The Rule of Life

I NTRODUCTION The importance of the Rule of Life rests in the fact that Stanislaus Papczy ń ski (1631-1701) presents in it principal ideas and fundamental elements, which were to constitute the Institute he founded. It is also the principal source from which we can see the most important elements of his spiritual life at the time of its writing – elements decisive for the growth and maturation of his interior life from 1673 until his death. We can only estimate when Stanislaus prepared the first draft of the Rule of Life . It was only after the time of his depar- ture from the Piarists (December 11, 1670) that he proposed founding the Society of the Immaculate Conception; and after 1671 that he was able to formulate a distinct idea of that society. So it is likely that not until sometime during 1672 – while he stayed at the Karski court – was he able to formulate his idea in writing: the first draft of the Rule of Life . If this is actually the fact, then it was during October 1672 that he showed it to Stanislaus Krajewski, the first candidate to his institute. Changes in the Rule It seems that this stable “law” of Stanislaus (which was not judged as “too rigid”) was not followed at the Korabiew found- ation.And so, a year later, Stanislaus was forced to “conform” his first formulation of the Rule of Life with the dispositions of Bishop Swiecicki for theMarian Hermits at Korabiew – a change that evidently gave the Rule an eremitical flavor. Despite these changes, by 1677 (and the foundation of a Marian house at the Cenacle in New Jerusalem) only the Marians at Korabiew were obliged, in fact, to follow strict eremitical observance. By the time of its publication in 1687, Stanislaus had inserted into the Rule his permission for assisting in parishes (Ch.. 1, n. 3), as well as new papal statements on communal life