At the conclusion of the jubilee year of the centennial of the Marians’ presence in Latvia, the Latvian Marians received the white habit on the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
During a solemn Mass presided over by the Superior of the Vicariate, Fr. Dainis Kašs, MIC, the Marians renewed their religious vows, and after the renewal Father Superior blessed the religious vestments, which the confreres put on for the first time after the Mass.
The founder of the Congregation of Marian Fathers, St. Stanislaus Papczynski founded his small religious community in 1670 to honor the mystery of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and introduced the white religious habit, which was worn daily by members of the Congregation. The habit was the identifying sign of the Marians in the Church, and as the “white fathers” they were known in the parishes where they ministered.
However, due to the political situation, when the tsarist authorities forbade the admission of new candidates to Catholic orders, only one Marian remained at the beginning of the 20th century – Fr. Wincenty Sękowski, who, while already “retired,” lived in a monastery in Marijampole, Lithuania.
However, Father Jerzy Matulewicz – later Bishop of Vilnius – made efforts to secretly renew this religious community, but this involved giving up the white habit and adopting the garb of diocesan priests. Thus, from 1909. The Congregation of Marian Fathers became a “sans-habit” community.
When the first Latvian priests, Benedikts Skrinda and Broņislavs Valpitrs, joined the Congregation of Marian Fathers in 1923, they continued to minister in the ordinary priestly cassock, while subsequent candidates for the priesthood did not have to change their cassock for the religious habit, while Marian seminarians received a cassock during their studies, and religious brothers did not have their own habit.
After the canonization of the Marians’ founder, Fr. Stanislaus Papczynski, discussions about fidelity to the founder’s charism began anew in the Congregation, and with this came the idea of returning to the white habit, since the abandonment of the habit was originally forced by the political situation.
Admittedly, there is no consensus among the Marians as to whether all should wear the white habit, but common spiritual discernment and discussions led to the solution adopted by the 2023 General Chapter and approved by the Holy See; the Marians can wear the white habit on feast days, and can also use it on a daily basis, but the option of wearing a plain black cassock also remains.
The Marians of the Latvian Vicariate have decided to return to the white habit in accordance with the Constitutions of the Congregation, but it is up to each confrere to decide whether to wear it every day, on feast days, or use the black cassock.
