Sister Faustina Kowalska: Her LIfe and MIssion

ill. The incident is clearly recalled by S isters Ch., A L., W., and J . This was like an a ttack of as thm a , s the convent’s physician was has tily summoned. The sicl woman herself, th ink ing th a t she was dying, asked tha F a th e r Sopocko should be sen t for. Her reque s t surpris ed the sisters, because th e re was a p r ie s t a t hand while F a the r Sopocko lived a t a distance. Bu t as thi s ta te of th e p a tien t gave cause for concern, h e r wisl was gran ted and F a the r Sopocko came with the hob oils. S is ter F au s tina describes the even t in detail in he Diary: 'SI sudden illness ■ a mortal suffering. I t zoos no death, that is to say, a passing over to real life, Sat i taste o f the sufferings o f death... Suddenly, I f e l t sick I gasped fo r Sreath, there zvas darkness Before my eyes my limSs grezo namS - and there zvas a terriSle suffoca tion. ‘Even a moment o f such suffocation is e\tremeh long... There also comes a strange fear, in spite o f trust I zvanted to receive the last sacraments, But it zvcl extremely difficult to make a confession even though j desired to do so. SI person does not knozv zvhat he h saying; not finishing one thing, he Begins another... Slftei I received the last sacraments there zvas a definite improvement. I remained alone. This lasted fo r h a l f an hour and then came another attackl But this one zvas not so strong, as the doctor intervened... The ne?ct day, I fe l t very zveakj. But eiqerienced no fur ther suffering." (Diary, Notebook I, paras. 321,323,324). I t is not quite clear w ha t was diagnosed. I t seems it was a severe sunstroke, which is likely with h e r work in the garden. A hea lthy person generally gets over th is w ithout trace, b u t the consequences in a p a tien t with tuberculosis can be catastrophic. The severe symptoms 262