St Stan Illustrated Story

59 B y virtue of his solemn oblation, Fr. Papczynski remained interi- orly and spiritually faithful to his religious vows, although legally he had passed into the ranks of the diocesan clergy. This experience, for one with so delicate a conscience, was no small shock. He was suddenly assailed by doubts, scruples, uncertainties, and fears. At one moment he was even ready to return to the Piarist Fathers, if only they would be willing to return to the original “utter poverty” en- joined by their Founder, St. Joseph Calasantius, and undertake to spread the cult of the Immaculate Conception of Our Blessed Lady. In God’s plan, this “mystical cleansing” of the soul of the Saint was apparently necessary to complete the “way of the cross” which he had hitherto been treading and to prepare him for so momentous an under- taking as the founding of a new religious community. No less a trial to him in his new vocation were the prelatic honors and lucrative Church benefices that were being offered to him by certain bishops. He was convinced, however, that these would serve only as a hindrance to his efforts and would eventually deter him from following his divinely inspired path. Consequently, he resolutely rejected all such offers. As a temporary means of support, he retained only (in accordance with existing Church Law) the modest benefice of chaplain to theArch- confraternity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, attached to the church of St. James at kazimierz, near Cracow. There, for the time being, he also took up residence.