Happy 354th birthday, Marian Fathers!
December 11 is the anniversary of the founding of the Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception. On this day in 1670, St. Stanislaus Papczyński (1631-1701, shown above), left the Piarist order and made his oblatio, his self-offering, to defend the Immaculate Conception:
I offer and consecrate to God ... As well as to the Mother of God, the Ever-Virgin Mary conceived without sin, my heart, my soul and my body, leaving absolutely nothing for myself ... I vow to serve them zealously, in chastity, to the end of my life.
The fruits of that oblatio continue to this day through the consecrated religious life of the Marian Fathers, spiritual sons of St. Stanislaus, and of the many Marian Helpers who also serve the Marian charism all around the world.
Happy birthday, Marian Fathers! Ad multos annos!
{shopmercy-ad}