Father Casimir Wyszynski

136 C ASIMIR K RZYŻANOWSKI , MIC, P H D The Venerable Servant of God Casimir also called his confreres to perfect obedience. In his circular letter of 1749, the Venerable Servant of God, announcing his canonical visitation, stated that hewouldwant to learn during his visitationwhether theMarians were formed in perfect obedience and “...observed strictly the principles of religious discipline.” 127 In an effort to correct erroneously understood concepts of obedience, in his Foreword to The Morning Star the Venerable Casimir admonishes his readers in these words: “How can one be called obedient if he does not obey his parents, superiors, and teachers; if he does something either under coercion or because it pleases him, refusing to do anything contrary to his own likes and whims? The virtue of obedience consists in doing what we are instructed to do and not what we like.” 128 FatherWyszyński distinguished himself also by his observance of the religious rule. Already in the novitiate he upheld the rule and constitutions in a rigorous manner, thus setting an example to all. “He was amodel for others because of his growth in virtue, his stability in observing the proper Marian discipline, and his faithfulness to the rule and constitutions. 129 Thanks to the man- ner in which he fulfilled the duties of novice master after his ap- pointment to this office, not only the novices, but the entire monastery as well, experienced his living example and growth in religious obedience.” 130 He was equally exemplary and exacting in his observance of the religious rule in his later assignments. During his stay in Rome, Father Casimir impressed everyone as a “good and obedient religious,” who “fulfilled everything pre- cisely” during the celebration of the HolyMass, “as it was set forth in the rubrics.” 131 127 Circular letter of June 3, 1749, in: Stróż duchowego dziedzictwa mari- anów …, 184. 128 Casimir Wyszyński, Foreword to Morning Star , 23. 129 A. Fischer, Życie, cnoty i śmierć święta …, 55. 130 PositioWysz , 107. 131 Ibid, 445-446.