Sister Faustina Kowalska: Her LIfe and MIssion

even harm fu l to her. Therefore, a fte r two mon ths he r religious superiors, in conjunction with th e doctor, forbade h e r to do th is , which compelled her to change the method by which she would fulfil h e r apostolic mission. Being immobilized in bed was no b a r r ie r to h e r in giving aid to the dying. Her sp iritua l "ear” became so sensitive th a t w ithou t difficulty she could not only receive a t a distance th e "signals" of approach­ ing death , bu t also know the s ta te of the soul of the dying person. P raye r is not bounded by space. Lying alone in h e r side ward, ju s t as before when she was kneeling by a pa tien t, she pestered God fervently and persisten tly for mercy un til she intuitively fe lt th a t she had achieved h e r aim. Now, however, she checked every time whether h e r in tu ition agreed with reality. I t never failed. Prayers for th e dying would become an inseparable p a r t of S ister F au s tin a ’s life un til she died. Not in vain h ad she demanded Je su s to give h e r hum an souls, in exchange mak ing an oblation of everything she had. She could hardly , therefore, abandon w ithou t helping those souls which were in a despera te situation. Hospital life opened h e r eyes to th is basic activity of h e r apostolate, and she could no t close them to the necessity of continuing i t a fte r h e r s tay in hospital. The question was not one of circumstances, b u t fundam en­ tal, as she understood it. Once she had understood he r duty, she fulfilled it. H er f irs t four-month stay in hospital (December 1936 - March 1937) was devoted to th is im po rtan t m a t te r of God’s will. A story told by the ward A.B., who worked with S is ter F au s tina in the garden in Cracow in the years 1936 - 1937, shows how sensitive to hum an needs S ister F au s tina could be - it is an amazing instance: "In the morning S ister Faustina quite unexpectedly spoke to us g irls who were weeding. She said, "Let us pray for someone who is being hanged ." A n d her face, which, a moment before, had been happy, took on 319