Lumen 2018

S TANISLAUS P APCZYNSKI 326 gregation of an eremitic character whose members lived a very hard, rather penitential life. The duty of self-flagellation, keeping prayerful vigils at night, and observing strict fasts still existed. It would seem that such discipline should ensure the strength and stability of the Congregation. However, the Congregation was constantly exposed to the attacks of enemies. The latter were often members of other religious communities. They regarded the Marians, more and more often sought out by the courts of the nobility, as their competitors. They thought that, because the Marians were bringing their min- istry to the neighboring parishes, their own access to alms was being limited. They complained that the Marians as “hermits” did not have the right to engage in apostolic work and should not leave the walls of their monasteries. After Bishop Wierzbowski’s death, the greatest threat came from the least expected place, i.e., from his successor, Bishop John Stani- slaus Witwicki (1687-1698). 260 Since the Congregation of the Immaculate Conception, as stated in the act of its canonical erection in 1679, was approved on the basis of diocesan law, its existence depended on the local ordinary’s will. As long as Stephen Wierzbowski was the Ordinary of Poznan, the Marians did not have to worry about their uncertain legal status, be- cause the bishop was their great friend and protector. When the at- tacks against the Marians intensified in the first months of 1687, the bishop reacted very energetically and defended the Congregation. However, after his death, the enemies of the Marians took the arising opportunity and resumed their fight with the young Congregation, accusing it before the new Bishop of Poznan and demanding that the institute be liquidated. The principal enemies of the Congrega- tion were the members of the Poznan Chapter, ill-disposed to the late bishop’s initiatives, who simply transferred their dislike onto Fr. Papczynski’s institute. They were soon joined by other grumblers, both inside and outside the Congregation. At first, despite the pro- tection for the Marians declared by the Wierzbowski family, the new Ordinary, Bishop Stanislaus Witwicki, seemed to lend his ear to these