Father Casimir Wyszynski

145 Apostle of the Immaculate Mary which was often expressed in pictures and statues or in the founding of churches andmonasteries in honor of Our Lady. The Wyszyński family probably acted likewise. It is believed that they donated the painting of the Mother of God to the Jeziora Wielka parish church, which to this day is deemed as miraculous. 151 A significant influence on Francis’s devotion to Mary was the education he received in the schools run by the Piarists in Góra Kalwaria and Warsaw. 152 Students were obliged to go to Mass daily, to sing the Little Hours of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and to sing the litany to the Blessed Virgin Mary every Saturday. Francis distinguished himself by the zeal with which he performed all the required practices and special devotions, as his school friend, Wojciech Magnuszewski, con- firmed: “Francis attended classes togetherwith all of us; hewould be the first to start a litany service; he sang hymns during Mass and devotional meetings, and never knelt in the pew, but knelt before the altar of the Blessed Virgin Mary [...]. He had a special veneration for Christ the Lord and the Virgin Mary, His Blessed Mother. Every day at six o'clock he went to Mass. [...] He often spent time alone, in meditation. He recited prayers, various lita- nies, the chaplet, the Little Hours of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and even encouraged other students during recreation to do the same.” 153 Venerable Casimir’s Marian devotion should be considered against the background of the Polish Marian devotion of the day, in which he was brought up and which he practiced later as a Marian. The beginning of the 18 th century concluded a period of a flourishing Polish Mariology during which thrived a creativity 151 J. Bukowicz MIC, Uroczystości ku czci Ojca Kazimierza Wyszyńskiego w miejscu jego urodzenia , „Immaculata” (1965) No. 12, 64-65; W parafii Przemienienia Pańskiego w Jeziórce. Rekoronacja obrazu Najświętszej Maryi z Dzieciątkiem Jezus , in: „Słowo Powszechne” (1987) No. 123, 1. 6. 152 PositioWysz , 24-27. 153 W. Magnuszewski, Żywot ..., 30. Father A. Fischer similarly reported later in his Życie, cnoty i śmierć święta ..., 52: “Francis was characterized by remarkable modesty and devotion to the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary”).