George Matulaitis Journal

109 letter of recommendation to present to the Cardinal. From Father Ledóchowski’s I went to the Congregation for Religious. Monsignor Caroli said that all our petitions had been granted, except for one—the request that low Mass be said in our Chapel instead of high Mass. He asked me for other explanations as well. I understood that I had made a mistake in not coming to see Cardinal Vives y Tuto in the first place and explaining everything to him personally. It seems that the officials of the Church in Rome want to know whom they are dealing with and that personal acquaintance has great value here. When they know the person with whom they are deal- ing, they can judge whether he is trustworthy or not and to what extent he may be trusted. I have noticed that in transacting certain business myself or sending others to do so, it is useful not only to give careful considera- tion to the whole matter, but also to decide on the approach—which peo- ple one needs to know and to visit. In the afternoon I went to St. Peter’s Basilica. There, at the tomb of the Holy Apostle, I made a vow to do everything in my power that neither I myself, nor any of our members, nor the Congregation itself would ever pursue any other aims, whether national, political, or the like, but seek only to serve God, the Church, and to work for the salvation of souls, making use of all natural and supernatural means as instruments in the pursuit of this highest goal, namely, the greater glory of God. I prayed for some time. In my spare time I spoke with Father Grum about various matters. Later, I will make a summary of the main points of our conversation. Grum was accompanied by two young priests—Araszkiewicz 1 from the diocese of Vilnius and K"pi<ski 2 from the diocese of Warsaw. Later, when we were left alone, K"pi<ski started to talk about our Congregation. He told me that he and four others had decided to enter the monastery of Cz " stochowa as soon as they had received their doctorates, but none of them had done so yet. K"pi<ski seemed interested in joining us. I spoke briefly about religious life in 1. W=adys=aw Araszkiewicz (1885-1968): received a doctorate in philosophy in Rome, then returned to Vilnius, where he worked for many years as prefect of the secondary schools. He was there when Matulaitis was Bishop of Vilnius. 2 W=adys=aw K"pi<sk i (1881-1924): priest, studied theology at Innsbruck and Rome from 1906 to 1912. Returned to Warsaw, where he worked as professor at the Seminary and also served as pastor of various parishes.