Sister Faustina Kowalska: Her LIfe and MIssion

Tuberculosis is not only a disease of th e lungs, though i t is prim arily known as th a t . More rarely , and usually in secondary form, i t a ttacks pa rticu la r in terna l organs. In S ister Faus tina i t a ttacked the intestines. Tuberculosis of the in tes tines is a frequently met form of the disease, because the p a tien t infects himself. The infection reaches the in tes tines together with the saliva swallowed by the pa tien t, and with phlegm which has not been en tire ly sp a t up. I t is especially h a rd to bear, for it causes severe pains and quickly emaciates, making normal feeding impossible. The tuberculous foci spread thickly over the in testines, approaching the peritoneum. Even when they do not a ttack i t directly, b u t only some neighbouring tissue, any touch on the peritoneum dram a tica lly increases the already severe pains. The pains come in waves as­ sociated with the process of digestion. About two hours a fte r a meal, when the food reaches the in testines , the p a tien t w rithes in a paroxysm of suffering, when the pains may only be controlled by the strongest pa in ­ killers. These sufferings were the lot of S ister Faus tina . I t is impossible to unde rs tand how she was able, in an a ttack of pain of the sort described, to rise from he r bed, and, in moments of relief, go to h e r normal duties. She sometimes swayed on h e r fee t with weakness, and walked holding on to the walls, b u t in spite of this, when he r condition was no t noticed and she was asked for some service, she would give i t as if nothing was the m a tte r , with a cheerful sm iling face. I t is heroism of the sort demanded from those who a re to rtu red , with th is difference, th a t the to r tu re is caused, not by hum an spite, b u t by illness. Dr Silberg, th e pulmonary specialist and director of th e sana to rium where S is ter F au s tina twice lay ill, understood the behaviour of this nun correctly. He trea ted h e r quite differently from all his other pa tien ts , although there were also some nuns among them. He applied completely different criteria and assessm en t to her case. He saw th a t the illness 264