Lumen 2018

at the end of October 1667, may have mentioned the first and the second summons to the Eternal City there. 48 It should be stated clearly that it was Fr. Opatowski who per- suaded the Superior General to summon Fr. Papczynski to Rome, because he wanted to prevent Papczynski from participating in the upcoming provincial chapter in Poland. It is almost certain that Fr. Stanislaus would have been elected again as a delegate of the Warsaw house to the provincial chapter. But the order to leave for Rome be- fore the meeting of the local chapter (at which the delegate would be elected) automatically excluded him from the list of candidates for a delegate, thereby depriving him of every chance to participate in the provincial chapter. With bitterness, he wrote in Protestatio that his superiors ordered him to go to Rome because they were afraid that he would become “an advocate of the most just cause,” i.e., that he would make them “give an account” of their stewardship; they were also afraid that he might “reveal some conspiracies.” 49 Father Stanislaus received the order to go to Rome in the spirit of perfect obedience and self-denial. 50 Before he set out on his journey, he obtained letters of recommendation 51 and, as has been mentioned above, wrote his Protestatio Romam abeuntis . Father Papczynski began this solemn statement with the following words: “I, a sinful man, by the name of Stanislaus of (the Most Holy Names) Jesus Mary, born in Podegrodzie in Sandetia, of Polish de- scent, summoned to Rome twice by the letters written to our Provin- cial Superior, Fr. Wenceslaus of the Most Holy Sacrament, by our Superior General, Fr. Cosmas of Jesus Mary, accept this order with utmost reverence, humility, readiness, and resignation, only for the love of my God and my Lord Jesus Christ, for the honor of the Most Holy Virgin and my Lady as well as for the love of my patron saints, guardian angels, and the entire heavenly court. “I intend to fulfill the order given to me on September 27, 1667, most perfectly and according to God’s will. I offer up to my Lord and my God, in unity with the obedience and the merits of Our Lord 171 At the Crossroads