Lumen 2018

S TANISLAUS P APCZYNSKI 426 Virgin Mary.” He often delivered these sermons and published them. 40 He also wrote prayers and songs about the Immaculate Con- ception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. 41 Although the sermons, the prayers, and the songs did not survive to our times, the love of Mary Immaculate, which he had instilled in the hearts of his spiritual sons, has survived. This first characteristic of the Marian charism, i.e., the veneration of Mary in her Immaculate Conception, was later formally expanded to include the imitation of Mary’s virtues in general, when the Con- gregation accepted the Rule of the Ten Virtues of the Blessed Virgin Mary. 42 In order to encourage Mary’s venerators to imitate her virtues in their lives, the Founder of the Marians praised and glorified all the virtues of the Blessed Virgin. “Grafted in the Lord’s house,” guided by the Holy Spirit, she appears in Fr. Stanislaus’s vision as a vessel of all virtues, “like the green olive tree.” 43 Father Stanislaus praised the Most Holy Virgin as the one who was always filled with God, never in bondage to the world, free from imperfections, and rich in virtues. Delighted with her person, he repeated after St. Am- brose: “O, how many kinds of virtues appear in one Virgin. Modesty, faith, zeal in the service of God, a virgin inside the home, a compan- ion in ministry, a mother inside the temple.” 44 The person of the Immaculate Mother, whom Fr. Stanislaus brings closer to us, is magnificent. Presented in such a manner, she evokes our delight and encourages us to imitate her. The Founder of the Mar- ians walked in the first line of those who, just as he did, loved Mary above all else. As he was preparing to leave this world, he fell down at the feet of the Most Elect VirginMary, Mother of God, and, together with the entire congregation, commended himself to her for all eter- nity, begging, with tears in his eyes, for graciousness, intercession, di- rection, and protection. 45 He wanted Jesus Christ Himself and the Blessed Mother to be the true and only Guides, Defenders, and Pro- tectors of this Congregation of the Immaculate Conception. 46 Mary was an object of veneration, delight, contemplation, and fascination for Fr. Stanislaus. He considered her a model to imitate