Father Casimir Wyszynski

99 The Servant of Mary Immaculate Casimir’s death to Poland through the Polish Franciscans who were attending their General Chapter in Spain in 1756. The Mar- ians asked the Superior General to send a “second Casimir,” who would help them properly prepare for entering the Marian way of life. The Portuguesemen also related that themost important doc- uments regulating Marian religious life: the Rule of the Ten Virtues, Statutes , the Horology (the Book of Ceremony) and the Marian prayer book, along with the list of indulgences attached to the holy scapular, had been sent to print. They asked for details of Father Stanislaus’s life and information on the foundations of the Order. In addition, they requested particulars of Father Casimir’s life and work in Poland; in Portugal he was called a saint. In a letter toMichael Wyszyński, expressing their unitywith the pain caused by his brother’s death, they emphasized that in Father Casimir’s person their community lost a father, a teacher, and a superior. In September of 1757, theMarian General Chapter decided to send Father Alexis Fischer and Father Rafael de Buffa to Portugal. They arrived in Balsamão on March 8, 1758. Until his death on December 31, 1783, Father Alexis fulfilled the duty of superior of the Marian community which counted several monasteries. In view of the many pilgrims coming to Balsamão to implore the intercession before God of the “Holy Pole,” Father Alexis peti- tioned the Bishop for permission to exhume Father Casimir’s body and place it in amoreworthy location: “After all, the opinion of his holiness is growing; at his tomb people receivemiracles that God allows His saint to perform.” The Bishop gave consent for the exhumation process which took place June 26–July 18, 1759. Fa- ther Casimir’s bones and bodily remains were transferred to a double-walled casket and placed under the church floor. For some time the Marians in Portugal continued to contact the Polish Marians directly. Later they did so through the procu- rator General in Rome or through the apostolic Nunciature in Lis- bon. After 1798, when the Marians were expelled from Rome by the Napoleonic troops, such contacts came to an end altogether.