Ad Honorem Immaculatae Conceptionis Mariae Oblatio

162 the conviction carried in the heart of the Founder and confirmed by the in- tuition of many theological authorities, as well as by the awareness present in the Church that Mary was conceived without sin. “The Divine vision, which was imprinted upon my soul in respect to the founding of the Con- gregation of the Immaculate Conception of the B. V. M., having spurned all things, and also the possibility of a return to the Institute of Pious Schools having been hindered, was compelling me to the goal of that vision” (see FHR, No. 6, p. 65). The Oblatio as a founding act I will start with a personal note. The fact that the Oblatio was recog- nized as the beginning of our Congregation proves the growing awareness of our community’s identity. This awareness involves the charismatic layer. The year 1673 was the moment when the Church, in the person of Bishop Stefan Wierzbowski, recognized our Congregation as an ecclesial commu- nity. December 11, 1670, can be called the origin of a new entity, meager and vulnerable in many aspects. All things considered, the rise of the Mar- ians may be compared with the rise of the Jesuits, who named August 15, 1534, as the date of their origin: on this day, St. Ignatius and a group of students of the Sorbonne made their first vows at the Saint Denis Chapel on Montmartre. The Oblatio is more than an act of self-offering or the first formula of a religious profession. It is also a decision: something ended then for Father Stanislaus (the period of life in the Piarist order) and a new stage began (as a Marian). Although just before the time of the release [from simple vows] Di- vine 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, although in a rather quiet voice (see FHR, No. 3, p. 63). It looked as if the grain fell to the ground and died. However, a new life, a new reality burst forth from this (cf. Jn 12:24). This grain fell on the fecund soil, prepared to receive it. The moment of making the Oblatio was very dramatic. Father Papczyński was released from his vows in the Piarist Order, which meant leaving it. Being inwardly convinced of his religious