MARIANS IN 1670-1788 92 obtaining the desired canonical papal approval for the Order. They left Rome on the 10th or 11th of July, and Pope Innocent XII was elected on the 12th of July. The return journey to Poland, as the biographer Leporini reported, proved extremely difficult, dangerous, and painful for Fr. Papczyński. His strength was dwindling, and he suffered from illnesses. Fr. Papczyński believed that he survived the journey only thanks to the special protection of St. Raphael, whom he held in great reverence and carried his image with him. He also made a vow in Rome that if he returned safely to Poland, he would build an altar to St. Raphael, which he did upon his return. The image of the Holy Archangel, placed in the side altar of the Cenacle, soon became renowned for granting many graces and miracles.109 Father Papczyński invested a lot of effort into obtaining papal approval. Still, he didn’t neglect the care of the spiritual and numerical growth of the Congregation, which unfortunately was very slow at that time in both of these aspects. Despite the vows and the “irrevocable oath to endure forever in the Congregation, from which one can be exempted by the Holy See only,” many Marians, disheartened and disappointed by the strict rules of life, received dispensations from their vows from their confessors and left the Congregation. Some moral theologians even argued that the simple vows made by the Marians were mere promises and, as such, could be dissolved by any confessor. Today, it’s impossible to determine how many Marians took advantage of this unlawful loophole, but there appears to have been a considerable number. In light of this situation, Fr. Papczyński wrote a request to the Sacred Congregation of Bishops and Religious in 1692, asking them to prohibit such practices and to declare that “the vows of the said Congregation are not dispensable, [...] and those who were dispensed from the vows by some (sic) theologians must return to the Congregation,”110 or they would be treated as apostates. In the same year, Fr. Papczyński also submitted a second request to the Sacred Congregation for Bishops and Religious, in which he renewed his efforts to obtain papal approval for the Marians 109 Leporini, n. 45; Teixeira, n. 61. 110 S. Papczyński, Petition to the Holy Congregation for Bishops and Religious, Rome Aug. 22, 1692, in: Selected Writings, pp. 950-951. Issues raised in this petition were discussed by T. Rogalewski, Stanisław Papczyński, p. 283; Positio, Papczyński, s. 512-515.
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