“Surprised At Nothing, Troubled At Nothing”

The above pic is a statue of Our Lady that remained standing amidst the recent Hawaii fires of 2023. (It was all over social-media, so if you know the original source, I’ll happily give photo-credit.)

My favorite line in St. Louis De Montfort’s description of the saints of the final days of the Catholic Church goes like this:

“They will have the two-edged sword of the Word of God in their mouths and the bloodstained standard of the Cross on their shoulders. They will carry the crucifix in their right hand and the Rosary in their left, and the holy names of Jesus and Mary on their heart.”—Thunderclouds of Mary, St. Louis De Montfort.

But more recently, I have been thinking about a less spectacular line: “Attached to nothing, surprised at nothing, troubled at nothing, they will shower down the rain of God’s word and of eternal life.”

It seems to imply that for a Marian-priest at the end of time to be able to “shower down the rain of God’s Word,” he must first be “attached to nothing, surprised at nothing, troubled at nothing.” One need only read St. John of the Cross to understand the importance of being “attached to nothing” in order to be attached to Christ.

But now let’s consider the other six-words: “Surprised at nothing, troubled at nothing.” Why would St. Louis De Montfort predict the final saints to be “troubled at nothing”? I think the obvious answer is that the end of the world would certainly provide the elect plenty to be “troubled” about.

And yet, St. Louis says such saints will even be “surprised at nothing” in order to finally “shower down the rain of God’s word and of eternal life.” To be “surprised at nothing” would imply that the secular and even Church-based news at the end of the world would be so outrageous that the final saints would need to progress in the interior life and the apostolate by being “surprised at nothing” and “troubled at nothing.”

I’m not saying it’s the end of the world, but I do know that if I want to be a final “Thundercloud of Mary” it’s not enough that I “sleep without gold or silver…without concern in the midst of other priests, ecclesiastics and clerics.” I must also stop watching the Twitter-feed of bad news. I must also stop caring about all the corruption in Church and State. Only then can I be “surprised at nothing, troubled at nothing.”

This is true, especially if I want to have any part in being one of the ones chosen to “shower down the rain of God’s word and of eternal life.”  So, pray for me on that.  Thank you!