MARIANS IN 1670-1788 100 Although, in a certain respect, they seemed to be quite strict, I will not strive for anything else beyond the salvation of my soul.”135 He believed that if the Congregation followed God’s will, then Divine Providence would lead this work to its completion, even through suffering and penance. Fr. Stanislaus sincerely believed and professed, concerning the beginning of Marians’ emergence, that: “Divine goodness and wisdom, despite countless obstacles, initiate and carry out what they desire, even when the means, according to human judgment, may seem inadequate for the task.”136 Fr. Papczyński obeyed the Church and its representatives’ directives, so he adjusted his regulations to the strict orders of Bishop Święcicki. While in the Forest, he strictly adhered to them because, as he confessed: “it indeed befits a Superior of hermits to behave properly, according to the Rule prescribed for them.”137 He was sure that the time would come to bring about “the Society of the Immaculate Conception, which the Divine Spirit had already formed in my mind,”138 that is, an active, apostolic congregation. And such a time did come when Bishop Stefan Wierzbowski invited Fr. Papczyński and a few Marians to the newly emerging New Jerusalem. The Bishop “did not want [...]a man, so holy and useful for the Church, [to] be locked up in the Forest like the light under a bushel. He wanted to put him on a lampstand to enlighten everyone, so he called him from the Forest as an apostolic man to preach the word of God in Kalwaria139*.”140 While staying at the Cenacle, Papczyński met with the bishop and informed him about the works of the community, its goals, and its legal status.141 There is no doubt that he influenced the content of the document regarding the first erection. Although the erection document refers to the Marians as hermits and mentions only two purposes: prayer for the deceased and the adoration of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, without addressing the issue of apostolate at all, in the bishop’s decree he orders the Marians to visit, console, and accompany those condemned to 135 S. Papczyński, The Foundation of the House of Recollection, 24, in: Selected Writings, p. 912. 136 Ibid, 1, p. 901. 137 Ibid, 25, p. 912. 138 Ibid, 9, p. 905. 139 * Translator’s note: Calvary in English 140 Wyszyński, Stróż, p. 158. 141 Navikevicius, p. 176.
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