MARIANS IN 1670-1788 90 forbid anyone to harm it.”102 The protection of the Wierzbowski family and the dedication of the short Passion work Christus Patiens to Bishop Witwicki contributed to gaining his goodwill. In the dedicatory letter placed at the beginning of this work and addressed to Bishop Witwicki, Fr. Papczyński mentioned the slanderers and accusers of the Order, the unjust accusations, and slanders. He entrusted himself to the Bishop’s care with confidence.103 Though temporarily somewhat mitigated, the difficulties that threatened even the destruction of the Marian Order made Fr. Papczyński even more aware of the urgent need to obtain papal approval for the Order. This was especially important now, as the Congregation, canonically erected in 1679 solely on the diocesan level, depended entirely on the goodwill of the Bishop of Poznań, in whose jurisdiction both monasteries were located. Experiencing distrust of intermediaries to whom he had previously entrusted the matter and in the face of the congregation’s increasingly complicated canonical and legal situation, Fr. Papczyński decided to go to Rome personally to address this issue. To secure the Marians’ right to the title of the Cenacle, still challenged by opponents in the town of Czersk, before setting out on his trip, on October 30, 1690, Fr. Stanislaus made a testament bequeathing the Cenacle to his brethren.104 Soon afterward, probably in November of the same year, he set off, traveling to Rome on foot in the company of Subdeacon Joachim of St. Ann Kozłowski. It was a long and arduous journey, full of nasty surprises, the more so because the religious were making it in winter, in cold and miserable conditions, often begging for bread. Fr. Papczyński, who was sixty years 102 Positio, Papczyński, pp. 430-433. 103 APS 10, f. 168r. Father Cyprian Fijałkowski testified: “Scio, quo quidam Episcopus Posnaniensis fuerat contrarius Institutis nostris, et conabatur ad persuasiones Inimicorum nostri Ordinis eumdem nostrum Ordinem abolere, et extinguere, quo tempore Servus Dei Stanislaus composuit Librum,cui titulus [...] ac dicto Episcopo obtulit, quo perlecto, idem Episcopus factus fuit amicus Servi Dei Stanislai, et Protector nostri Ordinis, et erectionem nos tram roboravit”. S. Papczyński, Letter of Dedication, in: Selected Writings, pp. 757-758. 104 The bequest of the Cenacle to the Marians, in: Positio, Papczyński, pp. 433-436. The legal contents of this document had a vital importance for the future of the Marians. For a researcher of Marian history, the mentioned names of the religious and their number in 1690, at least ten residing in the Cenacle, are of great importance. This is the only such list from the years 16771701. The mentioned Marians are: Fathers Stanislaus Papczyński, priests: Joseph of All Saints, Peter of St. Mary Magdalene, Michael and Ambrose; sub-deacon Joachim of St. Ann; seminarians Anthony of Francis and Andrew, as well as other seminarians, “all true sons and professed”.
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