Ad Honorem Immaculatae Conceptionis Mariae Oblatio

142 Consecration as Total Self-Offering and Self-Dedication In the first paragraph of the Oblatio, our Founder first identifies himself and then uses two Latin verbs: offero and dedico. 3 Although the English translates dedico as consecrate, 4 I consider it important to reserve the word consecrate to God, who is at the origin of Stanislaus’ self-offering. “Conse- cration is the basis of religious life. By insisting on this, the Church places the first emphasis on the initiative of God and on the transforming relation to him which religious life involves. Consecration is a divine action.” 5 The self-offering of Stanislaus thus presumes – while not explicitly or verbally stating it – the initiative of the Father who first gives of Himself through Jesus Christ. This previous gift of God – namely, that He has loved first (cf. 1 Jn 4:10) – enables the self-gift of Stanislaus in return. “God calls a person whom he sets apart for a particular dedication to himself. At the same time, he offers the grace to respond so that consecration is expressed on the hu- man side by a profound and free self-surrender. The resulting relationship is pure gift. It is a covenant of mutual love and fidelity, of communion and mission, established for God’s glory, the joy of the person consecrated, and the salvation of the world.” 6 Offero and dedico thus are the verbs that illustrate the human coop- eration or correlate to the divine action of consecration. In this light, the present self-offering of Stanislaus depends upon the previous and con- tinuous self-gift of the Father in Jesus: “The origin of the Marian conse- crated life is in the gracious and loving call of God the Father.” 7 Stanislaus’ 3 Oblatio, in: Fontes Historiae Marianorum 8, n. 5: “Ego Stanislaus a Iesu Maria Papczynski Filius secundum carnem Thomae de Podgrodzie Diaecesis Cracoviensis, annorum quadraginta, offero, ac dedico...” Cf. Scipta Historica P. Stanislaw a I.M. Papczyński, critical edition by C. Krzyzanowski, Varsaviae 1999, p. 29-30. 4 Cf. Historical Writings of Blessed Stanislaus of Jesus and Mary Papczyński, trans. Casimir Krzyzanowski, MIC (Stockbridge, MA: 2007), p. 28: “I, Stanislaus of Jesus Mary Papczyński... offer and consecrate to God the Father Almighty...” 5 Sacred Congregation for Religious and for Religious Institutes, Essential Elements in the Church’s Teaching on Religious Life as Applied to Institutes Dedicated to Works of the Aposto- late [EE] , I.5. http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccscrlife/documents/rc_con_ ccscrlife_doc_31051983_magisterium-on-religious-life_en.html. Accessed on 11 March 2020. 6 EE, I.5. 7 Ratio Formationis, n. 14: “...This call - coming wholly at the initiative of the Father - is abso- lutely gratuitous, personal, and unique... Responding to this call of divine love, we feel the need to respond by the unconditional dedication of our lives to His service, taking up the obligation of the common life and striving for the perfection of charity through the evangelical counsels.” cf. Vita Consecrata , n. 17.