77 Roots of the Founding Charism The search for the causes and the conditions that gave birth to Fr. Papczyński’s particular religious zeal for the deceased and the idea of giving assistance to the Poor Souls in Purgatory allow four factors to emerge. They are: 1. The Marian spirit of his times and its association with the apostolate on behalf of the Poor Souls; 2. The social and political circumstances of Poland in the 17th century; 3. The religious experiences of the Marian Founder; and 4. The climate of the polemics with the Reformation, which rejected the truth of faith regarding Purgatory. Marian Devotion and Prayer for the Deceased The association of Marian devotion with the prayer for the deceased was a phenomenon known in Poland not only in the Middle Ages, but in the 17th and 18th centuries as well. This is supported by a study of the history of Marian devotion, numerous confraternities, guilds, associations, and sodalities. The Mother of God was regarded as a particular patron at the hour of death (cf. the ending of the Ave Maria…) and an advocate of the Poor Souls in Purgatory. Because she was free of sin and its punishments, she was called upon as the one who intercedes to free the souls from Purgatory.7 We know that from 1663-1667, Fr. Papczyński was the promoter of the confraternity of “The Most Blessed Sweet Virgin Mary” at the Church of the Piarist Fathers in Warsaw. He probably had organized it anew after the epidemics of 1660-1663 were over. Later, after having left the Piarists on December 11, 1670, he was the chaplain in charge of the Archconfraternity of the Immaculate Conception of the Most B.V.M. at St. Jacob’s Church in Kazimierz near Krakow. In 1673, he brought the Congregation of the Marian Fathers under the title of the Immaculate Conception of the Most B.V.M. to life to assist the souls of the deceased.8 Based on the power of the rights obtained from the Holy See on March 20, 1681, he founded confraternities of the Immaculate Conception, assisting the souls of the deceased in the churches under the Marian’s care, and he instructed them to do so in the future.9 In the Norma vitae (VII.8), he instructed: “The Su7 J. Wojnowski, Rozwój czci Matki Bożej w Polsce, “Homo Dei” 26 (1957), 846-862.—B. Kumor, Kościelne stowarzyszenia świeckich na ziemiach polskich w okresie przedrozbiorowym, in: Księga tysiąclecia katolicyzmu w Polsce, T. I, Lublin, 1969, 503-545, bibliography p. 540n. 8 T. Rogalewski, MIC, Stanislaus Papczyński (1631-1701), Founder of the Order of Marians and Inspirer of the Marian School of Spirituality, Stockbridge, 2001. 9 C. J. Krzyżanowski, MIC, Stanislaus a Jesu Maria Papczyński (1631-1701). Magister studii perfectionis, Romae 1963, pp. 465 and 480.
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