Father Casimir Wyszynski

Caring for the Tomb of the Holy Father Founder T he Superior General of theMarians was allowed to reside at any monastery of his choice. Most frequently this was the Kora- biew hermitage. In 1739, Father Wyszyński settled in Góra Kal- waria, near the Church of Our Lord’s Cenacle—the site of the Marian Founder’s burial. The area was marshy and flooded in spring so much so as to render the church and monastery acces- sible only by boat. Buildings were gradually falling into ruin and the lack of steady income made repair work difficult to achieve. Father Casimir was eager to remedy the situation, thus he took up residence at the local monastery, also assuming the office of local Superior. He counted on help from his brother Michael and other benefactors. One of Father Casimir’s first actions was to safeguard the re- mains of St. Stanislaus Papczyński, deposed in the church’s wet ground. Upon receiving the consent of Church authorities, he had the Founder’s bones placed into a new casket, donated by his brother, and placed it in a new tomb. In this regard, Father Alexis Fischer, an eyewitness to this period of Father Casimir’s life, re- ported a most amazing intervention of the Marian Founder him- self: “Father Wyszyński found the monastery and church in a state of great ruin; the Founder’s tomb was also damaged. Prompted by filial reverence, Father Casimir decided to exhume the bones and place them in a new casket. While delaying the re- alization of this plan because hewanted to fix themonastery first, he fell ill. Almost losing his life, he went into the church to pray. Once there, he felt strongly reminded about the promised casket and heard in his spirit a voice, saying: “Where is my casket?” He procured a new casket at once. It was the one that his own brother, Michael, had kept on hand for himself. Father Casimir or- dered a new tombstone to be erected for the holy Father Founder and placed his bones there, after exhuming themwith permission of a Warsaw official, from the watery, muddy ground. Next, he drained water out of the church by having a trench dug and put- ting up a tall flood bank, a work greatly admired by everybody. He built a new monastery and repaired the church with his brother’s help.” 31 The Servant of Mary Immaculate