122 Wojciech Skóra, MIC Eschatological Apostolate Probably by now, no Marian needs to be convinced that a particular gift and a task were given to us through the grace of the Holy Spirit which we call the Marian eschatological apostolate. The beatifi cation of Fr. Stanislaus Papczyński and our post-beatifi cation refl ections have contributed greatly to our deeper comprehension of this aspect of our vocation. Everyone who personally met Fr. Founder was struck by his intense love for the faithful departed who were suffering in Purgatory. For this reason, it seems legitimate to ask: how does this charism infl uence us, the Marians; and then through us, how does it infl uence the community of the pilgrim Church on earth which is now being purifi ed? What can we do in order that this charism would bear more abundant fruit? It seems necessary to apply to the eschatological dimension of the Marian apostolate, the message which John Paul II widely promoted on the “new evangelization.” He stated that it must to be conducted with “new zeal, new methods and new means of expression.” New zeal always fl ows out of love, new methods are fruits of the human mind and its ingenuity, and reaching for new means always requires courage and prudence. Thus, it is not fi rst and foremost a question of a “modern” apostolate, (although this cannot be denied), but of a “new” apostolate in the evangelical sense. In other words—we are speaking of an apostolate which is taken up by new people who are turned toward God, striving for holiness, and fi red up by the Holy Spirit. What Is It? The Constitutions—the Renovator’s Transformed Vision From the moment of its renewal, the Congregation of Marian Fathers found itself facing a new eschatological perspective as it were, which was predominant for Fr. Renovator. He put a stronger accent on a commitment to the pilgrim Church on earth than to the one suffering in Purgatory. The proof can be found in the fi rst Constitutions of the renovated community which he edited, which lacked an “eschatological thread”. The Holy See added certain paragraphs on
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjI2Mw==