83 introduction Stanislaus of Jesus and Mary, Religious of the Pious Schools. Edition I.” The upper right corner of the picture bears a symbol: a solar disc with rays and the initial “M,” i.e., Mary, in the center; above the disc there is a crown and a cross, and below it the acronym MP ΘY, or Mētēr Theou, i.e., the Mother of God. The engraving’s lower right corner displays a flower (two bells of a fully opened flower showing stamens) with four long leaves that reach Mercury’s knees. Under the engraving’s frame, there is a beautiful handwritten inscription made by Fr. Stanislaus Papczyński: “Dedicated to His Excellency, Lord John Pogroszewski, Baron of Horodyszcz etc., by the humble author. 1664.” The title page of the first edition reads “Messenger of the Queen of the Arts, i.e., Training in Eloquent Speech-making, by Stanislaus of Jesus and Mary of Pious Schools. With the superiors’ permission. First edition. Warsaw, [printed at] the widow and heirs of Piotr Elert, the Printer of His Royal Majesty. 1663.” Page 8 (without pagination) of the first – as well as the second – edition displays pronouncements about eloquence made by J. Cassian, Gregory the Great, and Louis de Bourbon. Here they are: “The orator is one who can speak about trivial things in a simple, unpretentious way; in a tempered manner about things of moderate importance, and in a rousing, solemn manner about sublime things. The orator is the one who can impeccably prepare his arguments, deliver them in a proper manner, arranging them clearly and beautifying them with various rhetorical figures” (Cassian)2. “Truly proficient in giving beautiful speech will be 2 John Cassian (ca. 360–435), also known as John the Ascetic and John Cassian the Roman (Latin: Ioannes Eremita Cassianus, Ioannus Cassianus, or Ioannes Massiliensis), was a Latin writer, theoretician, and organizer of religious life. He was born probably in the Roman province of Scythia Minor (today Dobruja or Dobrudja) or in Provence. See J. M. Szymusiak, Patrologia, zagadnienia wybrane, KUL, Lublin 1971, pp. 588-590; M. Daniluk, P. Paciorek, Jan Kasjan, in EK, vol. VII, col. 799-801. Around 382, he joined the Bethlehem monastery. He was first active in Palestine and Egypt. John Chrysostom ordained him a deacon in Constantinople. He was ordained a priest in Rome, and after ten years (ca. 415) he founded in Massalia (today Marseille) two monasteries, one male and one female. He is
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