135 Apostolate or Contemplation: 1677-1723 visits to our Order have never been of any use to us but brought us into an ever-greater darkness so that we would not discern what could help us to develop our Order. The articles they establish during the Chapters are harmful [...]. This is how they treat us.”255 The vicars interfered with the novitiate and priestly formation, making it more aligned with the Reformates than the Marian spirit. They imposed their distinctions, titles, the Franciscan breviary, customs, and patrons. In the liturgy, the Reformates’ Directorium from Wielkopolska province was enforced. In monastic discipline, strict and demeaning Reformate penalties and regulations were imposed, contrary to the spirit of the Founder and his legislation. For example, they included licking the floor, licking a cross drawn in chalk throughout the refectory, flogging a monk by servants, putting horse bits on the mouths of those breaking the silentiums, participating in a public procession with a bit placed on the mouth, and many others.256 The power of the vicars was not strictly defined. It depended on the development of the Marians and the general superior’s position and personality. Generally, however, the Reformate vicars displayed a lot of tact during their visitations. They received reasonable remuneration for their services from the Marians,257 although their interference sometimes exceeded the bounds of decency. For example, one of the Marians complained that “Fr. Kowalski [a Reformat], during visitations in every convent, when he found any pillow or featherbed, ripped everything apart and scattered it in the air and organized many other indecencies in a Muscovite-style manner.”258 His decrees exuded severity and rigor. The visitation took place in a “heavy atmosphere.”259 It was a time when the Marians were not flourishing. The decree from 1702 prohibiting the creation of new foundations and the 1712 one forbidding the Marians to be sent to any pastoral work were still in force. This situation was assessed by the researcher of 18th-century Marian 255 Ibid. 256 S. Sydry, Organizacja Zgromadzenia Księży Marianów w XVIII wieku, Stocbridge 1965., pp. 283-287; Listy, 1. Letter 1 is a comprehensive, in-depth analysis of the situation in the Order. It has about 30 typescript pages (1779 ?). 257 S. Sydry, Organizacja, p. 218, n. 3, 229. 258 Listy, letter of Candide Spourny, 4. 259 Bolesław Jakimowicz, Stabilizacja i rozwój zakonu w XVIII wieku, in: Jan Bukowicz, Tadeusz Górski [red.], Marianie 1673-1973, Rzym 1975, p. 45.
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