Sister Faustina Kowalska: Her LIfe and MIssion

back to Him. There was a demand th a t one strip oneself of a ttachm en t to the g rea te s t of God’s gifts in th e name of pure love for Him and of the blind obedie­ nce th a t such a love dictated. From Abraham God demanded the sacrifice to Him of his only son Isaac, th a t son of a special promise. From S ister Fau s tina , the leaving of the Congregation to which He had Himself directed h e r steps, and in which she had received all His graces and gifts. A t the la s t moment, with Abraham and with Sister F austina , God withdrew His demand. For i t was not th e deed He desired, bu t the read iness to do it. In both cases, the action required was the b reak ing of the la s t links which were connected, not with God Himself, bu t with what He had given. A gift, for man, may no t be as im po rtan t and dea r to th e h e a r t as the Giver H imself.lt was to be only a gift. For the goal of love can only be God. And even as S is ter F au s tina a tta ined th a t level, and God obtained w ha t He desired, He left h e r in the Congregation of S isters of Our Lady of Mercy. To remain there was h e r vocation. The m a tte r did not concern h e r alone. S ister Faustina never obtained any th ing only for herself. Besides her, he r p a r tn e r was the Congregation. I t was also impor­ t a n t for it, th a t she remain a member till the end of he r life, so th a t he r vocation should be accomplished th e re usque ad finem. For by th e will of God, S ister F aus tina was to be the source of a new grace for it, and the pa tte rn on which its sp iritua lity was to develop afresh. Before her death , S is te r F au s tina spoke quite openly with Mother Krzyzanowska of th is role she was to have in the Congregation. We learn from the Mo­ th e r ’s words tha t: "to my question, whether she was happy to die in our Congregation or not, she answered, "Yes. For a ll the sufferings I have had because o f this, dear Mother, you w ill have great joy here on earth." During her last illness she said: "I am g lad to have 250