73 Apostolate or Contemplation: 1677-1723 This request was granted. When Bishop Wierzbowski returned to New Jerusalem, Fr. Papczyński resumed his efforts for the canonical installation of the Marians. The Bishop announced a summons to a new trial scheduled for November 16, 1678. This time, the Bishop appeared at the hearing, but not the opponents, i.e., representatives of the Dominican Order and Dominican Sisters from Góra, who raised certain property claims, which began, according to them, after the Chapel of St. Martin had been exchanged for the Cenacle.54 The court session concluded with the issuance of a letter that discussed the progress of the case and provided the Dominican side with the opportunity to present any objections related to the erection of the Marians at the Cenacle.55 To avoid any future accusations and ambiguities, Bishop Wierzbowski once again postponed the trial. New summonses were announced the following day, on November 17. They were posted on the doors of the churches in Góra and the Korabiew Forest and read from the pulpit. The bishop explained that the final steps for the canonical foundation of the Marian Congregation in the Poznań diocese were already being taken and urged his priests to present their objections and suggestions. The trial was scheduled for two weeks later. The summons called for the participation of “all and anyone who believes that they have the right to object, or are interested in any way [...] to consider and hear the case of the installation of the Congregation of the Clerics Recollect of the Blessed Virgin Mary conceived without the stain [...], and to recognize and raise this Congregation to the rank of the Institute of Hermits of the Second Degree.”56 For unclear reasons, the trial took place only after five months. Probably, the bishop needed time to find experts, theologians, and canon lawyers and familiarize himself with their opinions to avoid making mistakes. After all, it was an unprecedented event in the Polish Church. The Marian order was the first male order founded in Poland, and that too, by a Pole. Fr. Julian Kałowski, an expert in legal matters concerning religious orders in the 17th century, wrote: “Not even the 54 See the Chapter: Opening of a Post in New Jerusalem, p. 52. 55 Georgio Navikevicius, Stanislao di Gesú Maria Papczyński 1631-1701. Scolopio e Fondatore della Congregazione dei Padri Mariani, Roma 1960, pp. 173-177, [afterwards: Navikevicius]; Dokumenty mariańskie, p. 104, P. 185, pp. 108-109, n. 191. 56 Letter summoning participation in the process of the canonical erection of the Congregation, dated November 17, 1678, in: Positio, Papczyński, pp. 391-392.
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