Ad Honorem Immaculatae Conceptionis Mariae Oblatio

179 his two terms in the office of Superior General, new religious houses were established outside of Poland and the community became international- ized, as Czechs, Lithuanians, Ruthenians, Hungarians and Italians began to join the Marians. In short, it can be said that his life was guided mainly by three goals: “care for the development of the Marian Order, devotion to the Immaculate Conception of Mary and endeavors towards the beatification of Father Stanislaus Papczyński—the Founder of the Order.” 10 The first steps towards opening the beatification process were made by Fr. Casimir Wyszyński, who—convinced of the Marian Founder’s sanc- tity—collected information about his life, the testimonies of witnesses, wrote his biography, and prepared instructions that described measures to be taken to start his beatification process. Father Casimir perceived a close correlation between the efforts to beatify the Marian Founder and God’s blessing for and development of the Marian Order: “I cannot help but marvel at eternal Divine Providence: as soon as I began to busy myself in earnest to promote the process of our Venerable Father Founder. [...] God imparts His blessing unexpectedly on those who remember their ancestors and forefathers. It is quite evident that after the exhumation and placement of the bones of our Father in a new casket, which the Marians in Poland did upon my urging, in turn, the Lord God provided me with a comfortable cell in Rome. And as soon as I sent to Poland the instructions for opening our Father’s process and confirmed the readiness of the Marians to do so—the Father Pastor [Superior General -JR] himself corroborated their intention of doing their utmost for this process—a great blessing from God came upon us at once: the unexpected invitation from the highly esteemed Por- tuguese monarch.” 11 Father Casimir saw not only the increased number of vocations as God’s blessing and providence, but also the invitation for the Order to begin apostolic work in a new country. As has been emphasized many times, Fr. Casimir was Fr. Stanislaus Pap- czyński’s faithful son and a model in imitating the Founder in the religious life in order to stay faithful to the ideals of religious perfection as a path to holiness. Both men were great venerators of Our Blessed Mother Immac- ulately Conceived. Their devotion found its clearest manifestation in the desire to imitate her, especially according to the Rule of the Ten Virtues of 10 P. Smoliński, Zawsze z Chrystusem , in: Powołanie i misja. Sługa Boży o. Kazimierz Wy- szyński (1700 – 1755) , ed. J. Kumala, Licheń 2005, p. 13. 11 Father Casimir Wyszyński, His Life and Mission , Stockbridge 2020, p. 45.