Sister Faustina Kowalska: Her LIfe and MIssion

The ac t of oblation on Holy Thu rsday may be called th e final diploma thesis , w ritten by S is te r F au s tina in the school of Christ, concerning th a t of His teaching which she had studied up to th is point. Nonetheless, in spite of everything, i t is no t evidence of "completion of studies". To be an apostle of Divine Mercy, S ister F au s tina had y e t to learn to voice the teach ing of the Divine Mercy, or she would no t be a complete apostle. Full apostleship m eans w itnessing to a given tru th both in words and deeds. Je su s had begun His teach ing by showing h e r how to witness to mercy in deed. Only when S ister F au s tina had absorbed th a t type of aposto- late did He direct h e r a tten tion to action by word. The main concentration of th is new phase of His teaching fell in the yea r 1935. I t coincided with th e f irs t public exposition of the now ready image of Je su s the Merciful in the O stra B ram a or Dawn Gate, of Vilnius during the solemn celebrations of the Jub ilee of th e Redemp­ tion of the World a t E as te rtide - which we shall have more to say about in th e nex t chapter. F a th e r Michael Sopocko a t th a t time took up the theme of the Divine Mercy in h is sermons. The effect of the image was therefore augmented by the instruc tion then publicly given, and S is ter F au s tina was g rea tly affected by th is solemnity. Now she had th e opportunity to be convinced by the evidence of h e r own eyes of the significance of the spoken word in the apostolate en tru s ted to h e r by Jesus. At th e same time, Je su s called h e r more and more insisten tly to take up the ta sk she had been given. He therefore explains and encourages: 7 gran t you as many graces as you can ho(d. A s often as you m in t to make Me happy, speak, to the zvortd ahout M y grea t and unfatfwmahCe mercy.' (Diary, Notebook I, para . 164). 192