St Stan Illustrated Story

“Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents” (Lk 15:10). These words of Jesus, reported by Saint Luke in the Gospel passage we have just heard, offer a further confirmation of our certainty of the Lord’s merciful love. Divine mercy is the good news that we must never tire of proclaiming and testifying in these difficult times. Only Christ, who knows man inti- mately, can speak to his heart and restore to him the joy and the dignity of one created in God’s image. And for this he needs faithful and trusted collaborators; He needs saints and He calls us to be saints, that is, true friends of Christ and heralds of His Gospel. One true friend and tireless apostle of Christ was Blessed Stanis- laus of Jesus and Mary. Born in Podegrodzie of a poor peasant family, he lived at a time when Poland was afflicted by numerous wars and plagues, falling deeper and deeper into chaos and deprivation. Formed on the sound principles of the Gospel, young Stanislaus wanted to give himself completely to God, and from his adolescent years onwards, he felt drawn towards the Immaculate Virgin Mother of Christ. Grad- ually the Lord transformed the little shepherd-boy, who found it so hard to study and was physically so frail, into a preacher who drew crowds through his wisdom filled with erudition and profound mysti- cism; into a confessor whose spiritual counsel was sought after even by the great men of Church and State; into a well-prepared teacher and an author of various works published in numerous editions; into the Founder of the first Polish Religious Institute for men, the Con- gregation of the Marian Clerics of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Guiding him throughout his life was Mary herself. In the mystery of her Immaculate Conception, the new beatus marvelled at the power of the Redemption worked by Christ. In the Immaculate Virgin, he discerned the beauty of the new creation given totally to Christ and to the Church. He became so fascinated by this truth of the faith, that he was prepared to give his life in its defense. He knew that Mary, the crowning glory of God’s creation, is the confirmation of the dignity of every man and woman, loved by God and destined for eternal life in Heaven. He wanted the mystery of the Immaculate Conception to be the distinguishing mark of the Religious Community that he founded, to be its constant support and its true joy. How many times in this very place, in this Shrine of Our Lady, Mother of Sorrows, where throngs of pilgrims come together to pray, has Blessed Stanis- laus’s moving prayer resounded up to the present day: “Mary, you console, comfort, sustain and raise up the oppressed, those who weep, who are tempted, who are weighed down ... O sweet Virgin! Show us Jesus, the blessed fruit of your life!” 9