Lest You Remain

“tempted” from many sides with various proposals promising important Church offices. Also, members of other congregations delighted in possibly seeing him in their ranks. One could say that all doors stood wide-open before Fr. Papczy<ski when left the Piarists, just like it was at the beginning of his religious vocation, thus offering him a chance for an ecclesiastical career. Nevertheless in Fr. Stanislaus faith was victorious in the conviction that the Lord God wished to accomplish through him an important work—proclaiming the honor of Mary Immaculately Conceived by dedicating to her an Order. In spite of the magnitude of the task as well as of his own insignificance and inap- titude, Fr. Papczy<ski , provoked by the voice of God, courageously dared to begin the work of founding the Order of Marians, placing his trust in God’s power alone. The following is a moving testimony of his trust: “In spite of innumerable difficulties bar- ring the way, divine goodness and wisdom start and complete whatever they wish, even if the means, according to human judgment may be unfit. There is nothing impossible with GodAlmighty. It has been most explicitly proven in me—the poorest, most deserv- ing of scorn for a sinner, the most wretched and most unfitting instrument [used by God] for founding of this most worthless and smallest Congregation of Marians of the Most BlessedVirgin Mary Conceived without Original sin ” ( Fundatio domus recollec- tionis ). To prepare himself for this new task, Fr. Stanislaus left the Diocese of Krakow and went to Lubocza, to be a chaplain at the Jacob Karski’s court. There he prepared a draft of the future Order’s constitution entitled Norma vitae (The Rule of Life). In search of candidates, he traveled in 1673 to Puszcza Korabiewska, where a former sol- dier, Stanislaus Krajewski, had been leading a “hermitic way of life” along with a few companions. On the plot of land, received from Krajewski, Fr. Papczy<ski built and organized the first house of his institute, calling it a “House of recollection.” On Octo- ber 24, 1673, bishop Jacek  wi ´ cicki arrived at Puszcza Korabiewska for a canonical visitation. He confirmed the community living by “The Rule of Life” as a nucleus of the Marian Order under the guidance of Fr. Papczy<ski as its superior. The Bishop also gave them “Statutes” strictly hermitic and penitential in character, which was far from the character of life that the Servant of God had in mind for the Marians. Nevertheless, Fr. Papczy<ski accepted the Bishop’s decision in a spirit of religious obedience. From the beginning of the Congregation’s existence, Fr. Papczy<ski ’s fatherly love for his small community prompted him to try to get papal approval for it. Even though the Holy See decided that the Marians did not need its approval, Fr. Pap- czy<ski , just after settling down in New Jerusalem, petitioned Bishop Stefan Wierz- bowski for it, and on April 21, 1679, his institute, composed of two houses, receiv- ed the Bishop’s approval as a Diocesan Order. In the same year, King Jan III So- bieski granted special privileges to the small community, which most definitely strengthened its position, but its status as a Diocesan Order still left its future de- pend on Bishop’s good graces. Father Papczy<ski had a bitter taste of this after the Biography of Fr. Stanislaus Papczy < ski 89