MARIANS IN 1670-1788 98 convened specifically for this purpose on April 14, 1701, the gathered Marians accepted the Rule. They also asked the nuncio to set a date for the profession. Fr. Papczyński was the first to make this profession before the nuncio on June 6, 1701; all the other Marians made their profession before Fr. Papczyński at the Cenacle. It was crucial for the Marians, who often found themselves under attack, to make the content of the papal rescript public, as was the nuncio’s obligation stipulated by the papal document, which read: “We recommend and command you — upon summoning by a public edict all who should be summoned — to announce by the power of Our authority the implementation of the permits of the said [Franciscan] general and everything contained therein [...] and to forbid all opponents to assail these Religious under the threat of punishment for disobedience according to the form of the Council [of] Trent.”129 This document contains declarations of the purpose and character of the Marian Order, which has the “duty to help the souls in Purgatory and to assist the parish priests in administering the sacraments and teaching the faithful.”130 It should be made clear here that the rescript was not a legal act of ratifying the Marian Order because this had already taken place after the decree issued by the Franciscan General in 1699. Still, the rescript sanctioned and confirmed everything that resulted from the Order’s aggregation into the Franciscans and its acceptance of the Rule. Also, the rescript left no doubts about the decisions’ legal status. It was an outstanding achievement for the Marians at that time. In this way, a thirty-year-long effort and relentless endeavors of Fr. Papczyński ended. He secured a legal foundation, permanence, and stability for the small congregation of the Immaculate based on the authority of the Holy See. After settling all matters, Fr. Joachim Kozłowski returned to Poland and handed the received documents to Fr. Papczyński. According to Fr. Wyszyński, “The Servant of God [Fr. Papczyński] found that the Rule of Imitation of the Ten Virtues of the Blessed Virgin Mary was exactly adapted for the Marians. [...] Filled with great joy for such extraordinary and benevolent news, he thanked the Most High God and His Most Glorious Mother Mary for letting him 129 Positio, Papczyński, p. 545. 130 Regula Ordinis B. V. Mariae, pp. 40-41.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjI2Mw==