Sister Faustina Kowalska: Her LIfe and MIssion

tickets and then sold them for pennies... She took the money collected in this way to the parish priest, telling him tha t it was for the poor." Another time she made a little shop for the same purpose. In it she sold gifts she had previously collected and toys made by herse lf from bits of cloth and paper. These reminiscences show th a t Helenka was sensitive to poverty and, more importantly , actively sought ways to help, revealing a good deal of inventiveness and initiative. She was no t giving from any th ing ex tra th a t she possessed, because she he rse lf had a number of basic unfilled needs, and she well understood the difficulties of h e r paren ts . All th is did no t harden he r h ea r t tov/ards people or h e r immediate family. Her eyes remained open to poverty. Having perceived it, he r immediate reaction was to help. In a child as sensitive and up righ t as she, the p r in ­ cipal tra i ts of charac ter were quickly strengthened . Her charac ter was formed simply and straightforwardly from the cradle. There were no visible deviations in the formation of a personality a t once rich and strong. She had an unusually lively temperament. She was spon­ taneous, b u t controlled, equable, not prone to bad moods, happy and trusting . Her n a tu ra l liveliness was tempered by mild behaviour and controlled movements. She was more dignified than one m igh t expect for he r age, probably because so early in life she had to care for h e r younger brothers and sisters. These qualities m ean t th a t Helenka was h e r pa ren ts ’ favourite child. They held h e r up to the children as a model of common sense, h a rd work and obedience. Sometimes her bro thers and sisters teased h e r because of her privileged position, b u t such conflicts were minor. There were never any serious argum en ts because Helenka was "far too likeable", since she was not a t all haugh ty and never took advan tage of h e r privileged place. The other children accepted w ithout argum en t th a t she was superior. Even h e r s tr ic t fa th e r could be charmed by th is child. Since he tru s ted her, he was 26