Lest You Remain

important in spreading the devotion to Mary Immaculate? In reading the writings left us by Fr. Founder, as also by reflecting on his intentions and aspirations, it seems possible to establish two basic areas for spreading devotion to the Immacu- late Conception: 1) by our way of life, in other words—by witness, 2) by works that we take upon us. Spreading devotion to the Immaculate Conception of the Most B.V.M. by wit- ness of life This is the fundamental means of devotion to the Immaculate Conception. Papczy<ski often encourages us to offer ourselves entirely to Mary so that a Marian attitude be formed in a man. He writes in his Templum Dei Mysticum : “Most Blessed Virgin, I give myself completely, with all the thoughts, words and works of my whole life, particularly those of today, and I desire to please you with the great- est diligence through all of them.” 13 Encouraging us to imitate Mary, Fr. Stanislaus recalls certain events from her life so that this imitation also leads to concrete actions. For example, in Inspectio cordis : “It is rightly said [concerning Mary] that she conceived of the Holy Spirit, she—full of grace, full of the Holy Spirit. If only the same could be said of your actions, that they come from the Holy Spirit in are accomplished in the Holy Spirit. Indeed, it is a great blessing to possess the Holy Spirit, but greater still to act according to the Holy Spirit; but the greatest of all is to live out one’s life in the Holy Spirit. Grant [O Mary] that we may live and die in accord with Holy Spirit.” 14 To form ourselves, our thoughts, words, and acts in imi- tation of Mary is the foremost task, which defines the fruitfulness of our other actions. Without a doubt that was the reason why Fr. Papczy<ski , upon learning that the Holy See gave his Order the Rule of the Ten Evangelical Virtues of the B.V.M., declared: “I pledge to observe the Rule of the Imitation of the B.V.M. in so far as it is not contrary to our Institute.” He discerned in it a similar spirituality aspects to strongly imitate the virtues of the B.V.M. Immaculately Conceived in all of human life. This is confirmed, in a way, by the command repeated in the Rule, almost like a refrain at every virtue, which the author reflects in detail, that Mary’s venerators should possess this virtue and imitate the Blessed Virgin in this virtue in a three- fold manner: in thought, word, and action. Papczy<ski makes a similar statement in Inspectio cordis: “My soul, you’ve been clinging so far to books containing var- ious kinds of knowledge, but today look into a new book, a fresh book, unknown to you so far—the Most Blessed Mother of God; I’ll tell you that this book is writ- ten, illustrated, and published by God Himself. Could you find elsewhere what you L EST Y OU R EMAIN W ITHOUT W ORK IN THE V INEYARD OF THE L ORD 190 13 TDM IV, 36. 14 Inspectio cordis , k. 107 r., (c. 1677-1682), Ed. C. Krzyzanowski, Warsaw, 2001 (here and after: IC).