63 ADDRESS OF THE GENERAL SUPERIOR TO POPE FRANCIS DURING A PRIVATE AUDIENCE Beloved Holy Father, The members of the General Chapter of the Congregation of Marian Fathers express their deep and sincere gratitude for this audience and assure Your Holiness of the constant and daily prayers of the entire Congregation for Your Holiness and according to the intentions of the Holy Father. Each evening in each of our communities, we pray that You, Holy Father, “may guide the Church securely on the road to salvation.” Today’s meeting is an opportunity for us to give thanks to God on the occasion of the 350th anniversary of the origin of our religious community. Exactly on December 11, 1670, St. Stanislaus of Jesus and Mary Papczyński, performed the act of Oblatio, that is, through the formula of the religious vows that he composed, he offered himself forever to God and the Immaculate Mother of the Lord. Thus began the process of founding an Institute dedicated to spreading the mystery of the Immaculate Conception of the Mother of God, almost 200 years before the dogma was proclaimed. In accordance with our founding charism, today we strive to spread this mystery of Mary and see in her the sanctity of every human life, from conception to natural death, we strive to be prophets of the eschatological destiny of every human existence and proclaim the Gospel in every possible way. At the time of our Congregation’s Jubilee, we are experiencing special moments, given to us by God’s providence, especially the fact that more than 100 years ago, only one member of the Congregation remained alive due to persecution. Today we serve God and the Church in 19 countries around the world, and although we are not a large congregation, we bear witness to Christ in the example of Mary, our Mother and Patroness, always a humble and modest handmaid of the Lord. And we want this to be our way. Your Holiness We are in the midst of celebrating the 59th General Chapter. In it, we delve into the great gifts of God’s mercy present in our Jubilee and in our history. We ask you, Holy Father, to offer us a message and we ask your apostolic blessing on our ministry, in accordance with our motto: Pro Cristo et Ecclesia.
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