Sister Faustina Kowalska: Her LIfe and MIssion

th a t duty. This is the single example th a t we know of h e r disobedience to h e r mother, which was repea ted every time she stayed a t home on a Sunday, and i t is not w ithout significance. I t is the firs t example of Helenka’s estab lish ing a h ierarchy of obedience: i t is owed firs t to God, and then to th e parents. In the religious practice of the country folk, by custom a large p a r t was played by hymns and religious song. Devotion to th e Blessed Virgin was most fully expressed by the Polish people in hymns. Among these, the most common was The L ittle Office of the Immacu­ la te Conception, extremely popular and often sung even du ring housework. In th is n a tu ra l m anner, p rayer entered directly into th e i r lives and sanctified them. S tanislaw Kowalski made the singing of the Little Office a family practice. Because he was working away from home during the day, the re were only th e early mornings. He began to sing th e moment he got up, often before dawn, and he woke the whole family with h is song, despite the pro tests of h is wife who h ad to ensure th a t th e babies had enough sleep. The fa the r would no t give in. I t was he who wanted the children to begin each day with th is song. His hymn reperto ire was by no means limited to th e L ittle Office, although he sang this year-round. A pa rt from daily hymns and those for special occasions, the liturgical yea r brought round the Polish Lenten hymns and Christm as carols. In May th e re were the May devotions to the Blessed Virgin, and again in October, th e month of the Rosary. Because i t was some way to the church, and May devotions and th e rosary may be said a t home, Kowal­ ski made a little shrine and fixed i t to the pea r tree s tand ing on the track outside his home. The children, especially Helenka, would decorate the holy picture with flowers and th e whole fam ily and the ir neighbours would g a th e r the re for communal prayers. For the ease of the adu lts the re were two wooden benches, and if necessary Helenka would b ring ou t some stools. 23