Sister Faustina Kowalska: Her LIfe and MIssion

If one wan ts to unde rs tand S ister F au s t in a properly, i t is essential to look a t he r in wider scope, and to see h e r placed in the context of h e r daily life. An im po rtan t element of th a t life am idst th e normal daily m a tters , was h e r illness. Chronic in na tu re , and for a long time not outwardly obvious, i t made a significant mark , both on h e r physical and h e r sp iritua l life. Only in the light of the illness - which changes the proportions of everything - can one unde rs tand the heroism of her efforts and h e r g rea t love of God. Therefore i t is necessary to begin by looking carefully a t the psycholo­ gical and physical reserves S is te r F au s tina possessed, and how she made use of them . This is not easy. Suffering was a very rea l element in the life of S ister Fau s tina , b u t it was also greatly differentiated. In her, physical, mental, and strictly sp iritual sufferings all encountered each other, arising from a variety of causes and had such m u tua l effects t h a t it is often difficult to disentangle w ha t was purely physical, w ha t had a sp iritua l origin, and which was the effect of what. We know th a t h e r hea lth was poor and th a t she died of tuberculosis, b u t we also know th a t m any of her physical sufferings had the ir source in various kinds of mystical experiences; in addition, a sensitive nervous system reacted so strongly to m en ta l stimuli th a t i t had an adverse effect on he r physical wellbeing in a way th a t was sometimes painful. Now it becomes necessary to place all these stimuli to S is ter F au s tina ’s person in some logically arranged picture, so th a t th e ir mutual interdependence and cooperation may be shown. Let us begin with the tuberculosis, for th is was the chief illness which consumed h e r for almost h a lf he r religious life and finally cut it sho rt when she was only 33 years old. At th a t time, tuberculosis was so universal in Poland - in all social classes - th a t to combat it was one of the chief problems of public hea lth with which the young S ta te had to contend in its care for the nation. For it 254