Father Casimir Wyszynski

148 J ANUSZ K UMALA , MIC, P H D oneself and one’s entire earthly life to be the property of Mary and proclaiming her to be one’s Lady, Mother and Advocate. 161 A slave of Mary was obliged to venerate her through a series of de- votional practices. Father Wyszyński, who regarded himself as an “unworthy slave” of the BlessedMother, 162 was certainly acquaintedwith this devotion of “Marian bondage.” Describing various forms of Mar- ian piety, he mentions devotees of Mary who “out of love for her” 163 wear a rosary, scapular, medal or image as signs of “be- longing to her as to their Lady and Queen.” There are also those who “offer themselves in service toMary in religious orders ded- icated to her.” 164 In the spirit of his dedication to Mary, Father Casimir used to say this prayer: “Most Blessed VirginMary, Queen of heaven, Mis- tress of theworld and Immaculate Virgin preserved fromoriginal and actual stain, accept this resolution of mine. You are and will always bemy belovedMother, worthy of constant love and praise. May I be worthy of becoming your special son. Show yourself as my kind Mother, O pious, O sweet Virgin Mary!” 165 Examining Venerable Casimir’s life andwritings, onewonders about his way of living out and interpreting this form of piety. At first it is possible to conclude that the practice of ”Bondage to Mary” did not interest him at all, because he concentrated on a different form of venerating Mary—the imitation of her virtues. Is this really just “another” form of Marian devotion, not related to “Bondage toMary?”We observe that Father Casimir knewvar- ious pious practices in honor of the Mother of God, but he be- lieved them insufficient because they did not represent a true Marian devotion, one that would signifyMary’s “slave” or Mary’s 161 E. Pohorecki, Niewolnictwo Maryi w Polsce , in: Mały słownik maryjny , Niepokalanów 1987, 59-61. 162 K. Wyszyński, Diariusz czynności w Rzymie i w Portugalii , 322. 163 C. Wyszyński, Foreword to Morning Star 16. 164 Ibid, 17. 165 Modlitwy Sługi Bożego o. Kazimierza Wyszyńskiego , in: Stróż duchowego dziedzictwa marianów ..., 430.