Sister Faustina Kowalska: Her LIfe and MIssion

living in the zvorld. Lhey have time fo r everything, but they have no time to come to Me fo r graces.' (Diary, Notebook I, para . 367). Living in a community, S is te r F au s t in a m u s t have met with sinful souls. There were more then a few among the wards, where th e re were cases of stubborn resistance to God, inaccessible to any persuasion or arguments. Also, no t all th e s isters were automatically holy. They, too, had to undergo various inner crises, through apa thy during which selfish impulses were given free rein, and a t such times th e re came to the surface everyday little sins, those which in time surround the soul w ith a h a rd coating th a t becomes difficult to pierce under the influence of the now victorious inclination to justify one’s own compromises and to rationalize them. In such cases, S is te r F aus tina with her always ferven t and constan t love for God and her unceasing striving to fulfill His Most Holy Will was a live pang of conscience for the guilty, and thereby she was also particu larly irrita ting . She often had to bea r a cross, if she wished to rem a in as she was. And now Je su s desired th a t she should s a tu ra te all her daily life, and its bu rdens , with the sp irit of His mercy. As if th is was no t enough, th e very basis of His teaching of h e r a t p re sen t requ ired th a t she should transform i t into an unceasing sacrifice of herself, making a tonem en t for the sins of those around her, and include in it th e hum ilia tions she was receiving. "Once during an adoration, the Lord demanded that I give myseCf up to !Him as an offering, by bearing a certain suffering in atonement, not onCy fo r the sins o f the zvortd in generaC, but specifically fo r transgressions committed in this house. Immediately I said, "Very good; I am ready." 'But Jesus gave me to see zvhat I zvas going 178