205 the end of my life. I trust and believe that so it shall be. Be glorifi ed in my every word, thought, and deed.” It is necessary to realize that Fr. Papczyński composed this prayer at the end of a long path of an unrelenting search for self-realization. Coming to understand this fact in one’s own personal Marian vocation history is, as I see it, an indispensable beginning to establishing one’s place in the community, because religious families have always blossomed when there were people fascinated by the history of their founder. However, knowledge alone about someone who has followed a certain path can not replace actually following in this person’s footsteps. Taking the path of merely observing our Founder would instantaneously place the observer in the position of a teacher who can even bring to perfection the manipulation of the facts from the Founder’s life, but whose own life would follow a side track. Merely observing instead of entering into the reality will always be a fearful form of existence. A consecrated person, who is terrifi ed of himself and of God will turn his religious life into a safe haven in his fl ight from life. However, Fr. Papczyński’s life story shows us that God was always fi ghting for him and He crowned this battle with victory. Andrew Mczyski, MIC U.S.A., Stockbridge, General Promoter of the AMH I’d like to start with a brief personal refl ection. Without the least exaggeration I can state, that apart from the day of my fi rst religious vows, the day, on which the Church elevated our Founder to the honors of the altar, was the happiest day of my entire religious life, for which I waited and worked, in every way possible, for almost 30 years. Even though I always considered Fr. Founder a holy man, yet, I remember, that when information on the rapidly advancing process of the verifi cation of the miracle started to pour in, my feelings of joyful disbelief were mixed with a certain fear that for some unforeseen reason, the matter may come to an impasse, as had happened in the past. By my conference, I would like to draw your attention primarily to the practical aspect of our Institute’s life. We deal with this aspect daily and it represents a real measure of how the outsiders see the sons of Blessed Stanislaus—the custodians and successors of his spiritual legacy. In my deepest conviction, the gift of the beatifi cation of our Fr. Founder is a challenge for our entire community to strengthen all the more in our life, the three elements of Blessed Stanislaus’s founding charism. The fi rst of these is our “Marianism” (devotion to the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary) in its broadest sense. Even as we consider the
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