Rome, December 9, 2006
No 232/2006
To the Marian Communities Superiors and Residence Rectors Worldwide:
Please kindly read the enclosed Circular Letter at the Community’s gathering on January 1 or January 2, 2007, or at any other convenient moment during the first days of January of 2007.
I also ask you to please make every effort necessary, for the Communities to bring to fruition the Program of Preparation for the Beatification of our Founder, the Servant of God Stanislaus Papczyński.
I thank you for your cooperation and send you my warmest greetings.
Jan M. Rokosz, M.I.C.
Superior General
Rome, December 8, 2006
No 231/2006
Circular Letter
opening the year of prayer
for the beatification of Fr. Stanislaus Papczyński
and the Congregation’s preparations for the beatification of our Founder
Dear Confreres:
1. The positive decision of the Plenary Session of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints of November 14, 2006, regarding the miracle through the intercession of our Founder, Fr. Stanislaus Papczyński, fills us with great hope for his prompt beatification, so very much anticipated by all of us. The Servant of God, Fr. Casimir Wyszyński wrote almost 300 years ago: “Since our Venerable Father Founder is undoubtedly holy, it is necessary to attend to the matter of his beatification as soon as possible.” Father Casimir was so deeply convinced of the need for Fr. Stanislaus Papczyński’s beatification, that he wrote in a prophetic inspiration: “Since the Lord already showers us with His blessings, although we have only just begun our efforts towards the beatification of our Founder, thus we must go further and we shall obtain more [of the blessings].”
2. History clearly demonstrates, that whenever the Congregation was concerned with the person of our Founder and made efforts towards his beatification, it received God’s blessings. Today, our hope for the Founder’s beatification is greater than at any other time in the past. We would like to draw grace from this abundant source of God’s blessings. Let us do so primarily by uniting in prayer for the grace of the prompt beatification of our Founder, and also through our spiritual preparations for this event. No matter when the beatification occurs, it will only be fruitful if we allow our lives to be penetrated by the power of Christ’s holiness. This is the same power that we observe in the life of our Founder, and it can make us faithful witnesses of Christ and the Gospels in the modern world.
3. For this reason, I cordially invite each and every Marian and all Marian Communities worldwide, to zealously pray for the prompt Beatification of our Father Founder and to ponder his path of faith and his legacy left to us, his spiritual sons. I therefore instruct that starting on January 1, 2007, and throughout the following 12 months, the Program of Spiritual Preparations for the Beatification of our Founder, created by the Beatification Committee, be faithfully realized. I ask all the confreres, especially the Superiors, to pay special attention to the following practices:
a) Monthly Days of Recollection – prayerful vigils combined with adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament using biblical texts, the documents of the Church about the consecrated life, and the writings of Fr. Stanislaus Papczyński. During meals on the days of recollection, I ask you to read Fr. Founder’s biography or other related works. It is necessary that each day, several Marian Communities worldwide unite in spiritual communion, while praying for the grace of our Founder’s prompt Beatification, making good prepartions for it, and finally, and above all, experiencing the fruitful benefits of it. Every Religious House will have an appointed day for its “prayerful vigil.” I understand that a situation may arise, which would make it impossible to hold the day of recollection on the appointed date. However, I would like to ask you not to depart from the texts assigned for a specific month.
b) Daily Readings of Fr. Stanislaus Papczyński’s short essays about the religious life, directed to the Marians, are to be read before the communal meal (lunch or dinner). Let us heed Fr. Founder’s words which he speaks to each one of us, both during the communal reading or in our personal meditation.
c) Spiritual Reading of available materials about our Law-giver, our spirituality and history, especially the writings of the Servant of God, Fr. Casimir Wyszyński – reformer of the Congregation and Blessed George Matulaitis-Matulewicz – the renovator of Fr. Stanislaus Papczyński’s work.
5. Every Marian, and every Community will soon receive, (no later than the end of January 2007), a book entitled, Lest You Remain without Work in the Vineyard of the Lord, containing materials to be used during the year of preparation for the Beatification. This publication will contain among other things, the texts for the monthly days of recollection and the selections from Fr. Papczyński’s writing about the religious life, which I’ve mentioned above. The book was prepared by Fr. Andrzej Pakuła in cooperation with the Beatification Committee, over which he presides with great dedication and competence. I extend my sincere gratitude to Fr. A. Pakuła and to the members of the Beatification Committee who represent the Marian Communities all over the world. I welcome their involved and creative work with great joy and gratitude.
6. Before you receive the book, I am sending you the materials for the day of recollection and daily reading at meals for the month of January along with this letter, so that every community worldwide may begin the prayer and reflection on the beginning of the New Year. Those materials, Fr. Papczyński’s writings, and works about him, will be made available shortly online at www.stanislawpapczynski.org
7. I trust that the realization of this program will not only contribute to our good preparation for the Beatification, but that it will also revive and renew the grace of our Religious and Marian vocation. The holiness of our Founder is not only something for us to take pride in, but also, and maybe primarily, a challenge for our personal conversion, to rediscover the roots of our charism, and to seek to walk on the narrow path which leads to eternal life. I believe that our communal work of prayer and reflection will also deepen our Marian unity worldwide, making us into a visible symbol in the service for Christ and the Church, under the guidance of our Immaculate Mother Mary.
Jan M. Rokosz, M.I.C.
Superior General