Ad Honorem Immaculatae Conceptionis Mariae Oblatio

24 Franciszek Smagorowicz MIC The date of origin of the Congregation of Marian Fathers 1 Within the Church, new religious families were always coming into ex- istence and continue to appear. The process of their establishment was usu- ally long and complex. Sometimes entire decades went by, before a certain community living in accordance with the Evangelical Counsels gained the consciousness of self and received Episcopal or Papal approval. The period of time that elapses between the date of the order’s actual origin and the of- ficial recognition of this fact by the Church is probably the most important for the future religious family, because during this time, the community forms its countenance, character, and charism. The boundaries of this peri- od are usually marked by two dates: the date of the founding of a congrega- tion and the date of its approval by the Pope given in the form of a decree. The Annuario Pontificio provides both dates for each congregation existing under pontifical law: the date of its founding and the date of its approval [ fondazione e approvizione ]. Frequently, it is difficult to establish precisely this first date. Many congregations cannot give an exact date of their com- ing into existence. It seems to fade away somewhere in the natural course of events and becomes only conventional. The immediate participants in the events related to the origin of an institute were not always aware of the fact that a new congregation was created. And later, when the realization of the importance of this fact came, nobody could remember exactly how it all happened, because nothing had been documented, recorded, lastingly preserved. And how did it happen in the case of our Congregation? While reading Fr. Stanislaus Papczyński’s biography, I could not resist the impression that the date of our Congregation’s origin has been unjustifiably moved three years ahead. In my opinion, the Marians actually have existed since De- 1 Reprinted from: S. Smagorowicz MIC, The date of origination of the Congregation of Mar- ian Fathers , MIC Information No. 41 (4/2003), p. 18-22.