Lumen 2018

The Piarist houses located in Moravia, among others in Nicols- burg (the residence of the Provincial Superior) and Bohemia initially belonged to the province called the German Province. Later, both houses established in the territory of Poland also became a part of that province. From that time, the province was called the German- Polish Province. At that time, Fr. Onufrius Conti of the Blessed Sacrament was the Provincial Superior. When he moved to Rome in 1643, The Vice-Superior, Fr. Ambrose Leailth, was in charge of the province and then, from July 7, 1644, a new Vicar-Provincial Supe- rior of the German-Polish Province — Fr. Alexander Novari. 17 In 1646, when the Piarists became a congregation without the right to profess religious vows, the Provincial Superior Conti re- turned to the province. After a brief stay in Moravia, he went to Poland and chose the house in Warsaw for his residence. 18 However, Fr. Novari, still a Vicar-Provincial Superior, continued, with the bishop’s permission, to be in charge of the German-Polish Province. At that time, he resided more often in Litomysl than in Nicolsburg. 19 When Fr. Conti had moved to Italy, Fr. Novari continued to gov- ern the province. In 1653, Cardinal Ernest d’Harrach of Prague rec- ognized him as the Provincial Superior of all the Piarist houses in Moravia (soon after, the Piarists in Poland accepted him as their Provincial Superior, too) and allowed him to admit the novices to their vows after they had completed the novitiate. The first such cel- ebration ( professio aggregatorum ) took place on March 4, 1653, in Podoliniec. 20 In the same year, Fr. Novari moved to Warsaw leaving Fr. Pessau, his deputy, in charge of all the affairs in Moravia. Soon he took charge of all the houses in the territory of Poland and be- came Rector of the Warsaw house as well. 21 When the Piarists became a congregation with simple vows (1656), Fr. Conti was again elected Provincial Superior of the Ger- man-Polish Province. He moved from Italy to Moravia but could not be personally in charge of the Polish houses because Poland was in the middle of the war with the Swedes and with Rakoczy. During S TANISLAUS P APCZYNSKI 98