Saint Stanislaus Papczynski — The Life and Writings

regarding the Congregation’s apostolic mission — that is, to aid pastors in their parish work. In order to do so, he needed first to obtain special permission from his superior, the local bishop, which he received. With this permission, he was able to proclaim God’sWord, not only fromthe pulpit, but also through catechetical instruction and parishmissions. especially important for himwas performing pastoral work among the poor and the simple in the surrounding villages, where he celebrated Mass, heard confes- sions, and offered instruction on the life of prayer, holiness, and Christian virtue. For a Marian hermit to do apostolic work outside the monastery required special permission from the bishop. To elim- inate this requirement, it was necessary tomake the newCongre- gation less eremitical and more apostolic in character. To attain this goal, Fr. Papczynski needed to modify the Rule of Life . even- tually hewas able to accomplish this by incorporating into the Rule a paragraph (no. 3) which made pastoral work in the parishes a part of the Marians’ mission. It states: “Since the contemplative life is not binding you so strictly, although you are founded in the eremitical status, those gifted with such talents will not be pre- vented from humbly helping pastors in their church work, if they would be called upon by pastors, and have previously obtained faculties from the Ordinaries and the Superiors.” We know that Fr. Papczynski wished to free himself and his community from all eremitical constraints, but, except for the addition of the third paragraph that gave the Marian Fathers the freedom to pursue active apostolic work, Fr. Papczynski retained eremitical status in the Rule . What prevented him from following through? It was on account of the specific legal situation of the newly established Marian community. If the Marians had not been founded as an eremitical institute — a state already approved by the Church— then the Marian com- munity would not have been established, as it was impossible at the time to obtain apostolic approval for a new foundation. It was expedient, then, to establish a new institute that did not require papal approval for its existence, but only that of the local bishop. Thus, removing eremitical status from the Rule S AINT S TANISLAUS P APCzyNSkI 18