Abstract

The publication introduces and details the issues related to the potential and marriage and family in the light of the teaching of Blessed Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski. The author is interested in how Wyszynski understood marriage and family; in what he saw their potential and the possibility of its realization; what, according to him, prevented the realization of the potential of marriage and family and, on the other hand, what conditioned the effectiveness of the educational influence of the family; in what is expressed the universal dimension of the Primate’s teaching on marriage and family. In the Primate’s understanding, marriage and family are the environment of life and the realization of man as a person. Among the goals of marriage, priority is given to the mutual help of spouses and the satisfaction of natural urges, procreation and the good upbringing of offspring. In turn, the family, being a difficult, but at the same time beautiful way of realizing a vocation, makes it possible to live in love and peace, transmit life, prepare children for social and civic tasks, properly shape character, give a „school of work and frugality”, educate in a Christian manner while maintaining an element of integrity. Therefore, it is not surprising that marriage and the family, being the basic natural community established by God and protected by Him, and at the same time the place of transmission of life and the most important environment of intergenerational transmission of traditions, care, emotional stabilization, socialization and inclusion – stands at the center of the pastoral care, love and teaching of Stefan Wyszynski. 

It is clear from the Primate’s message that if the family lives in accordance with Christian principles, it can successfully resist all mass upheavals, both from within and from without. The optimal condition for effective upbringing is when it takes place in a complete family, is paternal and maternal; the parents accept that the child is a gift from God and has been entrusted to them, and therefore they feel awe, respect and trembling towards the mystery contained in the child. Education is effective when it prepares for social and civic tasks and serves to ensure that „God is glorified, man honored and the earth served.” The universality of the Primate’s pedagogical message seems to lie in the fact that in educating a man, a citizen and a saint, the Primate seeks to preserve evangelical principles in social life. He is convinced that upbringing takes place through membership and participation in the life of the family, the nation, the state and the Church.