Lumen 2018

The king gladly commended himself to Fr. Stanislaus’s prayers. This was the case when he was going to war with Turkey. Its armies attacked Poland with great force and determination, threatening to annihilate the entire Christian world. But the brave monarch, sup- ported by Fr. Papczynski’s prayers, stopped them at Chocim and, trusting in the protection of the Most Holy Immaculate Virgin, won a magnificent victory. In fact, the entire Ottoman Empire trembled with fear at the sound of John III Sobieski’s name at that time and signed a perpetual peace with Poland on October 17, 1676. 232 After his victorious return from the war, Sobieski placed Fr. Pa- pczynski’s institute under his royal protection in 1677. In 1679, he expanded the foundation at the Korabiew Forest, adding some fertile land, including forests, meadows, fields, and a river flowing through the Marian estate. 233 The victor of Chocim also commended himself to Fr. Stanislaus’s prayers when he was setting out for Vienna. He realized that it was an exceptional situation and wanted extraordinary intercession in such a need. Father Papczynski, seeing the king’s great faith, imme- diately organized special missions among the country folk. He and his confreres called all the faithful to do public penance, to pray to God for their monarch, and for the victory of the Polish army over the enemy who threatened to invade the entire Catholic empire. 234 At a session of the Diet in 1678/1679, King Sobieski unveiled a plan of preparations for war with Turkey. He wanted to secure Poland’s southern border and recapture the territories in the south- east that Poland had lost not so long ago. He knew that Poland was too weak alone to be able to beat Turkey, so he decided to seek help in Austria, which was also threatened by Turkey. On April 1, 1682, Sobieski, with the approval of all the estates, signed a treaty with the Emperor’s envoy, Albrecht Waldstein. When the Grand Vizir, Kara Mustafa, and his 90,000 soldiers besieged Vienna, Sobieski hastened to its rescue with his army of 20 thousand, through Silesia and Mo- ravia, covering the distance between Tarnowskie Gory and Nicols- 317 Foundation of a New Religious Order