Początki mariawityzmu. Studium historyczno-pastoralne

Abstract

The turn of the mineteenth century was a period of deep tensions, social conflicts, and variaus reformistic programs. Mariavitism occupied the central place among contemporary social and religious movements. Subsequent transformations, that took place in the bosom of Mariavitism, Changiny to great extent its character, cannot cover up the assumptions and the program, that was the gniding principle of the first animators of this movement. It throught, in its filst assumptions, the interesting postulates of the renovation of priesthood and religions life. Among othes, the fact that the first members of this movement were the graduates of the Church Academy in Petersburg, and at the same time almost all of them were either professors, or preceptors in seminaries, and tater some of them took leading positions in the life of the Catholic Church, in Poland, witresses to the character of this movement. Mariavites were the forerunners of some of the contemporary reformistic ideas: thery propagated frequent Holy Communion, introduced the national language to liturgy, noticed the religious needs of the enviroment of workers. They were convinced, that the command of conscience is more valid for a Christian than jurisdical conception of the Church. Mariavites considered themselves a missionary group in the bosom of the Catholic Church. After being condemned by Church authority (1906), they decided to live in “unity with the Church”, but not in “dependence” on its hierarchy.