Lumen 2018

Moderator of the Confraternity of Our Lady of Grace During his stay in Warsaw, Fr. Papczynski was the Moderator of the Confraternity of Our Lady of Grace. Among his many occupa- tions, he found the time to fulfill those duties, too. The cult of the Madonna delle Grazie , started by St. Augustine, developed in Italy at the beginning of the 15 th century. The faithful invoked the Blessed Mother by this title during an epidemic that was spreading there at that time. It was the town of Faenza in particular, located in northern Italy, 30 kilometers southeast of Ravenna, that experienced the special protection of the Blessed Mother. Through her intercession, the local people were freed from the pestilence. That is why they deeply venerated the icon of Our Lady delle Grazie of Faenza and its fame reached far outside the borders of Italy. The cult of Our Lady of Grace was introduced in Poland by Fr. Jacek Orselli, the first Piarist rector in Warsaw born in Brisighelli near Faenza. Orselli decided to inaugurate the work of the Piarists in War- saw under the protection of “his” Madonna delle Grazie , whom he had venerated since he was very young. In Warsaw, the Madonna was called Our Lady Of Grace. She became the Patroness of the Pi- arist college and later, the Patroness of Warsaw. 227 When an epidemic broke out in Warsaw in 1651, people sought rescue in Mary. A painting, modeled after her miraculous icon of Faenza, was commissioned. A copy of this famous icon was painted by an unknown artist representing the Venetian school of the Baroque period. He depicted Mary wearing a pink dress tied with a golden rope, a blue cape clasped at the neck, with its folds flowing down onto her wide open arms. In her hands, Mary is holding the broken arrows of God’s wrath. Her crown above the halo is held up by two angels. Our Lady’s long hair falls down onto her shoulders. This relatively large painting (132cm x 104cm) was placed in a gilded oval frame surrounded by a golden stellate nimbus. 133 At the Piarist Fathers