Marian Helper • Fall 2023 • Marian.org 19 Religious life was not just handed to Helena Kowalska (the future St. Faustina) on a silver platter. As we know, she had to fight for it. At first, she thought she had entered “Paradise” when finally stepping freely into the convent of the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in Warsaw, Poland, in 1925. She was just 20 years old. But truth be told, convent life for Helena was not a bowl of cherries. In addition to hard work and perseverance to get into the convent, other difficulties were in store for Helena — ones she never imagined. There would be humiliations, contradictions, criticisms, and more suffering on the horizon. One evening after dinner, Helena thought she’d surely die of shame. A certain Sr. Marcianna Oswiecimska, who was the cook at the time, became very irritated with Helena. She asked Helena to wash the dishes after dinner. Helena was happy to oblige. She never minded helping. In fact, she was eager to help and knew that when she was obedient, she was pleasing Jesus. She always tried to do all of her work as well as she possibly could in order to be extra pleasing to God. Helena’s surprise As she washed the dishes, some sisters came in late for dinner, and Helena set down her dish cloth to serve dinner to them. She then went back to the dirty dishes in the sink. We can imagine Helena’s surprise when Sr. Marcianna walked in and suddenly gave her a strange penance for not washing the dishes as quickly as she had expected her to do. Perhaps “shock” is a better word. Here’s what happened: Sister Marcianna returned to the kitchen and observed that the dishes were not all washed. She ordered Helena to sit on a kitchen table. That’s correct — it was on a table. The sister cook told her it was a penance for not finishing the job. Well, that was a hard enough punishment to just sit there, not able to help, while Sr. Marcianna was at the sink scrubbing away. But on top of that embarrassing punishment, Helena was not allowed to talk or defend herself. She was ordered to just sit there quietly! This was so difficult because other sisters came into the kitchen when Helena was sitting atop the table! Add to that, they saw Sr. Marcianna doing the dishes! Doesn’t seem fair, does it? It was excruciating for the young postulant to bear the embarrassment. She was unfairly punished and also criticized. In that moment, she might have reminisced about her family life back home and how her parents had never treated her or her siblings unfairly. Yet ironically, in religious life, a time meant to grow close to God, unthinkable things occurred. About eight years later, Helena recalled the daunting experience of Sr. Marcianna getting upset with her and ordering her to sit on the table while she did the dishes herself. Helena wrote: And while I was sitting there, the sisters came along and were astounded to find me sitting on the table, and each one had her say. One said that I was a loafer and another, “What an eccentric!” I was a postulant at the time. Others said, “What kind of sister will she make?” Still, I could not get down because Sister had ordered me to sit there by virtue of obedience until she told me to get down. Truly, God alone knows how many acts of self-denial it took. I thought I’d die of shame (Diary of St. Faustina, 151). Helena later pondered, “God often allowed such things for the sake of my inner formation, but He compensated me for this humiliation by a great consolation.” It was at Benediction when she was blessed with Jesus’ profound words. Helena recalled that she saw “Him in great beauty.” She wrote, “Jesus looked at me kindly and said, My daughter, do not be afraid of sufferings; I am with you.” Profound peace We can only imagine the profound peace that entered her soul because of Jesus’ words. In time, Helena came to know that Jesus allowed her to experience certain sufferings and humiliations in order for her to grow in holiness as He lovingly burnished her heart and soul as a metalsmith did to shape, forge, and perfect a precious metal. Jesus desired that Helena turn to Him during such times. As difficult as it was for Helena to receive Sr. Marcianna’s punishment that day, the young postulant certainly turned to Jesus and made what she called “many acts of self-denial.” She continued to offer the humiliation up to Jesus, asking for His help. Helena grew to accept her sufferings as gifts from God. Jesus later taught her that meditating upon His suffering during His Passion would advance her in holiness. It’s the same for all of us. Visit ShopMercy.org/b59 to order Diary of a Future Saint: Faustina’s Incredible Journey (Product Code B59-UNST). We invite you to send us your intentions for the St. Faustina Novena. Visit Marian.org/b59. Editor’s note: As we anticipate the feast day of St. Faustina on Oct. 5, we share here an excerpt from Diary of a Future Saint: Faustina’s Incredible Journey, an exciting new illustrated biography by Donna-Marie Cooper O’Boyle, just published by Marian Press and intended for all ages.
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