Lest You Remain

regarded his vocation to the community founded by Joseph Calasanti as a tremen- dous grace, and he accepted the community’s way of life as his own. He whole- heartedly dedicated himself to works assigned by his superiors, seeing them as a path to holiness for himself and the faithful. As the Decree of the Heroic Virtues states, Stanislaus Papczy < ski “made such a great progress in religious life during his first year of the novitiate, that he could be sent to study theology in Warsaw in the beginning of his second year. There […] in 1656, he made simple vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience; and, after receiving four lower ordinations, he was ordained a sub-deacon.” His first years in following the way of the evangelical counsels predicted a beautiful and joyful vocation. Submitting to strive for holiness above all else, aware of his past life’s short- comings, Stanislaus, prayed thus to the Lord before making his vows: “Grant that, having done so many bad deeds, I may do good ones in my vocation.” For the pur- pose of self-humiliation, the Servant of God described his “many bad deeds” in Secreta Conscientiae . This was a type of confession, in which he acknowledged the shortcomings and sins of his youth, committed before his entering the Piarist Order, he left these recollections as a second St. Augustine, so that others could condemn him ( Acts of the Information Process ). He recognized the doing of good as his pri- mary task. There was no lack of occasions for this. Before long, Stanislaus became a teacher of rhetoric. After ordination to the diaconate and the priesthood in 1661, he promptly earned the prestige of an excellent speaker and a zealous shepherd of souls. Notwithstanding his young age, many distinguished persons—among them the Nuncio Antonio Pignatelly, future Pope Innocent XII—approached him for con- fession, seeking his spiritual advice. Gradually he became more proficient in teach- ing and wrote a 6-volume textbook on rhetoric, the short version of which— Prodromus reginae artium (Introduction to Rhetoric)—was reprinted many times. A particular sign of Fr. Papczy < ski’s religious vocation was his profound spir- itual union with the Founder of the Piarists—St. Joseph Calasanti. Father Stanislaus saw in him as a living witness to the Gospel and by this—his spiritual director. The young priest Stanislaus was assigned the function of Vice-Postulator of the beatifi- cation process of the Piarists’ Founder. Father Stanislaus was entrusted with procur- ing from ecclesiastical and civic high officials, letters of postulation for opening the beatification process in Rome. Within a year, his enthusiasm and zeal prompt- ed many prominent persons and institutes of the Republic to produce letters sup- porting the sanctity of the Piarists’ Founder. Thanks to this, the Holy See was able to open the beatification process in Rome. Father Stanislaus Papczy < ski was gain- ing recognition among his confreres and the faithful. He could be easily called an accomplished religious order priest. Biography of Fr. Stanislaus Papczy < ski 77