Spirituality of the Religious Life According to St. Stanislaus Papczyński 138 In Papczyński’s belief, man’s inner movement prompting him to follow Christ has its source primarily in the actions of Christ and the Holy Spirit. The Paraclete awakens the first “desire of the heart” to follow Christ and to become like Him.70 Now, the following continues, not only according to the words of Christ, but also according to His deeds, especially His heroic attitude of love for the Father and man, expressed in many ways, most clearly in the events of His Passion. This desire, based on some previously-obtained knowledge of Christ’s mystery is at the onset of one’s following Christ and stays with the person during one’s entire life (Papczyński claims that the first disciples first “learned who He was” and then “followed Him”). It begins with an encounter with Christ and the inspiration of the Spirit and continues to be enlivened by the same Spirit. In addition, the Marian Founder believes that the very fact of adopting the sequela Christi is an infallible sign of living according to the Holy Spirit and embarking on the path of becoming like Christ. He asserts: “Consider that if the desire to imitate the life of Christ, and especially his most holy Passion, is instilled in your heart, you have certainly obtained in the most holy sacrament of the Eucharist the true Spirit of the Lord. For this is an infallible sign of a heart inflamed by the divine Spirit, when it wants not only to continuously contemplate the way of life and the deeds of the Lord, but also to try to imitate them to the best of its ability.”71 The human desiderium cordis that has its roots in the work of the Holy Spirit and men’s collaboration is filled with the faith and love of a disciple who embarks on the path of responding to the supernatural gift. Papczyński sees this sequela Christi logic in the description of the vocation of St. Andrew the Apostle and, discussing the corresponding excerpt from the Gospel (Mt 70 The idea of imitating Christ in order to become like Him is present not only in Papczyński’s writings on the religious life. It is also worth noting that Papczyński gives attention to this matter in his ascetic treaty, Templum Dei Mysticum whose goal it is to show the universal call to holiness. Basing on the authority of St. Bernard, he writes there: “Do everything like the Son of God that you may be worthy of Him who deigned to call you son,” The Mystical Temple of God, in: Selected Writings, p. 671. 71 IC, Sunday within the Octave of the Ascension, AHC, pt. 1; also cf. IC, Second Sunday of Advent, BHC, pt. 3.
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