105 utmost zeal, piety, and fervor, assist the souls of the faithful departed subjected to expiatory pains—especially the souls of soldiers and those who died of pestilence.”10 The Immaculate Conception and the life of Mary already indicate that each one of us is being called to heaven. Our vocation to pray for the faithful departed reminds us of this truth one more time. Here we are, even those who weren’t preserved from sin and who fall, those who still cannot rise from sin—we all hope for heaven. The grace of God revealed in the mystery of the Immaculate Conception is greater than our sin and weakness. Although I am not deserving of heaven, grace can take me to the heavenly banquet. Only God in His mercy can make me and each one of us holy already here on earth, just like He made the Blessed Virgin Mary holy; or after our death, He can purify us for life eternal. Although Fr. Papczyński gave us “prayers for the deceased” as a special goal, he also earned the reputation among his contemporaries and for posterity as the one who was near the dying (on the battlefi elds or the deathbed of the victims of pestilence or other diseases), so that they could reconcile with God at the last moments of their lives and thus merit heaven the quickest way possible. We, the Marians, must be gazing at heaven and we must lead others to heaven. The Immaculate Conception of Mary and prayer for the dead direct our hearts fi rst to God, His love and grace, and then to the most beautiful fruit of His work—Immaculate Mary. She was given to us as a model of the new man, created by God thanks to the grace that fl ows down from the Cross of Christ. She is given to us for contemplation and imitation. Through the Church, we have received a special way of relating to Mary and of imitating her, namely: The Rule of the Ten Pleasures or the Ten Virtues of the Blessed Virgin Mary, also known as The Rule of the Ten Virtues of the Blessed Virgin Mary.11 In his Testament II, Fr. Papczyński declared that he accepted this Rule in a most humble manner, and that he wished to make his solemn profession upon it.12 In the act of his solemn vows made on June 6, 1701, before Francis Pignatelli, the Apostolic Nuncio to Poland, Fr. Papczyński pledged to preserve the Rule in “everything that does not contradict the regulations of our Religious Institute, by living in chastity, obedience and holy poverty, and by adjusting to the said Rule upon the power of the same pledge, by which or in which the other professed are bound.”13 The Rule was binding for the Marians until Nov. 28, 1910—the time of the Renovation carried out by Blessed George Matulaitis-Matulewicz. In modern times, the 10 NV, I, 1. 11 On this Rule, composed around 1501 by Blessed Gilbert Nicolas (also known as Gabriel Maria), the spiritual director of St. Joan de Valois, the Foundress of the Order of the Annunciation of the Most B.V.M. or Order of the the Blessed Virgin Mary (Annunciades), the Marians were incorporated into the Order of St. Francis on September 21, 1699. 12 Cf., T II 14. 13 Profesja ślubów uroczystych, Warszawa, 6 czerwca 1701 r.
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