Father Casimir Wyszynski

Father Taudt testified that he frequently saw Venerable Casimir in tears 311 after such adoration and reflection on the Pas- sion of Christ. These tears also appeared during the celebration of Holy Mass and afterwards, testifying to his fervent and lively Eucharistic devotion. 312 It is obvious therefore, that for Father Casimir the HolyMasswas not just any service that had to be per- formed according to the rubrics; to him it was a true embodi- ment—in an unbloodymanner—of the sacrifice which the living Jesus Christ made at Calvary by choosing to suffer and die out of His inconceivable love for us. Reflecting on the Passion of Christ and empathizing with Him, tortured and dying, Father Casimir was also dying, as it were, along with the Lord. He explained to his younger brethren that they should approach the Eucharistic Sacrifice with trepidation, and that he, having prepared himself, was going to the altar as if to ameetingwith death. When the end of his life came, that is, themoment when he realized that it might already be his last Holy Mass, he was shaking all over andmoved as if he were going through his personal “Agony on the Mount of Olives.” When asked how he was feeling, he replied in these words: “Trembling before the Sacrifice.” 313 Venerable Casimir’s tears, mentioned by Father Taudt, were assuredly the result of his internal experiences and were akin to the feelings that Father Papczyński used to experience, tears of tremendous regret and sadness, bitter tears when realizing that we sinners have been the cause of Christ’s torture and death, but simultaneously tears of gratitude and joy because of God’s incom- prehensible love for us. 314 311 Ibid, 433. 312 Ibid, 410. 313 A. Fischer, Życie, cnoty i śmierć święta …, 72. 314 S. Papczyński, Inspectio cordis , 178v: “Therefore, to an extent my heart is torn asunder by pain, sympathizing with you, most lovable Jesus; but to an extent it overflows with joy, feeling myself to be freed from the scourging due to my sins by your scourging. My soul grieves very much and it should grieve, because if it does not grieve, it will be ignoble. I say, my soul grieves, o my hope Jesus! when it considers you condemned to scourging, after the manner of the greatest of criminals; but the same (soul) exults in the highest degree and should exult, because if it does not exult, it will be ungrateful. My soul, I 195 A Man of Prayer and Love of the Eucharist