79 Father Christopher strove on this road not only persistently and patiently, but also creatively. And the purpose of his ministry was to bring the Gospel of the Crucified and Risen Christ to the faithful who were deprived of the spiritual pastoral support of pastors. The road of the manifold spiritual support of the dispersed community of the faithful is their via Crucis – the path which, through the sacraments, led them to the Paschal Sacrifice of Christ, or Holy Mass. This path led Father Christopher to the most distant corners of his “parish” and to the heroic effort of building a shrine in Irkutsk. 3. In the past decades, our Marian Congregation has undertaken in-depth studies in the biography of Father Christopher Maria (as he signed his name). Particular gratitude for conducting historical research is due to Father Dr. Jan Kosmowski, MIC. (We are looking forward to his monograph on Father Christopher). We very much need to know more precisely all of the pastoral efforts of this “shepherd of Siberia,” who served during the period of the brutal enslavement of the Catholic Church in the Tsarist Russian Empire. During the Marian Jubilee, this will allow us to gratefully receive the great works of God that were carried out by our distinguished and brave confreres, even those from the distant past. 4. Divine Providence willed that a wide practical implementation of Father Christopher Maria’s works and deeds may be found in the Marian mission in the vast Soviet empire in more recent times. This was the Marians’ “mission” in Soviet prisons and labor camps: it was performed by the Servants of God Fabian Abrantowicz, Andrej Cikota, Vladas Mažonas, Jānis Mendriks as well as the brave missionaries Joseph Hermanowicz and Thomas Padziava. Divine Providence entrusted them with the mission of a special witness in places where Father Christopher’s paschal journey had led before. These men also strove on the same paschal paths of the Cross and Resurrection. 5. During the very difficult period of communist totalitarianism, the Marians from Belarus – Frs. Joseph Frąckiewicz, Lucian Pawlik, Boleslaus Zając, and Uladzislaŭ Čarniaŭski creatively continued to give paschal witness in many places of the Soviet “empire of evil.” We honor the Marians from Lithuania - Frs. Stanislovas Mažeika, Fr. Pranas Račiūnas, Fr. Vaclovas Aliulis and from Latvia – Frs. Vik-
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjI2Mw==