Theological Foundations new file

153 Marian Character passing love, was for him not only an object of contemplation but also an example to imitate. He makes her a model for himself, for his confr- eres and for every Christian. *** Just like Father Papczynski, Father Matulaitis-Matulewicz, too, con- sidered the Immaculate Virgin Mary, Mother of God to be the titular patroness of the congregation. Therefore, he left a note in his Constitutions saying that the members of the congregation should show special veneration, filial love and devotion to her as their Queen and Lady, a very powerful Succor and the Most Beloved Mother. They should make their way to Jesus through her, call upon her with earnest pleas, and turn to her with greatest trust in all their needs. They should also imitate her virtues with all their strength. He emphasized that the feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary is to be the titular feast of the congregation. 46 In a short paragraph of his Constitutions, the Renovator of the Marians covered their entire Marian character. In words used sparingly but rich in theological content, he expressed everything by which the Marians, inspired by the spirit of the Founder, have lived from the very beginning. The paragraph mentioned here contains lofty titles with which Blessed George describes the patroness of the congregation. It expresses the personal attitude of its members towards Mary. It points to her maternal mediation and gives her as a model to imitate. It would be difficult to point out anything essential that our Renovator did not say in the paragraph under discus- sion and what should be included in the rule of the “resurrected” con- gregation of Marians. Honor for the Immaculate Conception should be emphasized already at the beginning of the novitiate: Father Renovator ordered that a medal with the image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on one side and the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary on the other be given to the novices. 47 He also ordered that a particular devo- tion to the Mother of God Immaculately Conceived be promoted, along with the devotion to the Most Holy Eucharist and the Sacred Heart of