St. Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort, the Founder of Montfort Brothers of St. Gabriel was born in Montfort-la-Cane in the Province of Brittany in Western France. In his short life span of forty three years, he achieved much. He loved the poor, the sick and the marginalized. He identified himself as one among them. Before he died he organized his faithful companions in to a Congregation and assigned them to take care of the educational need of the youth and the marginalized as well as those with disabilities. The Congregation grew and spread first in Europe and then to other parts of the world. The Brothers from France landed on the shores of Pondicherry in 1903 and spread to the length and breadth of our Motherland. They are now engaged in education of the youth, the blind and the deaf and reaching out to those who are marginalized.
Montfort Community Development Society is an initiative of the Montfort Brothers of St. Gabriel, Province of Bengaluru, South India. MCDS is a humble but sincere attempt to follow the example of St. Louis de Montfort (1673 – 1716), the Founder of the Montfort Brothers’ Organization. He equated the service of God with service of man particularly the poor and the disabled.
It is an Integrated Community Development Programme reaching out to thousands of downtrodden and underprivileged in the slums of Chennai and its neighbourhood as well as slum relocated areas.
MCDS firmly believes that every child that is helped to learn, every woman helped to stand on her feet, the love and concern shown to an elder, every tear of a sick child wiped, add to the quality of life. That is the way, the only way, to change the world.
MCDS has come a long way since its inception in 1996. MCDS began as a NGO reaching out to children with disabilities, MCDS today is among the larger of its kind in the country. It was started by Late Rev. Bro. Gerard Patrick, the Founder Director who continued his service till his last breath on 7th April 2015.
After the demise of Late Rev. Bro. Patrick, Province of Bengaluru has taken the charge of this mission and appointed Rev. Bro. Joseph Louis as Director from May 2015, ably assisted by Rev. Bro. Mathew Kuplicat of Hyderabad Province until 2020 as he has been called back to his Province.MCDS remains grateful to him for his guidance and dedication.