65 The Marian Fathers thus contributed to responding to some serious problems of the time: the weakening of faith, especially among the humblest classes, the lack of priestly and religious vocations, and the state of poverty of a large part of the population (cf. Mt 9:35-38). Dear brothers, Saint Stanislaus charted for your congregation paths of spirituality and action, well embodied in the men and women of his time. And it is important for you to “pick up the torch”; continuing to respond creatively to the challenges that our age also presents. Do not be discouraged if you encounter opposition or difficulties. Think of the great trials that your religious family has faced over the centuries, for instance when at the beginning of the twentieth century it was reduced to just one member! With God’s help you have recovered, so that today you consist of approximately five hundred religious, present in nineteen countries throughout the world. Let us recall, in this context, the figure of Blessed Jurgis Matulaitis (1871-1927), a Marian father, priest, bishop and apostolic nuncio in Lithuania, one of the agents of your rebirth. He was able to restore vitality to the community, updating the Constitutions and promoting its work fearlessly, even having to act clandestinely and risking arrest, without ever giving up promoting charity and unity among religious and among the faithful. I encourage you to keep fidelity to your origins alive in this prophetic attention to today. You have done so in recent times by including openness to the laity, the protection of life from conception to death, attention to the least and support for families in difficulty – this is very important, today the family is always in difficulty – among your pastoral priorities. These are choices that are reflected, for example, in the centre of naprotechnology and help for the family that you have set up at the Shrine of Licheń, in Poland; and in the new mission areas to which you have opened up in Asia and Africa. May the Lord help you to continue along these paths. And I would like to conclude our meeting today by mentioning three Marian titles with which Saint John Paul II invited you to venerate Mary Immaculate. Mary “Seat of Wisdom”, so that your witness to the Gospel may be firm and solid; Mary “Consoler of the afflicted”, that the people of our time may find love and understanding in you, and may be drawn to God by your charity and selfless service; and third, Mary “Mother of Mercy”, that you may be rich in maternal compassion for the souls redeemed by the
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