Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort was born on 31 January 1673, in Montfort-la-Cane, a small town in Brittany, France. He studied in Paris, in the seminary of Saint-Sulpice, and was ordained in 1700.
While a seminarian he delighted in researching the writings of Church Fathers, Doctors and Saints as they relate to the Blessed Virgin Mary, to whom he was singularly devoted.
Under Mary’s inspiration, he founded the Congregation of the Daughters of Wisdom (1703), a religious institute of women devoted to the care of the destitute, and the Company of Mary (1705), a missionary congregation of men popularly known as Montfort Fathers. He also inspired the congregation of the Brothers of Saint Gabriel, committed to the education of the youth.