The Rule of Life

(Ch.. 6, n.1) and particular directives for the Marians (Ch.. 7, n. 8). It is generally true that the Rule reflects only a little of the basic tendency of the Marians (in fact) toward an apostolic life outside the monasteries. Why? It seems that it has something to do with the specif- ic legal situation of the newborn Marian Institute: it was almost impossible to obtain apostolic approval. Therefore, the Marians were founded as hermits – a state already approved by the Church – as a legal expedient for establishing a new institute without papal approval, needing only the approval of the local bishop. In other words, in this way the Marians would be allowed to exist – in the status of hermits. In the period 1687-1698, in defending the Marian commu- nity against the attacks of its opponents, it again became neces- sary to insist that the Marians were hermits, and, as such , did not need to rely on papal approval for their existence. Such was the scope of the argument contained in the “Informative Preface”, which Stanislaus wrote in 1697 as he prepared the text of the Rule of Life – as corrected in 1694 by Cardinal Colloredo – for publication. In this translation only excerpts from the “Preface” are included; the more general legal considerations were omitted. The 1698 edition is the final edition of the Rule of Life to appear during the lifetime of Stanislaus, and it is the text of that Latin edition, on which this translation is based. Sources In writing the “Informative Preface,” Stanislaus used as sources various works of his contemporary canonist-theologians. For the text proper of the Rule of Life , he uses other sources, the Scriptures, and papal decree and constitutions. Twenty times he cites – quoting or paraphrasing – theWord of God, almost always from the New Testament, in explanation of the law and ascetical norms prescribed for the Marians. Thus, the Rule possesses a dis- tinctly evangelical flavor. 4