77 Apostolate or Contemplation: 1677-1723 today with complete certainty if Fr. Stanislaus was indeed addictissimus et familiarissimus with King John III. However, it’s certain that they knew each other personally and met on multiple occasions. The fruit of this acquaintance and mutual respect was, to a large extent, the privilege granted to the Marian Fathers just six weeks after the canonical erection of the Congregation. While in Góra, on June 2, 1679, the king issued a document confirming all the previous privileges granted to the Marians and added new ones. He exempted the Marians from all fees and taxes to the state. He significantly expanded their land holdings in the Korabiew Forest and took the Congregation under his protection, expressing his wish that the “Institute grow and establish new houses in other localities throughout our Kingdom.”63 For the Marians, it was a significant achievement: in addition to securing the legal protection of the Church, they acquired secular royal guarantees. Papal Brief Cum Sicut Accepimus: March 20, 1681 Bishop Wierzbowski, wanting to observe all formalities and avoid ambiguity when erecting the Marian Fathers, informed the Holy See about the entire action. In response, Pope Innocent XI issued a breve to the bishop, granting numerous privileges to the Marian Fathers.64 It’s important to emphasize that this is the first papal document addressed to the Marian Fathers. In this document, the Marians were named: “Confraternitas sive Congregatio Clericorum Recollectorum [...], sub titulo Conceptionis B.M.V. Immaculatae in suffragium animarum fidelium defunctorum canonice erecta.”65 Unfortunately, the term “confraternitas,” repeated several times in the document, was misinterpreted as permission from the Holy See to establish a Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary by the Marian Order. This assumpserit, atque Praesul Pignatelli Nuntius pro tunc in Polonia eumdem in Confessarium suum elegerit”. Similarly, Fr. Dionysius Kisieliński testified that he had read and heard from several fathers that Fr. Papczyński was the confessor of the king and the nuncio. See f. 192r; cf. S. Sydry, O. Stanisław, p. 168. 63 Positio, Papczyński, pp. 402-404. 64 Positio, Papczyński, pp. 406-409. 65 ASV: Sec. Brev., Indulg. Perp., vol. 5: Innoc. XI - Pro ConFather ab An. 1676 ad An. 1689.
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