Ad Honorem Immaculatae Conceptionis Mariae Oblatio

102 every human person, and therefore in the Saint himself, a sense of dignity and glory, joy and thanksgiving, the certainty of being loved and a loving response. 5 As we may infer from Fr. Stanislaus’s notes, on the moment of his ulti- mate departure from the Piarists, thanks to his previous mystical experi- ences, he was already convinced as to his new vocation and its vision. 6 The very act of the Oblatio was a result of God’s direct intervention, and not the first idea for the new way of life. 7 While residing at the Karksi’s Manor (1671-1673), Father Stanislaus endeavored to fulfill the vocation that was shaped in him earlier. 8 In his Apology (ca. 1671) he gave four reasons for his departure from the Piarists, 9 but did not mention his desire to found a new religious order, because this particular work – composed in response to accusations brought forth against him – was of a polemical nature. Facing various adversities in the course of his life, Fr. Papczyński ques- tioned himself in regard to the origin of his new vocation, being convinced all the same, that God alone was able to bring to a conclusion what He had planned, even if having recourse to such miserable instruments, as this 5 “You Christians, as the Teacher of the nations teaches, ‘are the Temple of the living God’ (2 Cor 6:15). What a glory is yours! What a dignity! [...] You, Man, are the invention of the Divine deliberation. The most August Trinity itself raised you up as a Temple for itself, and the Creator of all things called you into being,” Mystical Temple of God , p. 18; [...] “Nor is it sufficient to ap- prehend the mere presence of God; we must also show in our actions and exterior deeds that we truly bear within us the living and unsullied image of God,” ibid., p. 24. Quoting St. Ambrose, Fr. Stanislaus adds: “Let everyone pay more careful attention to the excellence of his first condition and acknowledge the venerable likeness to the Holy Trinity in himself, and strive, by the nobility of his conduct, the exercise of the virtues and the dignity of merits to possess the honor of the divine likeness,” ibid. 6 In 1675, Fr. Stanislaus would write that “God Himself ” called him to “founding the lowest and the smallest Congregation of the Fathers of the Blessed Virgin Mary Conceived without sin,” doing it “admirably, that is lovingly, mercifully, wisely, wonderfully,” FHR, p. 61. Later on, he added: “... the Divine vision, which was imprinted upon my soul in respect to the founding of the Congregation of the Immaculate Conception of the B. V. M. [...] was compelling me to the goal of that vision”, ibid., p. 65. 7 “Divine Majesty suggested to me, that while I was going to be released from these, in the same act I would bind myself freely to God by other vows, which I did by offering myself taken out of my heart, and made publicly,” ibid., p. 63. 8 “I lived at the house of the Lord Nobleman Karski for nearly two years as I was searching for the ways to begin the Society of the Immaculate Conception already formed in my mind by the Divine Spirit,” ibid., p. 67. 9 Those were: The Piarist Superiors’ hostility; the slack observance of the religious rules; love for the Congregation of the Pious Schools and a desire for peace in the Province; the impossibil- ity of using his innate talents (cf. Apology , in: Historical Writings , pp. 31-60.