Ad Honorem Immaculatae Conceptionis Mariae Oblatio

34 Franciszek Smagorowicz MIC The Beginning of the Marian Congregation. The Birth of a New Tradition Traditionally, the Oblatio or the first Marian vows of the Founder, Blessed Stanislaus Papczyński, made in Krakow on November 11, 1670, was regarded as the beginning of the Congregation of Marian Fathers. This conviction may be seen in many Marian source documents from before the Renewal of the Congregation. 1 However, the renovated Congregation accepted and spread the view that the origin of the Congregation occurred later, namely: with the formal approval of the first religious community – the hermitage at the Korabiew Forest (Puszcza Korabiewska). The first Church documents, confirming the existence of the said community and defining its nature and structure, were the post-visitation decrees issued by the Bishop of Poznan on Oct. 24, 1673. And this was the date accepted by the newest, 20 th -Century tradition as the date of the Congregation’s origin. 2 Certain questions come to mind: what changed the Marians’ perception of their own community’s beginnings? What were the reasons that brought about the departure from the old tradition and the acceptance of the new interpretation? When did the opinion that the year 1673 was the beginning of the community establish itself firmly in the Marians’ perception? Evidence of long indecision Few documents from the period before the Renovation of the Congre- gation relate directly to the beginning of the Marians. This happened for many reasons, also because the beginnings are usually humble and cov- ert and as such, they do not have many witnesses, relators, and eulogists. Furthermore, in subsequent years, the Marians found themselves infre- 1 Zob. F. Smagorowicz, Data powstania Zgromadzenia Kstęży Marianów, MIC Information , (4/2003) No 41, 18-22, also available at http://www.padrimariani.org/pl/curia 2 Cf. Marianie 1673-1973 , Ed. J. Bukowicz, T. Gorski, Rzym 1975.