57 Apostolate or Contemplation: 1677-1723 way of life. It was from him that Fr. Stanislaus received a kind permission to don the white habit, as the latter recollected, “I easily obtained from him permission to wear a new habit. For he is an upright and virtuous man, quite zealous in promoting the glory of God. Wherefore, having given up the position [offered by] the Bishop of Płock, upon the counsel and recommendation of my confessors, I went — upon a request — to the manor of a certain nobleman, James Karski, an excellent man. After finally settling matters with the Institute of the Pious Schools, though this was not without a certain injustice against me, with the knowledge of the holy Apostolic Nunciature, during the Octave of the Birth of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, I offered myself, already dressed in white, in perpetual slavery as a new candidate to this Mother.”8 Initially, like many other clergies, Bishop Wierzbowski was not favorably disposed toward Fr. Papczyński’s legislative initiative, which was understandable given the general Church policy and the Polish context at the time. However, as he got to know him better, he changed his opinion and adopted a friendly and supportive stance. He made Fr. Papczyński his chief advisor and source of inspiration in implementing his plans for the sanctuary, as noted by the 19th-century historian Ludwik Górski, who wrote: “Father Papczyński was the main assistant and advisor in [the] bishop’s work and dedication.”9 The Bishop considered himself a co-founder of the Marian Order. On October 26, 1689, his family took the Congregation under their protection, justifying this patronage with words of recognition: “We accept this saintly Congregation, as begun with our House [sic], under ours and our entire House’s eternal protection. And we shall shield and support it by our founding grace [...]. God forbid [us] to ruin this Congregation. We promise to stand by it.”10 In 1687, the bishop, while explaining the reasons for inviting the Marians to the sanctuary in New Jerusalem, expressed the following opinion 8 S. Papczyński, Foundation of the House of Recollections, 8, in: Selected Writings, p. 904. Father Cyprian Fiałkowski testified: “Servus Dei coram Imagine Virginis Mariae habitum nigrum deposuit albumque in honorem Beatissimae Virginis indult, et benedictionem a Nuntio Apostolico Varsaviae obtinuit, dumque in eodem habitu albo per civitatem Varsaviensem incederet, plures adversarij eum persequendo, contra eum repetebant hunc versiculum «Ecce mox Cygnus, qui ante Corvus errat quae omnia Servus Dei patienter tulit»“. APS 10. 9 Ludwik Górski, Krótka wiadomość historyczna o założeniu Zakonu Księży Marianów w Polsce i o życiu ks. Stanisława Papczyńskiego, in: Pamiętnik Religijno-Moralny, t. V, (1843), p. 301. 10 Positio, Papczyński, pp. 430-433.
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