St Stan Illustrated Story

104 E ver since the foundation of the Congregation of Marian Fa- thers in 1673, Bishop Stefan Wierzbowski had shown himself deeply interested in the welfare of the young community. He erected it canonically in 1679, he defended it against all attack, and he saw to it that its legal position was secure. Documents from the years 1681, 1685, and 1687 bear witness to the bishop’s kindness and solicitude. The last of these documents, dated February 21, is a solemn confir- mation and reaffirmation of the canonical act of erection. That very same day the bishop, then seriously ill, drew up his last will and tes- tament. Father Papczynski visited the bishop on his deathbed and begged for a last paternal blessing on his community. He received it. “And in my will,” added the dying prelate, “I have left you Marians only one thing: Divine Providence.” Father Leporini – the first biographer of the Saint – adds that on hear- ing these words Fr. Stanislaus “was overjoyed and blessed the Lord.” He had always greatly valued religious poverty with the boundless confi- dence in Divine Providence which it implied, and he now felt that the Founder of New Jerusalem, the solicitous protector of the Marian Fa- thers, could not have bequeathed a more precious legacy to the Congre- gation than the Providence of God. From that day onwards, he began to recite twice daily one Our Father and one Hail Mary in honor of the Providence of God, and he recommended that this practice should be observed by the community for all time.