MARIANS IN 1670-1788 50 The year 1677 marked a turning point for the very young Marian community. The Marian Fathers received a new establishment, the Church of Our Lord’s Cenacle. Fresh, zealous candidates joined the Order. The Marian Institute and the House of Recollection, founded by Fr. Stanislaus, were recognized and approved by the Church authorities. The only remaining task was obtaining the required approval from the state authorities. Thanks to Fr. Stanislaus’ efforts, on April 23, 1677, the Sejm (Polish parliament) approved the Marian foundation in the Korabiew Forest by decree.91 This fundamental legal act secured its existence for the future. The nobility, concerned about transferring lands and material wealth to religious orders and their exemption from taxes and other obligations to the state, had effectively hindered the creation of new foundations and the donation of gifts to monasteries. Three years earlier, in 1674, the Sejm, following the spirit of this concern, passed a law stating that “it is forbidden to establish new foundations and make bequests under pain of nullity”92 without the consent of the Commonwealth. The year 1677 filled Fr. Stanislaus with optimism and hope for the successful continuation of the work of God that had been started. Successfully concluding such complicated matters was like a clear light in the still-dark tunnel, as persecutions from enemies and various obstacles were constantly part of the fate of the young Order. Being aware of this, Fr. Stanislaus prepared his brethren for present and future difficult experiences. He also foresaw the Order’s future crisis, but — as God’s visionary, that is, one who receives from God the gift of seeing things to come — he assured the brethren of a positive outcome. The symbolic names “Korab” or “Noah’s Ark,”93 given to the monastery and evoking the biblical image of the ark that the floodwaters did not sink, were an expression of Fr. Papczyński’s deep conviction that all unjust accusations, persecutions, and troubles, like floodwaters, would eventually descend upon this “Ark” but would not destroy it. He believed there would come a time when the ominous waters would recede, and 91 Approbacya fundacji pustelników w Puszczy Korabiewskiej, in: Volumina Legum. Przedruk Zbioru Praw, staraniem XX. Pijarów w Warszawie od 1732 do 1782 roku wydanego, Petersburg V, 1860, 241, P. 118; Positio, Papczyński, pp.376-378. 92 Volumina Legum, IV, 488. 93 Navikevicius, p. 170; Positio, Papczyński, p. 709.
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