Lumen 2018

49 the old lot which used to belong to Fr. Papczynski’s parents, in order to commemorate the place where the Founder of the Marians was born. The following inscription was placed on the monument: To the Venerable Servant of God Stanislaus Papczynski, May 18, 1631- September 17, 1701, Founder of Marian Fathers, Theologian and Chaplain of the Polish Army of King Sobieski, at his home village, 1934 . The lot belongs now to the Bartul family. It was previously the property of the Konstanty family, whose house served as a contact point for the members of the Polish Resistance during World War II. Here they found hospitality, obtained information, and were smuggled across Poland’s southern border to the West. It was until quite recently that a cottage without a chimney, with a hole in the roof for smoke, still stood on that lot. Father Papczynski may have been born in a similar cottage. The Bartul family cultivate the local traditions. As one listens to their stories, one gets the impression that Fr. Stanislaus was born here not so long ago. The local people who settled on the so-called “krolewszczyzny” [the land that used to belong to a king], which Blessed Kinga 26 gave to the monastery in Stary Sacz as an endowment, were characterized by ardent patriotism and a sense of personal freedom. They were mostly peasants, who adhered to simple customs and showed great zeal in confessing the holy faith. As they lived in this mountainous region, they became used to the hard work of cultivating the soil. They also worked in their own workshops as blacksmiths, carpenters, and vendors. Their daily struggles with the harsh reality made them haughty and quick to get involved in brawls. Even though they call themselves “gorale” [the mountaineers], the real mountaineers de- fine them as the inhabitants of the plains, for there are no high mountains in the immediate vicinity of Podegrodzie. The Tartar and Cossack hordes, the Turkish and Swedish armies often ventured into these regions. Such campaigns by the invaders into these territories, located almost at the border with Muscovy, Hungary, Ukraine, Slo- vakia, and Moravia, made the people who lived here courageous, pa- triotic, full of love for their land and religion. All this manifested itself particularly during the Swedish “deluge” in the middle of the 17 th Stanislaus Papczynski’s Childhood and Youth