historical writings 902 it forever.219 I desired the first to be indissoluble, while the second was dissolved by the one to whom has been given the authority of binding and loosing, the Vicar of the Most Holy Jesus Christ, the legitimate successor of St. Peter, Pope Clement X.220 Yet, ah! How it came to this! What a way of the cross!221 3. Furthermore, unimaginable confusions, scruples, doubts, anguish, and fears tormented and tortured me. For who could have such a lax conscience that, without these, he could pass from the state of religious vows (even if they were simple) to a merely secular [state of life]?222 Yet, that [same] Divine Majesty suggested to me, immediately before being released — such that, when I be released from them — that I freely bind, in the very same act, myself to God by other [vows], which I performed through the offering of myself [Oblatio], which I recited frommy heart in public, although it was made in a rather quiet voice. The contents of this [Oblatio] are as follows…223 4. That same father, who granted me the release [from vows] in the name of the General,224 confirmed [this Oblatio] with the acclamation: May God confirm what He has wrought in you! 5. Indeed, He did confirm it, for after I asked and [then] received from the Most Reverend Lord Vicar (the bishop of Kra219 Cf. above, HW, p. 855, n. 2, “I promise that I will persevere in the same Congregation until the end of my life.” 220 Fr. Papczyński was released from simple vows and the oath of perseverance by the brief of Clement X Cum felicis recordationis (October 18, 1670). Cf. Positio, p. 204 (Doc. VI, E, 2, §§ 1 and 3). 221 Father Papczyński refers here to the persecutions he experienced in the Piarists. Cf. Positio, pp. 86-207: Doc. V-VI. 222 It seems that Fr. Papczyński is referring to his own inner state after being released from his vows in the Piarists (December 11, 1670). To help resolve such doubts and to be more certain about the will of God for him, he applied (under certain conditions) for readmission to the Piarists towards the end of 1670. Cf. Positio, p. 219 (Doc. VII, A, 2, intr.) 223 This self-offering (Oblatio) took place in Kazimierz near Krakow, December 11, 1670 (right after the ceremony of release from the Piarists). Both in the critical edition and in the present translation, the Oblatio is omitted and placed separately in chronological order. Cf. above, HW, pp. 864-872, n. 5. 224 This was Fr. Michael Kraus, Vicar Provincial of the Polish Province from August 1670. Cf. Positio, pp. 190-193.
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