Servant of Mary new file

The Marians received official permission to open the novi- tiate from Father Clement Panormitano, the Apostolic Commissary of the Franciscans, who, by the authority of the Holy See, drew up the erection document. This was the crown jewel of Father Wyszy<ski’s efforts, who attended to this matter during his stay in Rome in 1752. There are reasons to believe that the novitiate in Mariampol was open as early as December 5, 1754 and that it was occupied mostly by Lithuanians. Father Wyszy<ski remembered this foundation and its benefac- tress. From Rome he sent relics of the Holy Cross for the church there under the same name, and, for Countess Butler, relics of her patroness, St. Frances of Rome. It is worth mentioning that the Mariampol monastery was the only one which the tsarist authorities allowed the Marians to keep after the Cassation Order of 1864. The General Superiors as well as all other members resided there. By 1909, only the Superior General himself remained alive, and it was by his approval that the renova- tion of the Marians by Father George Matulewicz took place in hiding from the authorities. The third foundation which the Marians owe to Father Wyszy<ski’s efforts was a monastery in Berezd[w, in Volhynia. Under circumstances less famil- iar to us, Father Casimir met Prince John Kajetan Jab=onowski, the governor of the district of Braclaw. The prince decided to found a church and monastery for the Marians on his estate. The choice was Berezd[w, a Efforts for the Growth of the Marian Family 34