Sister Faustina Kowalska: Her LIfe and MIssion

SISTER FAUSTINA’S ILLNESS S ister F au s tin a ’s g re a t sp iritua l development did no t go hand in h an d with physical v itality . She obtained h e r streng th from o ther sources, and o ther factors decided h e r fate. Physically she was ra th e r slight, and in addition while she was young, she developed tu b e r ­ culosis, which was not diagnosed for the f irs t few years. And because h e r constitution was particu larly sensitive and susceptible to a ttack s of th is disease, unchecked it underm ined h e r s treng th , un til a t la s t i t passed into the acute form known as galloping consumption with m e tas tases in the in testines , and th is, in the la s t three years of h e r life, quickly completed the destructive action of the disease. So th is ill-health was not th e decisive factor in the sp iritua l growth of S is te r Faus tina . The motive power of he r religious life was h e r deep emotional commit­ ment, which mobilized h e r will to a constan t and heroic effort to extend he rse lf in aim ing for h e r goal, to be with God. Every situation in life was, for her, the m a teria l from which to make sp iritua l growth. Even h e r final three-year illness, which in b i t te r suffering brough t h e r body to complete emaciation, could not make h e r will falter. She pressed on with th a t same iron determ ination towardHim whom she loved as if, in spite of h e r illness, she was sufficiently strong to lead to Him countless sinful souls won for Him by h e r p rayer and sacrifice. 253