St Stan Illustrated Story

121 F or some time Fr. Papczynski’s health had been failing rapidly. In December 1692 – a year after his return from Rome – he was so close to death that he made his will. knowing however, that he was still needed by the little Community (the more so as it had not yet received papal approbation), he vowed to go on a pilgrimage – probably to the shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa – if his Immacu- late Patroness, Our Lady Queen of Poland, restored his health. He rallied for awhile and in the summer of the following year ful- filled his promise to Our Lady. However, in the winter of 1699, he ap- parently became seriously ill again, for he drew up a second will in which he wrote: “In a spirit of profound reverence, I commend this small Congregation, of which I am the unworthy Superior, to my Lord Jesus Christ and to the Most Elect Lady, Mary His Virgin Mother, as the true and only Founders, Directors, Defenders, and Patrons of this little Congregation of the Immaculate Conception, the helper of the faithful departed [...]. Pray for me, and I, having by your help obtained Divine Mercy, will pray for you.” He rallied once again, but not for long. InApril 1701, having made an addition to his will, he was so weak that, as he wrote himself, he signed it with a “failing hand.” In July of the same year, it required a great effort on his part to re- ceive the solemn profession of his subjects. Having done so, he handed them his will, which was a summary of the principles by which he had lived, of the truths that he had believed, and of the undertakings that he had accomplished. It was, moreover, an expression of his concern for the preservation and growth of the work to which God had called him, and which with God’s grace he had begun.