St Stan Illustrated Story

54 I n the autumn of 1669, the Congregation of the Piarist Fathers was raised by the Holy See to the rank of an Order with solemn vows. However, all members were free to decide for themselves whether to accept the solemn profession. Father Stanislaus, anticipating his release from the community, decided to remain in simple vows. He also believed that his decision to do so released him from all dependence on the superiors of the Re- formed Order. Consequently, towards the end of 1669, he placed him- self directly under the protection and jurisdiction of the Bishop of Cracow, Andrew Trzebicki. The Provincial Superior retaliated by forcibly removing the Saint from the Piarist residence at kazimierz, near Cracow, and sending him first to Podolinec, and later still further from Cracow – to Priewidza in Slovakia. There, in accordance with the religious discipline of the time, Fr. Stanislaus spent almost three months in the monastery prison. All indications suggest that it was precisely during this period of soli- tude and suffering that he received from God a new inspiration, a new vocation – the summons to a new task, which he was to carry out only after his release from the Piarist Institute. This task was the founding of a new Congregation.