Spirituality of the Religious Life According to St. Stanislaus Papczyński 84 in order to “be transformed into him” (in eum transformari).165 Papczyński attributes a special place in this process to the Eucharist, perceived as a sacrament of unity between man and the Triune God. For this reason, he calls it a “mystical wedding feast,” because through the Holy Spirit, in the Eucharist, the Bridegroom, the God-Man incorporates Himself in the one who receives Him.166 Consequently, in the Marian Founder’s concept of the spirituality of the religious life, supernatural love acquires specific characteristics in the aspect of unity between man and God, namely those proper to the nuptial symbolism specifically centered on Christ and configuration to Christ. The Incarnate Son of God is the Bridegroom of the human soul. The nature of love is such a striving for unity with Him that through it, man not only wants to reach “the One he loves,” but also to become ever more like Him (transformare). In the experience of the love of the betrothed, Christ is perceived as the absolute, the only and the ultimate good. As Papczyński states, “these are the effects of Christ’s action when he remains in the arms of a soul: the desire to depart from here and to be with Christ (cf. Phil 1:23); the wish to die to the world and to live for heaven; the belief that everything that is not Christ is death; the belief that all things are vain, except the love of God. Indeed, anyone who has received Jesus may rightly exclaim: “Now you can dismiss your servant, O Lord.”167 Therefore, perfect love – possible to attain already here, on earth – contains the experience of eschatological love, which is characterized by the total and constant love of God. Therefore, it is necessary to avoid everything contrary to love and to strive – while fulfilling the will of God – to have “a heart continuously fixed on God” (cor habere in Deo continuo fixum), to be constantly in His presence and to “love only God abundantly” in all actions, especially in the acts of love of neighbor.168 165 IC, Feast of St. Agnes, Virgin and Martyr, AHC, pt. 1; cf. S. Urbański, Zatopieni w Bogu. Mistycy polscy, Warszawa 1999, p. 77. 166 IC, Cf. Feast of St. Catherine, Virgin and Martyr, BHC pts. 1-2; also cf. Feast of St. Thomas, Apostle, AHC, pt. 3. 167 IC, Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, AHC, pt. 1. 168 IC, Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost, BHC, pt. 3.
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