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The Mariavites are an independent Catholic movement who were excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church in 1906. This book chronicles the beginnings of the movement, focusing on how the early Mariavites understood the establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth (and, more precisely, in Poland). The history of the Mariavites begins in 1893, when a nun, Feliksa Maria Franciszka Kozłowska (1862-1921), claimed to receive revelations of Divine Mercy that recommended she create a priests’ congregation of Mariavites. Because of the fraught political situation relating to the occupation of Polish lands, the Mariavites initially had to act in secret, and their mission was not accepted by the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church. Since they were outside official church structures, they introduced a number of controversial measures, especially in the interwar period after the death of their founder. Priests married nuns, nuns were ordained, compulsory confession before a priest was abolished and, finally, Kozłowska was seen to be the embodiment of the Holy Spirit. These are just some of the changes intended to restore the state of the world prior to original sin. The Mariavites covers these and other central features of their apocalyptic or millenarian theology, including those involving the rapid exaltation of Mateczka after her death, the blending of traditions associated with Mary and Jesus, and the establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth through her mission. With reference to the original Polish documents, this volume clarifies for the first time the ideology, logic, motives, and theological tradition underpinning this new religious movement. It examines the Mariavites in the context of the influence of nineteenth-century Polish messianism, as well as the ancient Christian sources and Catholic tradition which the Mariavites used abundantly.
