Spirituality of the Religious Life According to St. Stanislaus Papczyński 172 B.V.M. – but they do not pay much attention to the dimension of Mary’s spiritual motherhood in regards to the entire Church or simply the Marian community. It is only in the second part that speaks about the religious vows that one can find the phrases stating that “in preservation of this angelic virtue” of chastity, a “fervent invocation” of the Virgin Mother of God among others is helpful.34 Although Regula decem beneplacitorum is centered on the Mother of God, it is generally limited to the presentation of her life as a model for the imitation of her virtues and does not tread upon the issue of her maternal presence in the Christian life. Meanwhile, in Leporini’s interpretation – as well as in subsequent biographers – St. Stanislaus Papczyński was connected in a special way with the Immaculately Conceived Mother of Our Lord from the beginning of his life, continuously felt her protection, and imitated her virtues. The entire Vita Fundatoris is written in this vein and its author made quite clear the very Marian characteristic of the person whose life he described: “Still in his mother’s womb, he was dedicated by his mother to Christ the Lord and His Most Blessed Mother. Born on a night between Saturday and Sunday, his very ardent love for the Mother of God turned out to be his future. Indeed, he later became a promoter of her Immaculate Conception. For this very reason, he founded the Polish Congregation under the title of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin.”35 Recounting the ups and downs of Papczyński’s life, Leporini indicates his filial entrustment, on the one hand; and Mary’s motherly care on the other. Saint Stanislaus “daily demonstrated his obedience to the Virgin Mother of God as to a mother and treated her with filial trust. He was always embraced by her miraculous care and received God’s many favors.”36 Members of the religious Institute founded by Papczyński have been always aware of his deep unity with theMother of God and from the Institute’s very beginning, they were prompted to imitate Mary. The important factor here is the logic behind the 34 Statuta II 10. 35 VF, p. 634. 36 Ibid.
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