118 2. In her spiritual instruction given at the wedding in Cana, Mary makes a suggestion as to our Marian way: “Do whatever He [Jesus] tells you [the Marians]” (Jn 2:5). Thus, the second step of our Marian apostolate is to seek and to fulfi ll the will of the Lord in our lives and in our Marian vocation following the example of Mary Immaculate, whose only desire was to carry out the will of God: “behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word,” (Lk 1:38). Without being open in a particular way to the actions of the Holy Spirit, without His constant guidance in our apostolate, discovering the pathways of God will pose many questions for us. “He [the Advocate] will teach you everything and remind you of all that [I] told you,” (Jn 14:26). The Holy Spirit is our inner teacher on the will of God. 3. The Marian apostolate has its roots in the Word of God! Kibeho in Rwanda may serve as an example: there Mary appears as the Mother of the Word and in her evangelical message, she calls us to conversion, to prayer, and to acceptance of the glorious way of salvifi c suffering. She calls us to contemplate the “Gospel of the cross,” which leads to a new life, to resurrection through the passion of Christ and Mary’s glorious compassion with Him. The correctness of our apostolate must fl ow from meditation on the Word of God. Let us use the Bible as a wonderful prayer book, let us draw from it our inspirations and let it nourish our Marian devotion.3 4. The fruitfulness of our Marian apostolate requires the fulfi llment of two conditions: becoming God’s fools, passionately in love with Jesus and Mary, and giving to our apostolate our whole hearts, strength, and souls; (Shema Israel!: cf. Dt 6:4-6). Didn’t our Founder place himself on the list of such “madmen of Mary Immaculate?” We often think about St. Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort, about St. Maximilian Maria Kolbe, about John Paul II and many others, but doesn’t Fr. Stanislaus Papczyński belong just as much to the cluster of those great pioneers of dedication to God and to Mary? By making a vow of blood to defend the mystery of the Immaculate Conception and founding our Congregation in Mary’s honor, he showed us the depth of the devotion with which he venerated Mary. Entering upon this path and faithfully following it is a particular gift and charism. Having received this charismatic gift, we must carefully develop and deepen it so that it may bear new fruit. The act of dedication to Mary (as a form of prayer) shall strengthen us on our path and bring about new initiatives for a truly Marian apostolate. The daily recitation of the act of dedication in the words of the Marian prayers, in the words of our Founder’s invocation: „Immaculata Virginis Concep3 Cf. MC, 30.
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