Your fruit will remain

213 Very Rev. Jan M. Rokosz, M.I.C., Superior General of the Congregation of Marian Fathers ADDRESS WELCOMING THE PAPAL LEGATE, HIS EMINENCE CARDINAL TARCISIO BERTONE ON THE EVE OF THE BEATIFICATION OF FATHER STANISLAUS PAPCZYNSKI Lichen, 15 September 2007 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings glad tidings, announcing peace, bearing good news, announcing salvation... (Is 52:7). With these words of the Prophet Isaiah, filled with joy, affection and humility, on behalf of the Marian Fathers and Brothers, I welcome Your Eminence to our house. I ask you to accept our deepest loyalty, honor and love. Truly, by God’s Providence, Your Eminence is for us the herald of the Good News, bringing us the Apostolic Letter of the Holy Father, Benedict XVI, which speaks of including our founder, Venerable Stanislaus Papczynski, among the Blessed. Our Congregation has been awaiting these glad tidings for over 300 years. From a human perspective, the Congregation of Marians should not exist. Wherever we set up religious houses, we were persecuted by lay authorities (in Portugal, Rome, Poland, and Lithuania). In 1908, in Mariampol, Lithuania, there was only one old and infirm Marian Father, who was convinced that along with his death, the Congregation would cease to exist. God did not allow the work which He Himself had initiated in Father Stanislaus Papczynski to perish. A grad- uate from our school in Mariampol, a professor of the Spiritual Academy in St. Petersburg, Blessed George Matulewicz-Matulaitis, working under cover, risking his life, renewed and reformed the Order, giving it a new apostolic dynamism. This strengthens our belief that the Church today needs our charism. Nowadays, over 500 Marian priests and brothers work for Christ and the Church in 18 coun- tries on all continents. I extend a most cordial welcome to our most honored guests: Cardinals, Archbishops and Bishops from Poland and abroad. Among them, let me mention