Ad Honorem Immaculatae Conceptionis Mariae Oblatio

129 Bogusław Gil MIC Father Stanislaus Papczyński’s Oblatio Then and Now. An attempt at a theological interpretation The renewal of the religious life in the entire Church, as well as in our Marian Congregation of the Immaculate Conception, should always in- volve our constant return to the source of all Christian life – Our Lord Je- sus Christ, the Son of God in His Paschal and Incarnational mysteries. Fur- thermore, it is necessary to always remember what Pope Paul VI officially called “the charism of the founder.” 1 He was the first in the Church after the Second Vatican Council to do so. This means the original spirit, which is the inspiration and constant reference point for religious institutes. 2 A true renewal of these institutes will always cause the hearts of their members to burn with truth and love in accordance with this charism. For it does not come from the lust of the flesh, nor from an attitude of mind shaped by this world, but it is the fruit of the Holy Spirit, always working in the Church (cf. ET 11). The Canonization of our Founder, Father Stanislaus Papczyński, con- firmed the faith of many generations of his spiritual sons that the Spirit, that had animated and inspired him to give rise to a new religious fami- ly dedicated to the mystery of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mother, came from God Himself. There was also a conviction in Father Stanislaus himself that his actions had been inspired by God, as he wrote: “Divine goodness and wisdom begins and brings to an end what it wants, in spite of countless difficulties standing in the way, and the very unfitness, according to human judgment, of the means. [...] This 1 St. Paul VI, Apostolic Exhortation Evangelica Testificatio (ET), 11. 2 Cf. Decree on the Adaptation and Renewal of Religious Life Perfectae Caritatis, promul- gated by His Holiness Pope Paul VI on October 28, 1965, 2. Therefore, “it is necessary to recog- nize and strictly observe the spirit and intentions of their founders, as well as healthy traditions, because all this is the hereditary property of each institute”; PC 2 (author’s translation based on: PC, in: Enchiridion Vaticanum, EDB, Bologna 1966-, vol. 1, No. 706, p. 388).