Father Casimir Wyszynski

a bouT THe M aRIans The Congregation of Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Con- ception is a worldwide community of about 500 priests and brothers who have been serving Christ and the Church for 350 years. Founded in Poland in 1670 by Saint Stanislaus Papczyński, the Marians were the first Catholic men’s order still in existence to give witness to Mary’s Immaculate Conception by bearing her title. As the years passed, the Marians continued to spread beyond the borders of Poland. However, during the 19th century, theMar- ian Congregation’s very existence was challenged by a flood of political oppression. By 1909, the Congregation was reduced to a single elderly priest. On the brink of extinction, God sent Fr. George Matulaitis-Matulewicz who as a child was spiritually formed and educated by theMarians. He undertook renewing the religious order. As an educator and social reformer, Fr. George—now Blessed George—renovated the Congregation of Marians in 1910, calling on itsmembers “to servewhere the need is greatest.” It was a pe- riod of restoration and great renewal for the Marians. Known as the Renovator of the Congregation, Blessed George served the Church as bishop of Vilnius, archbishop and apostolic delegate, and founder of two religious congregations of women. He chal- lenged his fellow brothers in Christ to “Respond to the signs of your times ...” and “see how the gospel is touching humanity.” The principal apostolic goals of the Marians are to promote and foster devotion to the Most Blessed Virgin Mary in the mys- tery of her Immaculate Conception, to aid the Holy Souls detained in Purgatory with God’s abundant grace and merciful love, to as- sist diocesan priests in their pastoral ministry and to offer reli- gious formation to the faithful. Faithful to Christ and His Church and attentive to the spiritual needs of God’s people, the Marians have been spreading the salutary message and devotion to the Divine Mercy since 1941.