Saint Stanislaus Papczynski — The Life and Writings

Blessed Stanislaus of Jesus and Mary heard the same Word of God that we also hear. He obeyed it. He said: “Contemplate the fact that Jesus, just as when he stayed among men and treated sinners in a friendlymanner, in the sameway, He communes with us as well today. He does not refuse themHis Body and Blood, de- spite their insufficient preparation, following […] the sequence: ‘the good go, the irreverent go’” ( Inspectio cordis ). He also ob- served in a different place: “Reflect that Servants of God uselessly worry about food, drink, clothing and other things; however, would it ever be possible, that the Onewho covers the earthwith grass, the birds with feathers, the trees with leaves and bark would not take care of His servant’s garment? It would not be suitable, if you, for this reason, wouldmurmur against theMoses of the New Testament” ( Inspectio cordis ). The words just cited of Blessed Stanislaus are not abstract meditations, because he himself, during the 70 years of his life, experienced poverty, first in a family with many children, in which he was born on May 18, 1631, in Podegrodzie near Stary Sącz in Poland, then in Lvov (present day Ukraine), where he studied at the Jesuit College, and finally, for 30 years in a small religious community. What’s more, having access to the pow- erful of this world, he did not avoid staying with poor and sim- ple people. In fact, material poverty was not a justification for not accepting the promise contained in the Word of God of God’s solicitude; on the contrary, it was the motive for entrust- ing everything to Providence. That is why he dared to say: “Think rather, how to persevere in His grace, to fulfill His will, and then everything will be given to you. The one that is cov- ered, refreshed and nourished by grace, is not naked or in want or hungry. employ yourself first of all to obtain grace” ( Inspec- tio cordis ). In this regard, a rhetorical and provocative question from Jesus comes to mind: “What shall a man profit, if he shall gain the whole world, and loses his soul? O what will a man be able to give in exchange for his own soul?” (Mt 16: 26). 161 Documents and Homilies from His Beatification