Lest You Remain

desire for the beauty of spiritual life? Is it possible to uproot from the heart beauti- ful life’s ideals? Obstacles met by Fr. Stanislaus in life weren’t able to achieve this. Where now will the road of faithfulness to God’s grace lead him? Father Stanislaus receives a new light and calling to seek on a different path the chance of fulfilling his longing for the holiness of life. Here the Lord opens before him a road of life lit by the rays of the mystery of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. *** Membership in the Association of Marians Helpers puts upon people the obli- gation to thank the Lord for the grace of Christian life inspired by the Marian charism and accomplished within a large group of people who first mutually help themselves in their striving for a greater fidelity to God and then support the oth- ers in their experiencing of faith. To be a Marian Helper means to continuously nurture in one’s heart the spiri- tual beauty planted by God through the holy baptism. This concern for the beauty of heart demonstrates itself through an attentive listening to God’s word and faith- ful realization of His will, which translates itself into generous undertaking of tasks within the frame of the apostolic mission of the Church. 2. With a seal on his soul Loneliness more easily opens us up to the Lord and makes us more sensitive to His inspirations. Father Stanislaus suffered painful loneliness during his impris- onment in Podoliniec and Prievidza, when he stood accused of demands for radical faithfulness to the grace of religious life in the Piarist Order. He experienced the pain of being cast out for wanting to serve God more faithfully within his beloved religious community. Father Stanislaus’s physical and spiritual sufferings, awareness of being cast out and his ideals of beautiful religious life taken lightly have become the soil, in which germinated the seed of a new life mission. Left in painful silence, Fr. Stanislaus gave heed to the delicate breaths of the Holy Spirit who chiseled in his soul the image of a new religious congregation. Day after day the Holy Spirit laid out the mosaic of this new community, with which He wanted to adorn the Church. His actions were filled with imagination, for out of colorful pieces, of which none was accidental or needless, He created a stain glass window displaying a commu- Fr. St. Papczy < ski as the Inspiration for the Marian Helpers 213