951 first petition Most eminent and reverend Lords, The most humble petitioner, Stanislaus of Jesus and Mary, the unworthy Superior of the Religious Congregation of Marian Clerics of the [Immaculate] Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who assist the dead, informs your Eminences: i. That the Congregation was canonically erected in the Kingdom of Poland by the blessed Bishop of Poznań, Stefan Wierzbowski, to support the souls of the faithful departed who are deprived of help and to help parish priests in their pastoral care.4 ii. That it was accepted by the present most distinguished King of Poland and the entire Republic of Poland under perpetual protection.5 iii. That it was endowed with certain indulgences and a confraternity of the laity, also assisting the dead, by the late Pope Innocent XI.6 iv. That the aforementioned clerics [of this Congregation], after a year of trial, make, for a greater perfection, three essential vows with the irrevocable pledge of enduring forever in the Congregation, from which one can be released only by the Holy See in some particularly justifiable cause of passing to an Order with a stricter rule at the request of the Superior of the Congregation.7 4 The Congregation of Marian Fathers was canonically erected on the 21st of April 1679 (cf. Positio, pp. 392-400). In fact, in the document of the first erection, there is no mention of helping parish priests in their pastoral care being a goal of the Congregation. In the document of the second erection from 1687, it was written that the bishop who erected the Congregation approved the Rule of Life that was printed in the same, and it was in this document that it was mentioned that the Marians would not be forbidden from helping parish priests. Cf. Norma Vitae, Part I, Ch. I, § 3. 5 It was a privilege approved by the parliament of the Commonwealth of Poland on April 27, 1677. Cf. Positio, p. 378. 6 Cf. Breve Cum sicut accepimus, given on March 20, 1681. Cf. Positio, pp. 406-409. 7 This was defined in the document of the second erection of the Congregation. Cf. Positio, p. 426.
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