76 utmost zeal, piety, and fervor assist the souls of the faithful departed subjected to expiatory pains—especially the souls of soldiers and those who have died of pestilence” (I, 2).4 The Founder also put those two elements of the Marian vocation into the formula of professing religious vows, which he personally wrote and included in the original Constitutions (because our own ritual was not yet written). The profession was a legal and ritual act of offering oneself to God and Mary Immaculate: “for His greater glory and the honor of the Virgin, for the assistance of the dead who lack suffrages [in other words for those for whom no one offers prayers and good works of propitiatory value], especially soldiers and those who have died from pestilence” (I, 6).5 The introduction of these elements of the charism into the brief version of The Rule of the Ten Virtues, which Fr. Mansueto Leporini, OFM prepared specifi cally for the Marians’ use, was confi rmed by Fr. Stanislaus’s personal signature made on June 6, 1701, at the Nunciature in Warsaw.6 The examples given above demonstrate that assistance for the deceased has been an essential part of the Marian charism from the start. The fi rst question which arises regards the factors which sharpened Blessed Stanislaus’s sensitivity to the eschatological (once called the All Souls’) aspect in his spirituality and the founding initiative. It also needs to be explained that special attention was given to two groups of people embraced by this assistance, because the victims of wars and epidemics are mentioned “particularly.” The second question concerns the title or the patronage of Blessed Stanislaus since they are traditionally given to prominent personages. Thus, we may ask: what title was attributed to Fr. Papczyński and with what mission or patronage was he associated in literature and works of art? Finally, there is the matter of the Marian tradition of assisting the deceased. We need to answer the questions: how did the Marian community live by its charism in the matter of helping the deceased, and how do they do it today? We will conclude the matter with a theological refl ection on the sense and meaning of the assistance for the deceased. 4 S. Papczyński, Rule of Life, Documents of Marian History and Spirituality, Stockbridge, MA, 1980, p. 10. 5 Rule of Life, Documents of Marian History and Spirituality, Stockbridge, MA, 1980, p.11. 6 Synopsis Regulae Imitationis Decem Virtutum BVM, No. 17-18; see: Capitula generalia marianorum, ed. W. Makoś MIC, Puszcza Mariańska, 2001, p. 10: Fratres in hoc Ordine debent esse in onere seu exercitio exhibendi pia Suffragia pro Animabus in purgatorio existentibus… [The confreres of this Order have the obligation and task to give suffrages to the souls remaining in purgatory...].
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