Father Casimir Wyszynski

40 Marijampole, and Berezdov. This statement was found confirmed in the letter of John Cajetan Jabłonowski of April 14, 1755, sent to Father Cajetan Wetycki, the Superior General of the Marians. By this letter the Prince took upon himself the obligation to build a monastery that would accommodate seven religious. Themonastery in Berezdovmust have been ready by the first half of 1755 because at the annual meeting of the Marians in Goźlin on June 28 th of that year, Frs. Benon Bujalski and Joachim Stanisławski were selected as its residents. A year later, at the an- nual meeting which was held in Raśna on June 26, 1756, Prince Jabłonowski’s letter in regard to the foundation in Berezdov was read, and Father Aloysius Długołęski and Br. Onuphrius Kierski were sent to live in the new monastery. The solemn installation of the foundation in Berezdov took place on May 20, 1760, after the construction of the monastery and the church of the Immac- ulate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary was completed. The Marians served in Berezdov until 1832, in which year many of the small monasteries (with fewer than eight members) were closed down by the Russian tsarist decree. The Marians in Berezdov had carried out pastoral work and assisted the local clergy. They had quite a number of vocations from the Volhynia region. With newvocations inmind they tried to open a novitiate between the years 1787-1790 and petitioned Rome for this pur- pose. The reasons unknown, this project was abandoned. It seems that the partitioning of Polandmight have posed an obsta- cle. There were some Ruthenians of the Eastern Rite living at the Berezdov monastery, most of whom later joined the Latin Rite. For a period of time the Marians also had a monastery in Volhy- nia, which they called a residence. It was located in Ostrykov or Samczyki. These two towns were situated on either side of the River Słucz, but were part of one community. In the 18 th century these lands belonged to the Chojęcki family. Most likely one of the Marians, Father Peter Chojęcki, belonged to that family. He died in Goźlin, on November 28, 1759. Accord- ing to Father Benon Bujalski’s testimony, this second foundation also was due to Father Wyszyński’s efforts, even though it came Z YGMUNT P ROCZEK , MIC, P H D