Sister Faustina Kowalska: Her LIfe and MIssion

The constan t changes from house to house had an adverse effect which was clearly m irrored in the sp iritua l life of S is te r Fau s tina . The most serious problem was th e lack of uniform sp iritual direction because of the changes of confessor, as there was a different one for each House. For those with active vocations th is may not play too large a role, b u t i t is a serious h indrance for those with contemplative vocations. S ister F au s t in a had constantly to explain afresh to each new confessor h e r own pa rticu la r sp iritua l life, and th is created difficulties for both sides, for i t was no t easy for the confessor righ tly to recognise the s ta te of the soul of h is pen iten t. This requ ired time, which was generally no t available, as the nex t move was coming up. How very much S is te r F au s tin a ’s life was made up of tran s fe rs can b e s t be illu s tra ted by the fact th a t the temporal vows, which were renewed annua lly for five years, in h e r case took place each time a t a different House: th e second renewal in 1929 was a t Vilnius, th e th ird in 1930 was a t Kiekrz n e a r Poznan, and th e fourth and fifth in Plock. Difficulties in the sp iritua l life were, for S ister Fau s tina , much more dram a tic in charac ter th an in h e r companions, where th e ir sp iritua l life was simpler. Perhaps i t was these cons tan t changes of place which speedily enabled h e r to recognise th a t w ithout a pe rm anen t sp iritual director, a p r ie s t who would guide h e r in s tr ic t obedience along God’s chosen pa th for her, she would n e ith e r continue properly on th e way to sp iritua l progress, nor fulfil God’s will. This will of God was becoming more and more difficult to unders tand . S ister F au s tina struggled to find th e correct solutions to enable h e r to fulfil w ha t Je su s demanded of her. In th is situa tion - as always - she tu rned to God for aid. She asked for a pe rm anen t sp iritua l director, someone who would unde rs tand both h e rse lf and the voice of God in h e r soul. She never ceased in th is p raye r until God g ran ted i t to her. Before she received th is grace, she lived through the most d ram a tic moments in he r 103