Ephemerides_Marianorum_2017

Editorial 18 only He knows, but which is possible to perceive if only we trust fully the Divine Author and cooperate with Him fearlessly in building our present, opening it to the future. Our identification with the community is based on our realization that the Congregation’s past is the history of our lives. We remember it so that, being grateful to God for everything He has done in the past, we can thankfully accept His gifts today and look with hope into the future. This way we live out our lives as they are inscribed in the history of salvation. If it is true that “man learns about himself through history” 1 than we need historical memory to comprehend and recognize the path of life, on which Divine Providence wants to lead us. Our present and our future is inseparable from the past, which cannot be forgotten since it will lead to the loss of identity and understanding of our goal. To prompt our commitment to nurturing historical memory, worthy is recalling the words of Theodor of Cyrus, who wrote in the introduction to The History of Syrian monks: “Just like the old age or death harm the body, the same way time covers with the shroud of oblivion events worthy of praise. Therefore, no one has the right to reproach me for writing the history of people who loved God. Similarly to those who – tasked with caring for bodies – prepare medicines, counteract evil, bring help to the suffering, so the enthusiasm for writing is a means of preventing oblivion and reviving memory.” 2 I hope that the next volume of Ephemerides Marianorum will help reviving the Marians’ memory and encourage us to support and enrich it. Janusz Kumala, MIC On the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Most B.V.M, Licheń Stary, Dec. 8, 2017 1 Z. Kuderowicz, Myśli i ludzie. Dilthey , Warszawa 1967, 103. 2 Teodoret z Cyru, Dzieje świętych mnichów syryjskich , wprow.