39 Beginnings: 1670-1677 profession and, to protect himself from the Piarists who had imprisoned him twice before, he moved under the jurisdiction of Bishop Andrzej Trzebicki in December 1669, residing within his diocese in Kazimierz near Kraków.46 There, he served as the chaplain of the Archconfraternity of the Immaculate Conception of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary.47 From Oblatio to Fundatio Domus Recollectionis After leaving the Piarists, Papczyński, a renowned speaker, respected lecturer, confessor, educator of young people, and zealous and righteous priest, received numerous highly lucrative offers for ecclesiastical positions. Mikołaj Oborski and Andrzej Trzebicki — the bishops of Kraków — as well as Stefan Wierzbowski, the Bishop of Poznan, all “wanted to have in their dioceses a man of profound knowledge and outstanding holiness to support and shape the clergy and the faithful. Yet, Fr. Stanislaus, mindful of his promise to God and led by divine inspiration, heroically rejected all honors and prelatures. He focused fully on founding the Congregation of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary”48 because — as he himself wrote — “[…] divine vision, which had been engraved upon my soul regarding the foundation of this Congregation of the Immaculate Conception of the Most B.V.M., impelled me to this goal.”49 Devoting himself to the Congregation that promoted the honor of the Immaculate Conception was the culmination and synthesis of Fr. Stanislaus’s entire life.50 He declined invitations from several bishops and religious orders asking him to join them because his thoughts and heart were preoccupied with the vision of the Society of the Immaculate Lady, which he wished to bring into being as soon as possible. According to Father Andrzej Pakuła, by at least the middle of 1669, he 46 Positio, Papczyński, pp. 153-162; APS 10 f. 194r. Evidence of Father Dionysius Kisieliński. 47 Tadeusz Rogalewski, Stanislaus Papczyński (1631-1701). Founder of the Congregation of Marian Fathers and Inspirer of the Marian School of Spirituality, Stockbridge, MA, 2002, p. 162. 48 APS 10 f. 194r-v. Evidence of Father Dionyzius Kisieliński; Wyszyński, Stróż, pp. 69-70. 49 S. Papczyński, The Foundation of the House of Recollections, 6, in: Selected Writings, pp. 903-904. 50 Cf. Andrzej Pakuła, Duchowość zakonna według Stanisława Papczyńskiego i wczesnej tradycji Zgromadzenia Księży Marianów, Warszawa - Lublin 2010, pp. 158-173.
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