St Stan Illustrated Story

103 T he documentary evidence tells us nothing more about the rela- tionship between king Sobieski and the Marian Fathers. As re- gards his personal relationship with Fr. Papczynski, there seems to be little doubt that king Sobieski knew of and highly valued the spiritual and intellectual acumen of the Saint and that he sought his advice on spiritual matters not only by means of letters but also through personal contact. We know for a fact that the king paid occasional visits to New Jerusalem, and at such times it is very probable that he not only went to confession to Fr. Stanislaus but discussed certain problems with him outside the confessional. There is no reason to doubt the tradition which says that Sobieski, as he set out for Vienna in the defense of Christen- dom, commended himself and his armies to the prayers of Saint Father Stanislaus. It would be difficult to substantiate in any wider sense the state- ments that Fr. Stanislaus Papczynski was the king’s “personal theolo- gian,” the king’s confessor, that the king looked upon him as a saintly man, and maintained close and friendly relations with him (based on articles and witnesses at the beatification process.)