Ad Honorem Immaculatae Conceptionis Mariae Oblatio

46 not be surprised by such views, seeing that the basis for forming a proper outlook on the matter before 1962 was inadequate. For the first time, the Oblatio text was published in its original Latin by the General Curia, in 1964. 25 Nothing indicates that either the discovery of the text of the Oblatio or its subsequent publication two years later aroused any lively interest among the members of the Congregation. Both events passed by without any significant reverberations and did not basically change the Marians’ views about their own beginnings. The Oblatio was interpreted in the light of existing beliefs and findings as another element of Fr. Founder’s inner preparations for the founding of the Congregation. It was chronologically first and thus a very important element, demonstrat- ing moreover the divine inspiration of the idea to found a new religious order; however, its discoverers were convinced that it could not be a de- cisive and important step since it was believed at the time that the act of founding a congregation could be performed only as the outcome of a for- mal decision by the Church authorities. In this perspective, S. Papczyński’s Oblatio could be interpreted only as an act of someone’ private devotion, prompted by this person’s initiative and without the formal consent of the Church authorities, thus unimportant to other people and inconsequential in the external forum. In the commentators’ opinion, the Oblatio belonged to the domain of Fr. Founder’s inner life and gave witness to his profound piety and spirituality, marked by his predilection for living according to the evangelical counsels. This is exactly how the Oblatio was interpreted by Fr. Casimir Krzyżanowski. In his illustrated Story of Stanislaus Papczyński, he empha- sized, on the one hand, he “began a new phase of his life by making [...] the following solemn oblation.” 26 Then he provided the full Oblatio text , accompanied by additions. On the other hand, he stipulated that this act had a purely internal meaning, that it was a manifestation of a personal devotion, and as such had no external significance or legal consequences: “Fr. Papczynski remained interiorly and spiritually faithful to his religious vows, although legally he had passed into the ranks of the diocesan cler- gy.” 27 This interpretation of the Oblatio allowed it to be placed it within the early-accepted scheme of events without making any alterations because 25 See footnote No. 23. 26 [K. Krzyżanowski], Pod sztandaremNiepokalanej, Londyn 1966, 73 [recent English-lan- guage edition: The Illustrated Story of Saint Stanislaus Papczyński , Stockbridge, 2016, p. 56 27 Ibid., p. 58.