Photo of the Day: St. Stanislaus Papczynski Statue, Marian Shrine, Stockbridge, MA

Fr. Stanislaus Papczynski (1631-1701) founded the Marians of the Immaculate Conception, the first Polish religious order for men. A year and a half ago, Pope Francis announced the canonization of this holy man hailed by Pope Benedict XVI as "a father of the poor" and "an apostle of intercessory prayer for the dead." 

According to Pope John Paul II, another Polish cleric invested with a powerful Marian devotion, Fr. Papczynski “knew how to spread and defend with courage the truth of the Immaculate Conception even before it was defined as a dogma of faith.”

I became curious about St. Papczynski after coming across this statue of him this past August while visiting the National Shrine of The Divine Mercy in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts. The beautiful, peaceful site is located on the appropriately named Eden Hill in the picturesque town of Stockbridge, and this one was one of several photos I took in my very short but meaningful late afternoon there.