Pillars of Fire In My Soul

as possible. At the time, Helen had no idea that the diaries she would write would have such an effect on the entire world. The way she applied herself to her studies was simply the sign of a pure intention to grow in wisdom, understanding, and learning. In light of St. Faustina’s example, it makes sense for us to examine our own attitudes towards education, and how we make use of the educational opportunities offered to us. As we follow St. Faustina’s path on the road to canonization, we real- ize more fully that her pilgrimage was not for her benefit alone. She teaches us so much with her own choices and continual gratitude for the opportunities that God sent her way. She offers us a unique education in purity and holiness. Work is another area where St. Faustina consciously inte- grated the practice of purity. After she had to leave school to make way for younger children, Helen worked at home for a time, then asked her parents to let her go out to work as a ser- vant as her older sisters had done. She was not quite 15 years old, but they agreed, finding her a situation with a neighbor’s sister near Lodz. She stayed there for about a year, working as a housemaid and taking care of the young son of the family – who, as a man in his nineties, reminisced sitting on her lap and having her tell him stories. Helen’s employers had a bakery. On one occasion, while she was in the courtyard of the bakery, she had another vision of "lights," as she called them. This time they must have been intense because she screamed, "Fire!" Although a doctor was called and gave her medications for this so-called hallucination, Helen indicated to her sister, who was sent to see her, that she was not losing her mind, but that she would not remain there for long; she had to enter a convent. Her parents would not hear of her desire to pursue a religious vocation, and so Helen moved to Lodz where she lived for a time with her uncle’s family and continued to work as before. She held several positions as a servant and seemed to give sat- The Road to Canonization 151