Sister Faustina Kowalska: Her LIfe and MIssion

of sunstroke in S is ter F au s t in a were, happily, con­ trolled, th ank s to immediate medical aid. Bu t she rem a ined so weakened th a t she had to stay in bed for a few days. The a ttack took place on 12th August, bu t by 15th, the F ea s t of th e Assumption of th e Blessed Virgin, she was still unab le even to a t ten d Mass. But were the consequences lim ited only to continuing weakness? The S ister In firm arian was, a t the time, S ister Chrysostom, a professional nu rse , who regarded the sta tem en ts of the p a tien t as exaggerated and sem i­ imagined. She did not tak e th is sudden weakness seriously, nor did she take care to have S is ter F au s tina more thoroughly examined a f te r the a ttack . I t was only when S is te r Amelia became In firm a rian th a t she took S ister F au s tina to be exam ined and to have an X-ray of the lungs. Then the whole t ru th came out: Dr. Zielinski, th e pulmonary specialist, diagnosed advanced tuberculosis of the lungs. So a t some time in th e au tum n of 1934 i t was already known th a t S is te r F au s t in a had tuberculosis. The doctor though t i t was no new process, and th a t the disease had been ravag ing h e r for some considerable time. I t is no t possible to estab lish how far the sun ­ stroke worsened h e r s ta te of hea lth . Learn ing of th e disease, S is te r F au s t in a ’s superiors took care to fortify h e r with additional food. However, she was not dispensed from working in th e garden; she lay down a t those times she fe lt particu larly ill, which happened fairly often, for h e r s treng th left h e r quickly, and work in the garden was no t light. I t is amazing th a t she could do i t a t all, much less achieve the good re su lts she did. I t is tru e th a t the wards given to he r to help quickly realized th a t S is te r F au s tina h ad no t much streng th , and as they specially loved and respect­ ed h e r they voluntarily tried to help all they could. Of th e ir own initiative, they often did some additional work, happy th a t they would be able to give h e r a su rp rise and save h e r effort. 263