Father Casimir Wyszynski

157 Apostle of the Immaculate Mary death all sorts of adversities on account of devotion to the Im- maculate Conception.” 213 Father Casimir’s decisive choice on the side of the truth about the Immaculate Conception, which the Church had not yet dog- matically defined, emphasizes his readiness to give his life in its defense. In 1752, he wrote to the Superior General, Father CayetanWetycki: “I suffer due to unremitting threats frommy ad- versaries, but I bear them joyfully for the sake of the Immaculate Conception. In order to uphold this mystery I would not hesitate to shed my blood.” 214 Besides, he declared daily in prayer his readiness to suffer martyrdom in defending his faith; in this prayer he invoked—alongwith the principal truths of the Faith— the truth about the “Immaculately ConceivedBlessed VirginMary, Mother of God”: “In this Faith I want to live until death and for this Faith I want to die and shedmy own blood, if such be Yourwill.” 215 Venerable Casimir closely followed the theological discussions and debates about the mystery of the Immaculate Conception which took place during his time. In addition to his numerous oc- cupations and duties, he endeavored to studyworks onMariology, which either defended or rejected the truth about the Immaculate Conception. His Diariusz contains an entry made on September 7, 1751: “Once, in a very inauspicious climate for the truth about the Immaculate Conception set up in Rome, in 1740, a certain renowned andworthy Doctor dared to publish a book against the Immaculate Conception of the B.V.M., entitled On Avoiding the Su- perstition, or on Denouncing the Blood Vow inHonor of the Immac- ulately ConceivedMother of God . At that timemany people started doubting thismystery and some of themevenmocked our Order.” As if in response to that publication—as Father Casimir noted with satisfaction—there appeared another book written by Fa- ther John De Luca, in which the author provided “very strong ar- 213 Ibid. 214 K. Wyszyński, Diariusz czynności …, 295. Cf. M. Pisarzak, MIC, Z. Proczek, MIC, Niepokalana, ślub krwi i świadectwo marianów , “Salvatoris Mater” 6 (2004) No. 1, 231-259. 215 Modlitwy Sługi Bożego …, 428.