Ad Honorem Immaculatae Conceptionis Mariae Oblatio

182 God day and night according to the regulations? Finally, do they strictly follow the principles of religious discipline?” 18 Casimir Wyszyński was a man who properly interpreted the will of God for his life and was obedient to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit. His great- est desire was to lead everyone to Christ under the guidance and following the example of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Immaculate Virgin. He trusted that Mary, whom Christ gave as a Mother to all people, was constantly in- terceding for her people and wanted to shine upon them on their path to her Son as the Morning Star. Therefore, no one should reject this special model and protection that Divine Providence has left to people. It is neces- sary to get to know Mary and her virtues, contemplate and imitate them in one’s life, and thus to please Mary and to please Christ together with her. Father Casimir’s concept of imitatio Mariae included in his Foreword to Morning Star is the result of his own reflections and a synthesis of earlier knowledge that he acquired as a religious order member. He was undoubt- edly inspired by such figures as Gabriel Nicolas and St. Joan of France, Francis Arias and Fr. Stanislaus Papczyński, but he also drew abundantly from the Holy Scriptures and the inspirations of the Holy Spirit. For the Congregation of Marian Fathers, Casimir Wyszyński was a prov- idential man given by God at that Order’s difficult time. The connection between our holy Father Founder and the subsequent, two-time General of the Order, consisted above all, in the total dedication of their lives to the Triune God, love of Mary Immaculate, striving for perfection in the reli- gious life and a deep concern for their Order, which they both saw as the work of Divine Providence. 18 K. Wyszyński, Circular letter of June 3, 1749 , in: Stróż duchowego dziedzictwa marianów. Wybór pism o. Kazimierza Wyszyńskiego , transl. and ed. by Z. Proczek, Warszawa–Stockbridge 2004, p. 184.