Charity as the Basis and Source of the Spirituality of the Religious Life 59 with one’s dedication to the causes of God.96 The author of the Regula decem beneplacitorum gives most attention to the struggle against the selfish tendencies of sinful human nature. The counterparts in Regula decem beneplacitorum to Fr. Founder’s terms, “one’s own will” or “self-love” are “personal inclinations,” “personal opinions,” or “own wills.”97 The principle accepted for fighting the inclinations of sinful nature is the same as shown in Saint Stanislaus Papczyński’s writings. This is the radical choice of the evangelical virtues along with a concern for growing in the virtues and seeking help through supernatural means: prayer, the sacramental life, God’s help and the intercession of the saints, especially of the Blessed Mother.98 Studying attentively the writings of theMarian Founder and the documents of the Congregation’s early tradition, one notices they further a belief that the spiritual struggle is inscribed into the principles of God’s pedagogy leading consecrated persons to a perfect love of God and neighbor. As a result of temptations, man can examine his mind and heart or his convictions, ideas, inclinations, passions, likings, and the consequences of sin. As a result of the spiritual struggle, he realizes his weakness and the need for God’s grace. The temptation forces him, as it were, to seek with faith and prayer the support and help of our powerful God, because – as Papczyński points out – only the person that was under the attack of the “advancing enemy” and realized that he is “sinking and nearly drawn by [his] evil deeds into the abyss of hell, shouts out: “Lord, save me, I perish [Mt 8:25].”99 96 Regula, pp. 46, 53. 97 Here is a passage most characteristic of this Regula: “Further, all should remember that when they entered this Order, they renounced their own wills on account of God, and to take back their own wills and inclinations would be sacrilegious,” p. 56. 98 Regula, pp. 46-55. 99 See IC, Fourth Sunday after Epiphany, BHC, p. 3. In this context, it is worth showing Fr. Stanislaus’s meditation on one word “trust” from Mt 9:22: “Have complete trust” (Mt 9:22). Consider that you should not be frightened at all, even if challenged by the whole world and hell; and you should never lose the courage to fight because of fear, since the Lord has the power to help you and to free you. He never abandons you, unless he puts you to a test for the sake of attaining greater merit. Since you are enrolled in God’s army, believe that it is necessary for you to battle a variety of enemies, and to become stronger in virtue in that way. But put your complete trust solely in him, in God who fights for you, and not in your own
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