Bishop Alan Hopes, auxiliary Bishop in the Diocese of Westminster, has attended the beatification ceremony for Fr Stanislaus Papczyński, the founder of the Marian Congregation, which took place on Sunday, September 16 in Lichen, Poland.

An estimated 100,000 people from around the world took part in the beatification ceremony, including six cardinals, dozens of bishops, 500 priests, and the President of Poland, Lech Kaczynski.

During the beatification ceremony outside the Shrine of Our Lady of Lichen, Blessed Stanislaus (1631-1701) was remembered as a prolific writer who urged the world to "contemplate God's mercy".

He was remembered for his devotion to the Immaculate Conception, and as a zealous priest who preached and practiced love of God and neighbour. He was renowned for his care of the physically and spiritually poor, and who saw visions of suffering souls in purgatory. He left as one of his legacies his love and concern for them.

In his homily, His Eminence Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Secretary of State of the Holy See, and the main celebrant of the Holy Mass of beatification, called Blessed Stanislaus a "tireless apostle of Christ" who "burned with a strong passion for the salvation of souls".

Pope Benedict XVI, in a taped statement played over two huge screens, congratulated the Marian Congregation, which had waited for this day for more than 300 years.

A call to serve

Blessed Stanislaus was born in 1631 in the small village of Podegrodzie in southern Poland. As a young man, he dedicated himself completely to serving God. When he became a priest, he soon became well known. King John III (Sobieski) reportedly sought his counsel and came to him for confession, as did the future Pope Innocent XII, who was serving at that time as the Papal Nuncio for Poland.

But the crowning achievement for Fr Stanislaus came in 1673 when he founded the Marians, the Church's first religious order dedicated to the Immaculate Conception.

"Guiding him throughout his life was Mary herself," said Cardinal Bertone, in his homily. "In the mystery of the Immaculate Conception, the new beatus marvelled at the power of the Redemption worked by Christ. In the Immaculate Virgin, he discerned the beauty of the new creation given totally to Christ and to the Church.

"He became so fascinated by this truth of the faith that he was prepared to give his life in its defence."