Cyrocki/The Mariavites, 3. Mariavites in the Roman Catholic Church

The third chapter begins with the analysis of the most groundbreaking moment in the history of Mariavites, namely Kozłowska receiving her revelation in 1893. It was understood as the announcement of the fulfillment of the Apocalypse. As the revelations were transmitted by a woman, she was eventually understood to be “a woman clothed with the sun” (Rev. 12:1), whose role was to follow God’s will perfectly. The chapter then focuses on the spread of the movement and their ideas inside Roman Catholic Church. Finally, it shows why the movement was eventually condemned by the Pope and Catholic hierarchy in 1906. It is worth recalling throughout that many of their concepts, which came to existence at that time, were reinterpreted after the schism. It should also be stated that this chapter contains a lot of so-called “background” material. It is certainly crucial to understanding the origins and development of Mariavite understandings of eschatology, apocalypticism and revelations in the rest of this thesis and which will be flagged up in this chapter. But it is also important to include such detail because it is material that is not otherwise readily available and is grounded in primary sources untranslated into English.