38 tuguese mission would also encounter many difficulties and resistance from the Marians ‘growing numb’ in monasteries.” As it turned out, the difficulties were caused not only by members of his own Order, but also by other people of the Church, magnates and various influential personalities, and all sorts of common thugs and outlaws, not excluded. This should be recognized as the first symptoms of the paschal dimension of Fr. Casimir’s endeavors and mission, which were associated with suffering, dying out, an attitude that is extremely uncomfortable for someone who had chosen consciously and in obedience to the will of God, to follow the path of Christ, the Paschal Lamb, through suffering and death to new life in God Himself. Father Casimir wanted this new mission to be based on a solid personnel foundation from the very beginning, therefore he asked the then General to appoint for this mission two confreres – humble priests and persons of good habits. Furthermore, Fr. Wyszyński endeavors to prepare the Marian community for a deeper understanding of the concept of missionary work and commitment to it. He even declares and writes in his Diary that the Marians should undertake as soon as possible two things: the [beatification] process and the mission to Portugal, as the most important and most sacred ones. Nevertheless, the only motive for undertaking the mission was to proclaim the Mystery of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary by promoting the Order of Marians. What a disappointment it should have been when – having landed in Lisbon after the hardships of a journey to Portugal which lasted several months – Fr. Casimir learned that the invitation to the mission in Portugal was a great hoax, which resulted from the political trends of the time and was initiated by Sebastian Joseph Pombal, an influential politician and prime minister of that kingdom from the years 17501777, who endeavored to reform the State in the spirit of enlightened absolutism and Masonic ideas, hostile to the Church and to religious orders. The truth turned out to be extremely painful. It was hard to find – to say nothing of meeting – a certain Fr. Salazar, who allegedly invited the Marians to Portugal on behalf of the king. Neither the king nor any important royal official had any intention of settling the Marian Order in Portugal. Father Casimir was stripped of his dreams; he felt
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