Sister Faustina Kowalska: Her LIfe and MIssion

church, on condition that it was not to be hung over the altar, and tha t no one shou ld be told o f its origin. On that day the pa in ting was blessed and hung beside the main a ltar on the side where the lessons are read, and from there it was taken several times to the parish o f St. Francis, the formerly Bernardine church, on the occasion o f Corpus Christi processions to specially arranged altars. On 28th December 1940, the Bernardine S isters took it to another place, and the picture was slightly damaged; in 1942, when the S isters were arrested by the German authorities dur ing the war the picture was returned to its former place by the main altar, where it remains, greatly venerated by the fa i th fu l and decorated with many votive offerings." (Archives of S.F., Recollections of Rev. M. Sopocko, da ted 27th Janu a ry , 1948). W hat happened to the picture a fte r 1948 is not known exactly. F a th e r Sopocko only mentions briefly th a t in 1965 the picture was "in the little church a t Nova Ruda n ea r Grodno [in Lithuania]." There was then no contact for a number of years, un til recently when i t was learned th a t the picture was still in the same place.’ S is te r F au s tin a ’s destiny then separa ted he r from t h a t of the painting. At the time the pain ting was placed in the church, she had already been transferred to Cracow, and she never saw the pa in ting again. F a th e r Sopocko, hav ing then lost all doubts as to the superna tu ra l origins of the revelations passed on to him by S is ter Fau s tina , now of his own initiative tried to ensure th a t the image was publicly venerated. More recently still, i t h a s been restored and tran s fe r red to ano the r church in Vilnius - T rans la tor. 219