228 Through our charism, we more deeply understood that our mission is to promote the mystery of the Immaculate Conception of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary. This mission takes on a special meaning in the light of protecting the unborn. There are many abortions in the Czech Republic; even women from Poland come there to have it done. Another thing, of which we’ve become more aware in our Vicariate, is the prayer for the dead. We preside at many funerals. People die unprepared. Even baptized people often can become non-believers. They die without the sacraments. They don’t feel the need to confess before dying. For this reason, we the Marians, become aware of the need to pray for the dead, as well as to prepare people for death. The Czech Republic is an extremely secularized country. For this reason, people push death aside; they don’t want to talk about it. We see the need to prepare people for death, to speak about it, as well as to pray for the dead. Jan Graubner, the Archbishop of Olomunec, participated in the beatifi cation festivities in Licheń. When I visited him at his residence after the beatifi cation, he expressed a great joy from the fact that he could be part of this event. At some point, he asked me: Ryszard, are you glad to be a Marian? This question surprised me greatly. I said “yes” without even thinking, but on my way back home I started to think it over and still do. I try to give an answer to this question with my whole life. Maciej Zachara, MIC Poland, Lublin, Professor at the Marian Seminary My direct involvement in the beatifi cation consisted in preparing and coordinating the liturgical matters. Honestly, it meant a great deal of effort and stress for me. Later, I had to “put these matters behind” in order to be able to embrace and to refl ect on the importance of this event. I can also say that when I joined the Congregation, I did not observe any special regard for Fr. Papczyński as a person of importance. I’m not saying that out of rancor, just stating that far greater interest was given to Blessed George, while Fr. Founder was treated as a venerable relic from the past, but nobody of importance today. I see that the beatifi cation helped me and many others to discover the person of our Founder as someone very important. A few months before the beatifi cation, a one-day retreat session was held in Licheń by Fr. Andrzej Pakuła, during which several conferences on a variety of topics about Fr. Stanislaus were delivered. The preparation of the conferences was assigned to a group of about 10 confreres, including me. At the closing of the retreat, we shared our impres-
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