Lest You Remain

F ATHER S TANISLAUS P APCZY ˆ SKI AS THE I NSPIRATION FOR THE M ARIAN H ELPERS * Efforts for the beatification of Fr. Stanislaus Papczy < ski always have been and still are the sign of the belief in his holiness as well as our gratitude to God for all the good that the Church received during the life of the Venerable Servant of God and continues to receive now, especially the Congregation of Marians and its friends. Every Blessed or Saint is a milestone on the road to holiness, a live exam- ple of God’s mercy greater than any evil and sin. It gives the man spiritual beauty, the radiance of which amazes others and draws them near the Author of this beau- ty—God Himself. Let us bend over the book of Fr. Stanislaus’s live and read out a message capa- ble of enlivening our desire for beauty and faithfulness to the chosen way of life. 1. Beautiful by his faithfulness to the grace Father Stanislaus was born in the beautiful land of Podegrodzie and since early childhood he admired the beauty of mountains, woods, and meadows, afforded to him by circumstances of the rural life. As a little boy he helped his parents, just like every other boy in the neighborhood, and guarded their sheep in the fields. Close contact with nature in the early life always produces in a person this openness and sensitivity to beauty, which sustain later life choices. Father Stanislaus had good parents, faithful to fulfilling the demands of Christian, married, and family life. The beauty of the family life that finds its expression in daily mutual love and care is the best foundation on which one can built one’s future. Father Papczy < ski, just like every one of us, received the gift of Holy Baptism that he further developed while following the roads of his religious life. However, his concern for his heart’s spirituality must have been something exceptional. For when the Lord chooses a man to fill a special mission, He prepares him for it beforehand by granting him everything needed for a faithful and full accomplish- ment of the task. In Fr. Stanislaus’s heart God planted the sensitivity to beauty, * This paper was presented at the 8 th International Conference of the AMH in Lichen, Poland, in 2006.