Spirituality of the Religious Life According to St. Stanislaus Papczyński 54 from spiritual death which was the result of sin; and He achieved this through His passion, death, and resurrection.79 Just as the mystery of salvation accomplished in Jesus Christ has a timeless dimension because it embraces all people of all times, there is a like dimensionwith themystery of sin. Inhiswritings, Papczyński notes that everyone who commits a sin – no matter what time and place in which he lives – takes an active part in the events of Our Savior’s passion, placing ourselves on the side of those who make Him suffer. Addressing his readers in Inspectio cordis, he admonishes: “It is you, yourself, who handed the innocent Jesus over to the Jews to be mocked, scourged, and crucified. You handed over not some wicked thief, but the gracious Son of God; not an evildoer, but the good and gracious Creator and Father of all. Should you ask him about His reason for going to the City of Jerusalem, where He would suffer the most horrid kind of death, He would answer you: “for the transgressions of my people” (Is 53:8), and He would add, in strict conformity with the truth: “For your enormous and unbearable sins. You are the one who led Christ to the cross, and alas! You crucify him every day when you act impiously!”80 In Saint Papczyński’s view, this manner of teaching was meant to make the reader aware of the true nature of sin and to encourage him to accept the grace earned by Christ, as well as to be converted and to make reparation. Saint Stanislaus also believes that all faults, even “the smallest infidelities,” untamed desires and passions together with their selfish tendencies also belong to the logic of sin and the need for purification. Thus, the need for conversion becomes, as it were, a conclusion flowing from a proper understanding of the mystery of the redemption as well as an efficacious instrument for awakening faith and starting a life of evangelical charity. The sacraments – especially the sacrament of penance – are the most appropriate means to achieve this purpose along with frequent 79 The above-discussed matters concerning the consequences of sin and the redemption of men, as well as the suffering of our Redeemer that they caused, were close to Papczyński’s heart. This was reflected in his two small works of a meditative character, i.e. Orator Crucifixus published in Krakow in 1670 and Christus Patiens, published in Warsaw in 1690. 80 IC, see Quinquagesima Sunday, BHC, pt. 2.
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