U mariańskich początków klasztoru Mariampolskiego ; Marijampolės vienuolyno marijoniškosios ištakos ; At the origin of the order of Marian Fathers

1. The Order of Marian Fathers founded by the blessed Stanislaus Papczyński in 1673 in Poland, was introduced in the middle of the 18th century in the Great Duchy of Lithuania, thanks to lordly foundations in Raśna near Brześć in 1749 as well as in Marijampolė in September 1758. 2. The monastery in Marijampolė was on the terrain of Prienai Commune which since the middle of the 17th century was administered by the Butlers. Gotard Wilhelm Butler (1600–1660) received it because of his faithful service to the prince John Casimir. 3. The Butlers lived in Prienai, but after destruction of their castle by Swedes in 1702, they moved to a safer place – the village of Kvietiškis at the border of Kaunas and Prienai Woods. Not far from the Butlers estate, a new settlement started to appear and was called first Starapolė and later Marijampolė. 4. After the death of Mark Antoni Butler (†1740?), the Prienai Commune was administered by his wife countess Francie, native of Szczuków family (sometimes mistaken with Szczuckich family). 5. Francie Butler had an intention to help her people living far from the church in Prienai in practicing their religion, so she decided to build a church and monastery. The Superior General of the Marian Fathers Fr. Casimir Wyszyński (1700–1755), was happy to agree about the decision. 6. Realization of these intentions was delayed because of the unclear intentions of Fr. Stefan Turczynowicz, who tried to appropriate the name of the order and a habit for his created order “Vilnius Marians” with neophytes. Actually, in 1752 the Holy See ordered him to renounce this intention. 7. The Marians, mostly of Czech nationality, had already worked in Marijampolė from 1750, though there was no church and monastery yet. Father Casimir resided in Rome and kept a written contact with the countess and her son Michael. He did not wait for the act of the Marians’ introduction into Marijampolė monastery, because he had died in Portugal in 1755. 8. Another barrier to the solemn entering of Marian monastery was caused ...