Sister Faustina Kowalska: Her LIfe and MIssion

alone o f her superiors was not sufficient for me. I would agree i f she received a clear order to leave the congregation, and only in those circumstances. She never d id receive such a directive; she remained in her Congregation and d ied in it." (Archives of S.F., Recollections). No, indeed, S ister F au s tina never left h e r community. Not because she did no t wish to, b u t circumstances did not perm it. A complication arose which made i t impos­ sible to unde rtake any k ind of fu r th e r action: illness. Her hea lth , which had never been too strong, worsened to the ex ten t th a t the la s t two years of h e r life should more properly be called a slow death . The tuberculosis which had for years underm ined h e r hea lth finished its ruinous assau lt. S is te r F au s tin a , exhausted in the extreme, passed h e r time between the hospital and the convent. She died in the Cracow house of h e r congrega­ tion, b rough t there from the hosp ita l some days before her dea th , and said farewell to h e r companions and was bidden farewell by them according to the n u n s ’ customs. To the end of h e r life S is ter F au s t in a r e ­ mained as S ister F au s t in a of the Blessed Sacram en t in the Congregation of S isters of Our Lady of Mercy. The la s t stages of h e r life pose a problem t h a t is difficult to solve. They place a large question m ark over the genuineness or the significance of the la s t ap ­ pearance of Jesus . Fo rtuna te ly , the answ er to the question was supplied by S is te r F au s tina herself, and F a the r Sopocko has given it: "When I saw her on her deathbed... I told her tha t the demand tha t she leave her Congregation to found a new one was an illusion and I asked her to pray for tha t intention. I would come the next day and request an answer. On the following day I sa id Mass for th is intention, du r ing which some thoughts or interior inspirations came to me, tha t ju s t as S is ter Faustina herse lf could 247