Charity as the Basis and Source of the Spirituality of the Religious Life 75 The other virtues that the Marian Founder treats with special attention in his writings on religious spirituality are primarily humility, moderation, and prudence. In his Inspectio cordis, he wrote individual meditations on these virtues. Also, there is Meditation XV138, in which he discusses “all of the other virtues conducive to religious perfection.” He lists among them: kindness, gentleness, and meekness, naming them “the greatest jewels of a religious,” followed by “patience, fortitude, and magnanimity,” to which he opposes the vices of “pusillanimity, groundless fear, uncontrolled sadness, impatience, and furious anger.” He concludes with presenting the virtue of resignatio139, which is “the most certain cause of internal peace and perseverance.” Among the natural virtues, Papczyński expounds the most on humility and he believes that it is “in a certain way, the natural virtue of any religious” and “the foundation of all the other virtues.” He sees the essence of this virtue in the identification with the truth. As he states in his Inspectio cordis, he found substantiation for this belief in the teaching of St. Theresa of the Infant Jesus.140 In view of the above, Papczyński emphasizes that “humility consists in an open, honest, genuine and sincere spirit, and in similar actions.” On the other hand, the virtue of moderation “is very friendly to the truth” and for this reason, it is called “the custodian or feeder of the virtues, or their 138 IC, Meditation XV. 139 In his Inspectio cordis, Papczyński quite freely uses the concept of resignatio – spiritual detachment, calling it a virtue several times. Outside of Inspectio cordis the concept of spiritual detachment appears as a virtue only in Protestatio Romam abeuntis. In view of the importance of this virtue in Papczyński’s spiritual doctrine and because its proper counterpart is missing from the Polish language, this work uses the Latin word. It is worth noting that this word does not belong to classical Latin and that the Latin-Polish dictionary does not supply its translation in theological and spiritual aspects. [LATDICT, the online Latin Dictionary and Grammar Resources, states that resignatio belongs to Latin post 15th cent.; used in Scholarly/ Scientific in 16th-18th centuries – note of the translator]. 140 IC, Meditation XI, pt. 1,3. It is probably a reference to the teaching of St. Teresa in the Inner Castle, where the Saint, explaining what humility is, states that “it is walking in the truth.” Cf. Teresa of Jesus, Inner Castle, in: Works, vol. II, trans. into Polish by H. P. Kossowski, Krakow 1962, p. 195.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjI2Mw==