Build a Temple to God! A Retreat with The Mystical Temple of God by St. Stanislaus Papczyński

Saint Stanislaus Papczyński, founder of the Congregation of the Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, wrote a spiritual guidebook, The Mystical Temple of God (Templum Dei Mysticum),  for all people (clergy, laity, and consecrated), so that each of us could draw strength from the mystery of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, live the mystery every day and discover that through Baptism we became a mystical temple of God. He also wrote it in order that every man, by accepting and cooperating with God’s grace, could shine evermore brightly with God’s holiness in this life and, after death, enjoy the glory of heaven.

 This book has been prepared as an aid for individual retreats completed on the path of everyday life. Its basis and main reference is The Mystical Temple of God, although the content has been rearranged and modernized. Using Build a Temple to God, you can meditate on whole chapters, parts of chapters, or even smaller fragments of this guide. It is also worth reading St. Stanislaus’ original text, which helps us see God’s plan for each of us: how we were desired and loved by God before the foundation of the world, became His temple through Baptism, and are invited to unity with God both here on earth and ultimately in eternity.

Let us stand with St. Stanislaus! “[God] chose us … before the world was made to be holy and faultless before him” (Eph 1:4). Through God’s grace of the Immaculate Conception and Mary’s cooperation with it, she has been the mystical temple of God from the very beginning and will be so forever. We have become such a temple through Baptism. Walking the path of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, under the guidance of St. Stanislaus, we too can become a mystical temple of God forever. Let’s go!