Sister Faustina Kowalska: Her LIfe and MIssion

APOSTLE OF DIVINE MERCY The religious life of S is te r F au s t in a had, from the very beginning, been focused around devotion to the Divine Mercy. She was doubtless predestined to th is by th e type of community to which she belonged. Bu t it m u s t not be forgotten th a t to th is community’s life-style th e re was added h e r own g re a t personal devotion to the Eucharist, and thu s to th a t very Sacram en t which expresses in itse lf th e Divine Mercy ac ting for u s now. So, both personally and in h e r Congregation, she lived in a sp iritua l climate which was always aware of the Divine Mercy. I t is no t su rp ris ing th a t she should cleave to i t with all h e r soul, and when Je su s gave h e r th e mission, after four and a h a l f years of life in the convent, of rem inding the world of His Mercy, she should have been - hum an ly speaking - sufficiently well p repared sp iritua lly to unde rtake th is work, and the question of Divine Mercy sufficiently though t through by h e r and adap ted to the needs of the life and the work she was doing. Bu t God obviously though t otherwise. I t is possible th a t w ithin h e r there were still some lacunae in her thought, and possibly an as ye t incomplete personal comm itment in th is sphere. I t is, however, probable th a t commitment was insufficient for th e aim for which God h ad destined her, She was to be an apostle of Divine Mercy. Proclaim ing i t in word and deed, she was to become a living w itness of i t in cooperating in the closest intimacy with C h r is t in His work of the 171