90 During the stage of the renewal of the Order, the paragraph of the old Constitutions commanding the daily recitation in choir of the Offi ce of the Dead was omitted in the proposal of the Constitutions from 1910. The Congregation for Religious gave permission for it but also added a note speaking in general terms about assisting the Poor Souls in Purgatory precibus et suffragiis, to the paragraph about the Congregation’s “own” devotions (peculiares devotiones Congregationis), without making it a constant and defi nite duty (No. 5).46 In addition, the Congregation included a paragraph calling for prayer for the deceased during the Octave of All Souls’ Day.47 And this is how it stands today in the canonical dimension. The Congregation’s new Constitutions do not bind the members to give any legally defi ned forms of assistance for the deceased. However, the post-Counciliar Constitutions and Directory (1970 and 1988) contain clear and meaningful defi nitions of the matter at hand which have been introduced with the idea of a “return” to the spirit of the legacy of the charism of the Order. These are important points, well worth our attention, even though they are introduced outside of the section regarding the nature, goal, and character of the Congregation. The Constitutions of 1988, paragraph 19, reads: “... our Congregation, from its very beginning, following the abiding faith of the Church in the communion of saints in the mystical Body of Christ, with great devotion honors the memory of the dead and offers suffrages for them. (...) Likewise, they shall not neglect to assist the dying who face the most critical moment of their lives.” In turn, paragraph 118 of the Constitutions regarding the Apostolate gives an instruction of the pastoral aspect: “At opportune occasions and using various means of the apostolate, the members should strive to inculcate in the mind of the faithful eschatological truths in such a way that by them they be strongly spurred both to attain to sanctity and to offer prayers for the dying and for the souls detained in purgatory.” We witness here a return to our sources, the universality of means, and the apostolic challenge aimed at a formation in a mature faith and salvation. Among the pious practices for the deceased, the new Directory of 1988 (no. 36) counts fi rst the prayers in the month of November, especially on All Souls’ Day and during the following seven days. The Statutes of the Polish Province further specify that it concerns the traditional Vespers for the dead with a homily and Mass (no. 8). Paragraph 36 of the Directory has the character of an urgent encouragement: “... members should particularly strive to promote the prayers for the dead.” 46 Constitutiones Instituti Fratrum Marianorum, Petropoli 1910, no. 5. For text with the Congregation’s notes see: Leges marianae, ed. W. Makoś, MIC, Romae 1999, p. 141. 47 Ibid., par. 205, p. 182.
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