Lumen 2018

the novices in his care. He also made sure that the novices would al- ways be occupied with some kind of work. When they felt tired, he allowed them to rest and to take an additional meal. He was with them at all times, participating not only in their prayer, but also in their work and recreation. 36 Self-denial Having accepted the religious habit, Stanislaus of Jesus Mary Pa- pczynski ardently practiced ever more strict mortification and con- templation. “From the very beginning of the novitiate, he demonstrated such great zeal in practicing virtues that he surpassed other members of this house, who had been with the Piarists a lot longer than he was. He performed the lowliest tasks, cleaning out stables and barns, chopping wood and carrying it to the kitchen, working in the kitchen, washing dishes, fetching water from the well on the coldest days of winter when the frosty snow lashed against his body; all this in spite of great pain and in spite of the fact that his hands were covered with a layer of icy crust.” 37 Stanislaus’s zeal in fulfilling his duties as a novice in the spirit of obedience and self-denial was recognized and confirmed by the so- called scrutinium [scrutiny], i.e., an evaluation of the novice’s con- duct by the members of the house, expressed through voting 38 and carried out three times during the first year of the novitiate. The first such scrutiny took place on November 28, 1654. Four priests, four seminarians, and one lay brother participated in it. At that time, five novices were being evaluated by the community. One of them re- ceived eight positive votes and one negative vote; the second one — five positive and four negative votes; the rest of the novices, among them Papczynski, nine positive votes each. The second scrutiny took place on March 19, 1655, and included only three novices, all of whom had received only positive votes be- fore. The result of this scrutiny was exactly the same as the first time 101 At the Piarist Fathers