Ad Honorem Immaculatae Conceptionis Mariae Oblatio

176 Jacek Rygielski MIC The lives of our holy Father Founder and of Venerable Servant of God Casimir Wyszyński in the spirit of imitatio Mariae As the life of Father Stanislaus Papczyński was approaching its end, Jan- uarius Francis Wyszyński arrived into this world on August 19, 1700, in the village of Jeziora Wielka near Grójec (today Jeziórka) some 40 km from Góra Kalwaria. Although these two great figures of the Congregation of Marian Fathers never met in person, with the passing of time, Fr. Casimir grew to become a continuator of Father Papczyński’s work and an inter- preter of his life. It seems that our holy Father Founder’s ideas inspired Venerable Serv- ant of God Casimir Wyszyński as he shaped his theology of imitating Mary, and particularly in its Christological dimension. His work contained ref- erences to the Marian charism developed by Father Papczyński. Further- more, in the imitatio Mariae , Father Wyszyński especially emphasized the presence of the Holy Spirit. He believed that the Holy Spirit was the in- spirer and the herald of the future followers of Christ who were called to imitate the evangelical virtues of Mary for the greater glory of God and the Mother of Jesus. For this very purpose, the Order of the Annunciation of the BVMwas established in the Church and its foundress, St. Joan de Valois “became a proof that the imitation of Mary’s virtues makes us pleasing to the Blessed Virgin Mary and her Son.” 1 Then “also in the Polish Kingdom, not so long ago, God called His servant Fr. [now St.] Stanislaus of Jesus and Mary Papczyński, the Founder of the Marians, that is, of the Order of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the first religious order from Poland, to imitate the virtues of the Blessed Virgin Mary.” 2 As he described and interpreted Fr. Stanislaus’s life, Fr. Casimir looked at the Marian Order and its founder in the perspective of God’s plan and the call to imitatio Mariae . 1 C. Wyszyński, Foreword in: F. Arias, SJ, Morning Star , Stockbridge, 2019, p. 25. 2 Ibid.