Ad Honorem Immaculatae Conceptionis Mariae Oblatio

167 these are only personal assessments. Sometimes blackmail came into play: if I don’t get... (specific requirements followed), I shall leave.” I cannot recall any perpetually professed member, any priest leaving our community for an institute of a more strict rule (please correct me if I am wrong). It would seem that the aforesaid inseparable “bonds of love,” the spiritual struggle to remain faithful to one’s calling to the consecrated life were absent. Per- haps, an independent study (for formation purposes) analyzing the reasons for departure is indicated here. However, certain observations allow one to venture a theory of a lack of sufficient faith that shapes the “oblative” attitude, the confidence that God keeps giving His blessing to each one of us, similar to the one that Father Michael Kraus, the Vicar Provincial of the Piarists, gave to Father Stanislaus after making his Oblatio : “May God strengthen what He has worked in you!” (FHR, No. 4, p. 63). This lack of faith may be associated with an excessive trust in oneself and one’s own abilities, which consequently leads to scandal at one’s own and oth- ers’ weakness. Our holy Father Founder trusted in Divine Providence and believed that God’s promises would be fulfilled. He made his choices not according to the measure of his personal abilities, but based on the experi- ence of God’s proximity and loyalty. Bishop Kiernikowski stated this truth very clearly: If we follow the path of fulfilling God’s promises, it is not because we can – for we must see that we cannot do certain things – but because we believe, on the other hand, that we have experienced that there is someone Who is powerful to fulfill what He promised, despite some mishaps or human errors. That was the faith of Abraham. And that is everything. If this is missing at the foundation, for example at the beginning of formation, on entering the community, then everyone will cling to their wants, and will not follow the promise. It will be a sign that he does not accept the program of life and promise being offered by Someone else, that program which has already been fulfil- led in Jesus Christ. 16 And here we come to the question of formation. Without going beyond the scope of this conference, it is possible to say that the Oblatio may be- come a foundation or particular leitmotiv of Marian religious formation. 16 Fr. F. Blachnicki, Bp. Z. Kiernikowski, Moria, Mara i Nebo , Krakow 2020, p. 78.