Sister Faustina Kowalska: Her LIfe and MIssion

In th e chapel between the a l ta r and the confessional, the re appeared to he r the figure of the p r ie s t promised h e r as h e r confessor. Bu t th is was not enough for S is te r Fau s tina . Je su s had no t specified when she would ge t h e r confessor. So she continued to pe s te r Him in prayer. Her probation was ending and h e r perpe tua l vows were nearing . How could she espouse h e r Bridegroom? W ha t would she b ring to the espousal? More of these recu rring doubts, t h a t th e One who speaks to h e r and communes so in tim a te ly with h e r is indeed Jesus? The in terio r p ressu re forcing S is te r F au s t in a to make a definite decision did no t so much arise from the p ressu re of he r superiors’ opinion as from th e nea rne ss of h e r tak ing perpe tua l vows. Here lay the chief reason for he r importuning the Lord for an explanation of the doubts t h a t had arisen in h e r as well as in those around her. She was begging for pity. Je su s is His mercy showed h e r th e pity she asked for. He again promised to answ er h e r through the lips of the p ries t to whom she was to make h e r confession du ring the re tre a t to be made ju s t before he r vows. The story of th is confession is instructive, for i t gives us much information on the k ind of intimacy S ister F au s tin a had with Jesus . The detailed account of what happened left by h e r gives u s a ra re chance to see into h e r personal and quite in tim a te life. Having learned by th e experience of h e r confession to F a th e r E lter, she now prayed both for the grace to reveal herse lf well to the confessor, and 110 for en­ ligh tenm en t for th a t confessor himself, so th a t having understood he r he could give a decisive answer: yes or no. She writes: \Throughout my probation, I prayed fo r tigfit fo r the priest to whom I was to open up my sou t to its depths. I asf e d Qod that Ode himseff wou fd hetp me and grant me the grace to he ahfe to eg re ss even the most secret 131