Ad Honorem Immaculatae Conceptionis Mariae Oblatio

48 as to see researchers or eulogists of their history. Also, the community was infrequently the point of interest of professional historians studying the history of Poland. Thus, the Marians themselves faced the need to study and write about their own history, if for no other purpose than to intro- duce their novices into it. For want of any other works, the main source of information about Fr. Founder and the beginnings of the Congregation for the Marians after the Renovation (and for Poles in general) was initial- ly the books and devotional articles produced by J. Pietrzak. Right before World War II, these materials were replaced by the Founder’s biography composed by Fr. S. Sydry. This was the first critical study of Fr. Stanislaus’s life, based on surviving source documents. After the reopening of the be- atification process, two Doctoral theses dedicated to him appeared outside of Poland, in Rome: first, in 1960, Navikewicius’s historical work, and then, in 1963, the theological one by C. Krzyżanowski. Later, Fr. Krzyżanowski started amassing documents and preparing the so-called Positio for the needs of the beatification process. As a scholastic session was organized at the Catholic University of Lublin on the occasion of the 300 th Anniver- sary of the Marians, the Positio was not yet released. Historians from out- side the Congregation who participated in this session pointed out the lack of available source materials on the history of the Marians and suggested their publication. The release of the Positio in Rome in 1977 came as a par- tial fulfillment of this request. Out of necessity, individual topics during the above-said session were presented by the Marians, among whom historians were rather scant. The Congregation felt the need for competent people from their own midst, able to undertake the task of preparing and present- ing papers for the aforesaid session. At the time, the matter of the Congre- gation’s beginnings was studied practically exclusively by Fr. Krzyżanowski in relation to Fr. Papczyński’s beatification process. 32 Just as there were only a few specialists on the history of the Marians, so the potential group of recipients of their research was also numerically small and diversified. Naturally, the Marians themselves were the primary recipients. However, in reality, not many Marians displayed a lively interest in these results, which reached only a narrow circle of people. Broader dis- semination of these results was impeded by the following: the language bar- rier (a decreasing proficiency in Latin among the younger Marians and the 32 S. Papczyński’s extensive biography is provided in T. Rogalewski’s the book Stanislaus Papczyński (1631-1701). Founder of the Congregation of Marian Fathers, Inspirer of the Marian School of Spirituality , Stockbridge, 2001.