The Trinitarian Context of Spirituality 137 The main reason for the idea of the sequela Christi is the Marian Founder’s belief in the evangelical foundations of the religious life, the essence of which is to follow Christ aiming toward “transformation” (transformare) and “conforming to Him” (conformare).67 Consequently, Papczyński places the command to follow Christ among the principle duties of a consecrated person. On the other hand, when quoting examples of the saints in order to rouse zeal, he emphatically strives not to obscure the most essential example given by Christ Himself.68 Papczyński also associates the concept of the religious life recognized as the sequela Christi with the general purpose of human life which is pointed out by Christ through His teachings, but especially through His way of life. Christ was marked by His special bond with the Father, by His love-stimulated fulfillment of the Father’s will, and – ultimately – by His entering the “house of the Father” (Jn 14:1). In this way, Christ has defined the scope of the aspirations for the religious. Recalling the teaching of St. Paul, Papczyński remarks that the glory of the new life is to manifest itself in the disciple following in the footsteps of his Master. It comes about through an acceptance of Christ’s manner of thinking and acting, expressed in the Pauline proclamation of the need “to put on Jesus Christ” (Rom 13:14). On the other hand, the rejection of the evangelical appeal to follow Christ risks not only spurning the glory that God prepared for the followers of His Son, but also spurning Christ Himself who followed the path leading to the Father, inviting His disciples to do the same.69 and poverty. Get up, therefore, and follow him; because you will by no means follow him, unless you get up.” IC, Feast of St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist, BHC, pt. 2. 67 See IC, Second Sunday of Lent, BHC, pt. 2, Palm Sunday, AHC, pt. 3, Sunday within the Octave of the Ascension, AHC, pt. 2, and others. 68 It is worth noting what Papczyński wrote in his Testamentum alterum left to his first companions and spiritual sons: “I leave the portrait of my person to the curious to be looked at, whereas the life of my Lord Jesus Christ to be imitated,” Saint Stanislaus Papczyński, in: Selected Writings, p. 936. 69 IC, First Sunday of Advent, AHC, pts. 1-2; Fourth Sunday of Advent, AHC, pt. 2; also see: A. Pakuła, Naśladowanie Chrystusa jako istotny wymiar duchowości zakonnej w pismach Stanisława Papczyńskiego OIC, in: In Christo Redemptore. Księga pamiątkowa ku czci Księdza Profesora Jerzego Misiurka, Ed. J.M. Paoławski, Lublin, 2001, p. 130.
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