Ad Honorem Immaculatae Conceptionis Mariae Oblatio

130 shone forth most clearly in me [...] most inadequate, most unfit in- strument [employed by God] for founding the lowest and the smal- lest Congregation of the Fathers of the Blessed Virgin Mary Con- ceived without sin. [...] But God himself [...] inspired me for this work [...]” (FDR, 1, in: Historical Writings of Blessed Stanislaus Papczyński , Stockbridge, 2007, pp. 61-62.) For the first time, this divine vision, imprinted on the soul of Father Papczyński, found its distinct manifestation in his act of offering him- self to God and Mary Immaculate on December 11, 1670, known as the Oblatio . Our Congregation rightly sees its charismatic beginning in this very event. As Father Stanislaus Papczyński was legally severing his bond with the Piarist Order, he also made a step in faith and voiced, albeit in an “embryonic” manner, the intention behind the existence of a new religious community. Three hundred and fifty years since this founding act, we must ask ourselves anew - what was the Oblatio for Father Founder himself in the context of his life and work that began then? What can and should it be today for us Marians who want to rediscover the mystery of the person and charism of our father, St. Stanislaus, and thus to understand anew the path which he originated for us? The Oblatio yesterday an expression of the Marian Founder’s individual sense of faith On the 300 th Anniversary of the founding of the Marian Order, the au- thor of the Positio, Father Casimir Krzyżanowski, who dedicated many years of his long religious life to studying the life and work of our holy Father Founder, wrote: “According to the earliest concept, to this idea, which God conveyed to Fr. Founder in his mind, was that this Congregation was to be pri- marily devoted to spreading devotion to the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Father Papczyński wrote about this many years later in his Fundatio Domus Recollectionis. This conclusion emerges clearly as we analyze a document in which Fr. Papczyński declares for the first time his intention to found the Congregation of Marian Fathers. This intention was solemnly declared on December 11, 1670, on the same day that he made his departure from the Piarist