched The Song of Bernadette and became mesmerized by the story of Our Lady of Lourdes.
Marian pilgrimage has been central to Fr. Looney’s life. During the summer of 2005 Fr. Looney, as a high school sophomore, made a Marian pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help (Champion, WI). This pilgrimage opened the door of his heart to discern more seriously a priestly vocation. He has visited Marian shrines all across the world, including Lourdes, Fatima, Knock, Beauraing, Banneux, Pontmain, and Rue du Bac.
Fr. Looney began writing books while still in seminary, first penning a children’s book called The Story of Sister of Adele. He published other books including Breakfast in Bethlehem, Praying the Rosary with Sister Adele, and A Novena to the Queen of Heaven. His more recent books have reached the status as Catholic best sellers: A Rosary Litany and A Heart Like Mary’s.
Fr. Looney’s writings have been featured in the pages of Catholic Digest and Missio Immaculatae, in addition to the web on Catholic Exchange, Aleteia, Church Pop, and Homiletic and Pastoral Review. Fr. Looney can be heard regularly on EWTN Radio’s Morning Glory program wherein he serves as Godly Counsel. Further, he has traveled across the country delivering various Marian presentations at conferences and parishes.
A member of the Mariological Society of America, Fr. Looney has published in theological journals on topics related to Mariology including the Marian Spirituality of Thomas Merton (The Merton Seasonal, 2013) and Chiara Lubich (Marian Studies 2015), Fr. Daniel Lord, SJ (Marian Studies 2017) and on the Wisconsin Apparition (Marian Studies, 2011 and Chicago Studies, (2016). Fr. Looney has other research projects in the works and other articles pending publication.
At a young age, Fr. Looney fostered a devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, which has remained with him to this day. As a young boy, he joined the parish community for the Rosary after daily Mass. While growing up, he regularly watched The Song of Bernadette and became mesmerized by the story of Our Lady of Lourdes.
Marian pilgrimage has been central to Fr. Looney’s life. During the summer of 2005 Fr. Looney, as a high school sophomore, made a Marian pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help (Champion, WI). This pilgrimage opened the door of his heart to discern more seriously a priestly vocation. He has visited Marian shrines all across the world, including Lourdes, Fatima, Knock, Beauraing, Banneux, Pontmain, and Rue du Bac.
Fr. Looney began writing books while still in seminary, first penning a children’s book called The Story of Sister of Adele. He published other books including Breakfast in Bethlehem, Praying the Rosary with Sister Adele, and A Novena to the Queen of Heaven. His more recent books have reached the status as Catholic best sellers: A Rosary Litany and A Heart Like Mary’s.
Fr. Looney’s writings have been featured in the pages of Catholic Digest and Missio Immaculatae, in addition to the web on Catholic Exchange, Aleteia, Church Pop, and Homiletic and Pastoral Review. Fr. Looney can be heard regularly on EWTN Radio’s Morning Glory program wherein he serves as Godly Counsel. Further, he has traveled across the country delivering various Marian presentations at conferences and parishes.
A member of the Mariological Society of America, Fr. Looney has published in theological journals on topics related to Mariology including the Marian Spirituality of Thomas Merton (The Merton Seasonal, 2013) and Chiara Lubich (Marian Studies 2015), Fr. Daniel Lord, SJ (Marian Studies 2017) and on the Wisconsin Apparition (Marian Studies, 2011 and Chicago Studies, (2016). Fr. Looney has other research projects in the works and other articles pending publication.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
September 19, 2021
This is the fourth volume from Father Looney it is not my favorite but it is an excellent volume. It is designed as an introduction to the thoughts of St. Louis de Montfort and his classic True Devotion to Mary. It can be done as a personal 10 day exercise, or easily done in a group over 10 weeks. I myself have done some of Father Gaitley’s consecrations previously, including 33 Days to Morning Glory: A Do-It-Yourself Retreat in Preparation for Marian Consecration as well as Consecration to St. Joseph by Donald H. Calloway. But St. Louis de Montfort’s take it to a whole other level. Even if you are working through one where the language has been updated. But Looney in this volume gives us an introduction and over view that will I am certain inspire many to take that next level leap. The beginning of the description of the volume is:
“Considered by many to be the greatest book of Marian spirituality in one volume, True Devotion to Mary is St. Louis de Montfort's classic statement on the spiritual way to Jesus Christ though the Blessed Virgin Mary. In Behold the Handmaid of the Lord, Marian theologian Fr. Edward Looney masterfully summarizes the central teachings of St. Louis in a ten-day personal retreat that will bless even those who have completed the full devotion.
During the course of ten days, you’ll explore ten different titles for Mary popularized by St. Louis. Each presents a distinct aspect of her motherhood and protection while illuminating the spiritual path to Jesus through Mary.”
The chapters in the book are:
Foreword by Fr. Leo E. Patalinghug
Introduction: Mother of All Believers
Day 1: Queen of All Saints
Day 2: Our Lady of the Holy Trinity
Day 3: The New Eve
Day 4: Mother of the Interior Life
Day 5: Mother of Disciples
Day 6: Star of the Sea
Day 7: Queen of All Hearts
Day 8: Mediatrix of Grace
Day 9: The Mold of God
Day 10: My Mother and My Queen
Conclusion: What Now?
Appendix 1: Dates for Marian Consecration
Appendix 2: External Practices of Marian
Devotion Described by St. Louis de Montfort
Notes
I highlighted several passages while reading this book, some of them are:
“I don’t think many Catholics understand Mary’s role in Christianity or take it seriously enough. In fact, the foundation for Marian piety is Christology. There’s so much to learn about Mary that some may be intimidated to truly explore who Mary is in salvation history.”
“Thus, to understand Mariology and Marian piety, we have to look at how we pray, which establishes what we believe about the Blessed Mother. And then our beliefs about Mary should affect how we live as Christians.”
“Perhaps the lack of maternal affection I experienced as a child led me to Mary, a mother who would not fail me.”
“Over the next ten days, we will meet St. Louis de Montfort and learn much about Mary through exploring his thought and our Catholic intellectual tradition. Each day of our retreat is dedicated a title of Mary extracted from or inspired by True Devotion to Mary. We will use those titles to open up the wealth of knowledge St. Louis de Montfort presents and examine how it applies to us in our personal spiritual journey, life with Christ, and devotion to Mary.”
“A simple Twitter search for “St. Louis de Montfort” yields numerous tweets about his writings, including his most significant work on Marian devotion, True Devotion to Mary. These are powerful one-liners that can get people thinking and begin discussions about the Blessed Virgin.
“The writings, teachings, and sayings of the saints are powerful. But do you know who is more powerful? The Blessed Virgin Mary—the woman St. Louis de Montfort wants you to grow in love for and devotion to. Saintly men and women throughout time have known about Mary’s power. The devil does too (we will examine that further on Day 3).”
“St. Louis de Montfort hoped “for a great squadron of brave and valiant soldiers of Jesus and Mary, of both sexes, to combat the world, the devil and corrupted nature, in those morethan-ever perilous times which are about to come” (TD, 57). St. Louis de Montfort is drafting you into his spiritual army. As you read True Devotion and deepen your devotion to Mary, know that you are already a part of the army of the New Eve.”
“Catholics, though, find Mary to be a helpful companion in the spiritual life. In fact, we can call her the mother of our interior life.”
“We need Mary in our spiritual lives to be our intercessor and to bring our petitions to Jesus. Some who approach Our Lady do so on a daily basis. Others have been away from God and believe that they can approach Mary and ask her to bring their needs to Jesus. Mary’s importance in the spiritual life is to be our mediatrix of grace and, beyond that, to help us remain faithful to the graces that God has given us.”
“The first motive for Marian consecration, according to de Montfort, is to devote ourselves entirely to the service of God.
…
The second motive for Marian consecration is to imitate Jesus.
…
Once we allow ourselves to imitate Jesus in our relationship with Mary, we reach the third motive, which is to obtain the good offices of the Blessed Virgin. This means receiving a portion of Mary’s spirit and receiving grace through her intercession.”
“Once Mary has attained Jesus’ attention for us, she helps us to realize the fourth motive for Marian consecration: to obtain God’s greater glory.”
“We love Mary, we pray to her, and we have pictures of her in our homes. There are churches and monuments built in her honor. She is present in the Catholic Church, in other churches, and in the hearts of the faithful. But we do not usually think it is our duty to take Mary into our homes and live with her as John did. So great a mother can feed our undernourished Christianity and enlighten us with her advice. We could live in the presence of she who is so much the highest perfection of motherhood.”
The hardest part about reading this volume was stopping at the end of a day. This is an excellent little volume. It Would serve great as an introduction to St. Louis de Montfort’s True Devotion to Mary. To some of the titles of Mary and her role in Salivation History. I can only hope that Father Looney will expand upon this work and do a long work focusing on the titles and feats of Mary with as much devotion and attention to detail.
A fantastic volume that I can easily recommend! All Catholics would benefit from reading this book.
Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2021 Catholic Reading Plan!
“Considered by many to be the greatest book of Marian spirituality in one volume, True Devotion to Mary is St. Louis de Montfort's classic statement on the spiritual way to Jesus Christ though the Blessed Virgin Mary. In Behold the Handmaid of the Lord, Marian theologian Fr. Edward Looney masterfully summarizes the central teachings of St. Louis in a ten-day personal retreat that will bless even those who have completed the full devotion.
During the course of ten days, you’ll explore ten different titles for Mary popularized by St. Louis. Each presents a distinct aspect of her motherhood and protection while illuminating the spiritual path to Jesus through Mary.”
The chapters in the book are:
Foreword by Fr. Leo E. Patalinghug
Introduction: Mother of All Believers
Day 1: Queen of All Saints
Day 2: Our Lady of the Holy Trinity
Day 3: The New Eve
Day 4: Mother of the Interior Life
Day 5: Mother of Disciples
Day 6: Star of the Sea
Day 7: Queen of All Hearts
Day 8: Mediatrix of Grace
Day 9: The Mold of God
Day 10: My Mother and My Queen
Conclusion: What Now?
Appendix 1: Dates for Marian Consecration
Appendix 2: External Practices of Marian
Devotion Described by St. Louis de Montfort
Notes
I highlighted several passages while reading this book, some of them are:
“I don’t think many Catholics understand Mary’s role in Christianity or take it seriously enough. In fact, the foundation for Marian piety is Christology. There’s so much to learn about Mary that some may be intimidated to truly explore who Mary is in salvation history.”
“Thus, to understand Mariology and Marian piety, we have to look at how we pray, which establishes what we believe about the Blessed Mother. And then our beliefs about Mary should affect how we live as Christians.”
“Perhaps the lack of maternal affection I experienced as a child led me to Mary, a mother who would not fail me.”
“Over the next ten days, we will meet St. Louis de Montfort and learn much about Mary through exploring his thought and our Catholic intellectual tradition. Each day of our retreat is dedicated a title of Mary extracted from or inspired by True Devotion to Mary. We will use those titles to open up the wealth of knowledge St. Louis de Montfort presents and examine how it applies to us in our personal spiritual journey, life with Christ, and devotion to Mary.”
“A simple Twitter search for “St. Louis de Montfort” yields numerous tweets about his writings, including his most significant work on Marian devotion, True Devotion to Mary. These are powerful one-liners that can get people thinking and begin discussions about the Blessed Virgin.
“The writings, teachings, and sayings of the saints are powerful. But do you know who is more powerful? The Blessed Virgin Mary—the woman St. Louis de Montfort wants you to grow in love for and devotion to. Saintly men and women throughout time have known about Mary’s power. The devil does too (we will examine that further on Day 3).”
“St. Louis de Montfort hoped “for a great squadron of brave and valiant soldiers of Jesus and Mary, of both sexes, to combat the world, the devil and corrupted nature, in those morethan-ever perilous times which are about to come” (TD, 57). St. Louis de Montfort is drafting you into his spiritual army. As you read True Devotion and deepen your devotion to Mary, know that you are already a part of the army of the New Eve.”
“Catholics, though, find Mary to be a helpful companion in the spiritual life. In fact, we can call her the mother of our interior life.”
“We need Mary in our spiritual lives to be our intercessor and to bring our petitions to Jesus. Some who approach Our Lady do so on a daily basis. Others have been away from God and believe that they can approach Mary and ask her to bring their needs to Jesus. Mary’s importance in the spiritual life is to be our mediatrix of grace and, beyond that, to help us remain faithful to the graces that God has given us.”
“The first motive for Marian consecration, according to de Montfort, is to devote ourselves entirely to the service of God.
…
The second motive for Marian consecration is to imitate Jesus.
…
Once we allow ourselves to imitate Jesus in our relationship with Mary, we reach the third motive, which is to obtain the good offices of the Blessed Virgin. This means receiving a portion of Mary’s spirit and receiving grace through her intercession.”
“Once Mary has attained Jesus’ attention for us, she helps us to realize the fourth motive for Marian consecration: to obtain God’s greater glory.”
“We love Mary, we pray to her, and we have pictures of her in our homes. There are churches and monuments built in her honor. She is present in the Catholic Church, in other churches, and in the hearts of the faithful. But we do not usually think it is our duty to take Mary into our homes and live with her as John did. So great a mother can feed our undernourished Christianity and enlighten us with her advice. We could live in the presence of she who is so much the highest perfection of motherhood.”
The hardest part about reading this volume was stopping at the end of a day. This is an excellent little volume. It Would serve great as an introduction to St. Louis de Montfort’s True Devotion to Mary. To some of the titles of Mary and her role in Salivation History. I can only hope that Father Looney will expand upon this work and do a long work focusing on the titles and feats of Mary with as much devotion and attention to detail.
A fantastic volume that I can easily recommend! All Catholics would benefit from reading this book.
Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2021 Catholic Reading Plan!
July 24, 2021
This book was good but very short and a bit too simplified for me. Each day includes a reflection on a specific title and aspect of Mary as well as a short prayer and hymn. I read this book on its own but I think it would be very helpful to read it along side St. Louis de Montfort's True Devotion to Mary as a guide or companion for the older and more dense book.
I think this particular book does a good job of celebrating the role of women and Mary in particular in the life of Jesus and showing how through Mary one can strengthen their relationship with and understanding of Jesus. The book encourages the reader to reflect on how Mary, with her multitude of qualities, can be more present in your life and can nurture your faith as she nurtured Jesus.
I think this particular book does a good job of celebrating the role of women and Mary in particular in the life of Jesus and showing how through Mary one can strengthen their relationship with and understanding of Jesus. The book encourages the reader to reflect on how Mary, with her multitude of qualities, can be more present in your life and can nurture your faith as she nurtured Jesus.
October 22, 2021
A simpler approach to Marian consecration without watering down the writings of St. Louis de Montfort. Fr. Edward Looney dedicates each of the ten days of the retreat to a different title of Mary, consolidating teachings from True Devotion to Mary to clarify the rich writings and deepen devotion to the Blessed Mother. His writing style is clear and approachable, and both his scholarship and dedication to Mary are evident throughout the book.
Read my full review.
(Advance review copy received from publisher)
Read my full review.
(Advance review copy received from publisher)
September 21, 2021
This book shows that Mary is a necessary part of catholic faith. I'm a Catholic and consacreted to Jesus through Mary so I love this book and how made me love more Christ and Our Lady.
I learned a lot about Mary as well. I really like that every chapter has a prayer and a Hymn.
Thank you Netgalley and publisher for free ARC in exchange of honest review. All thoughs are my own.
🇧🇷Esse livro mostra que Maria é uma parte nescessária da fé católica. Eu sou católica e consagrada a Jesus por Maria então eu amei esse livro e como ele me fez amar mais a Cristo e a Maria Santíssima.
Eu também aprendi muito sobre Maria. Eu gostei muito que cada capítulo tem uma oração e um hino.
Obrigada a Netgalley e a editora pela ARC para uma resenha. Todas as opiniões são minhas.
I learned a lot about Mary as well. I really like that every chapter has a prayer and a Hymn.
Thank you Netgalley and publisher for free ARC in exchange of honest review. All thoughs are my own.
🇧🇷Esse livro mostra que Maria é uma parte nescessária da fé católica. Eu sou católica e consagrada a Jesus por Maria então eu amei esse livro e como ele me fez amar mais a Cristo e a Maria Santíssima.
Eu também aprendi muito sobre Maria. Eu gostei muito que cada capítulo tem uma oração e um hino.
Obrigada a Netgalley e a editora pela ARC para uma resenha. Todas as opiniões são minhas.
October 20, 2021
I received an advance copy of, Behold the Handmaid of the Lord, by Fr. Edward Looney. This is an amazing devotional towards Mary. If you love Mary already, or want to get to know her better, this is the book for you.
February 6, 2025
This book was a nice primer. It had some meat, but mostly left me wanting more. It was quick and digestible, a good overview of where you could go next to develop a stronger devotion to Mary.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews