Sister Faustina Kowalska: Her LIfe and MIssion

happen th a t God "interferes" so much in someone’s life as He did in th is case. S is ter F au s tin a assu red him t h a t J e s u s expected his co-operation in th e execution of th e mission en tru s ted to her. Because h e r m ind was then full of the question of the pa in ting of the image, she a t once tu rned to him for help in the m a tter. What a pity th a t we know so little of th e story of how, in the soul of th is priest, th e re grew to m a tu rity the response to God’s appeal. Everything happened between God and him alone. A certain sidelight is thrown on the m a t te r by the sho rt recollection of the then S ister Infirm arian , S is te r Borgia T. She said, "The arrival o f S ister Faustina from Plock to us in V ilnius almost deprived the convent o f its confessor... More or less a t th is time we had a change o f confes­ sor..., and the new one was Father Sopocko. Not long after, one day a t tea Father Sopocko seemed shocked or not himself, and he informed the Superior - Mother Irene - in my presence, tha t he thought he would probably not be able to continue to be confessor to the Sisters, and tha t we should look about for another confessor, though he sa id tha t his decision was not final..., but that he would probably have to resign his office as his health was not good, and he advised applying to the Archbishop in good time for a succes­ sor to him" (Arch, of S.F., Recollections). "We were amazed at this. During the conversation I felt that other factors were at work about which he could say nothing, but which I could conjecture. He was simply reluctant to m ix h im se l f up in something uncertain by any imprudence. Th is conjecture was confirmed for me because after his recommendation to have S ister Faustina exam ined by psychiatrists, when the diagnosis indicated nothing untoward, her sp iri­ tua l director was obviously reassured and from that time onwards there was no more talk o f a change o f 155