Sister Faustina Kowalska: Her LIfe and MIssion

In S ister F au s t in a ’s unde rs tand ing of h e r though ts on h e r life, i t is obvious th a t she did no t t re a t he r ap ­ proaching death as th e n a tu ra l closing of h e r account with God. Her mission was not to finish on th is earth , b u t was to be continued in heaven. A correct in te r­ p re ta tion of God’s plan for h e r came to h e r relatively la te in life, and th is comprehension is closely connected w ith h e r in te rio r process of m a turing . Prior to th is , she h ad to t ran s fe r h e r a tten tion from any o ther activity toward prayer, and th a t p rayer had a specific character, in which were equally d is tribu ted moments of in terces­ sion and the offering of repa ra tion for the fau lts of sinners. The Diary is the chief w itness in th is process of m a turing . I t is even possible th a t the w riting of it helped h e r to formulate the whole problem to herse lf more quickly and fully. The D iary gradually underw en t a considerable evolution. She began to w rite i t a t the reque s t of h e r confessor for him , to pass on to him the desires of Je su s in tended for himself. As time passed, th e person to whom the Divine words a re add ressed is more and more often he rse lf . Je su s , when He speaks to h e r now, requ ires h e r to w rite everything He says to her, explaining His reque s t by th e fu tu re significance of the Diary: 'Apostle o f M y mercy, proclaim to the whole world M y unfathomable mercy. (Do not he discouraged hy the difficulties you encounter in proclaiming M y mercy. ‘These difficulties that affect you so painfully are needed fo r your sanctification and as evidence that this worf^ is Mine. M y daughter, he diligent in zvriting down every sentence I te ll you concerning M y mercy, because this is meant fo r a great number o f souls zvho w i l l profit from i t . ' (Diary, Notebook III, para . 1142). 307