Sister Faustina Kowalska: Her LIfe and MIssion

7 had no physical strength left; the suffering had deprived me o f i t completely. ‘Throughout a d this time, I had 6een in a sort o f sivoon. ‘Every 6eat o f Jesus ' Jleart zvas reflected in my heart and pierced my soul. I f these tortures had concerned me only, I zvould have suffered less; hut as I looked at the One zvhom my heart has loved zvith a d its might and sazv that die zvas suffering, and that I could not hring Jlim any relief, my heart dissolved in love and bitterness. I zvas dying zvith Jlim, and yet I could not die. 'But I zvould not have exchanged that martyrdom fo r a d the pleasure in the zvhole zvorld. In the course o f this suffering, my love grezv immeasurably. I knozv that the Lord zvas supporting me zvith Jlis omnipotence, fo r otherzvise I zvould not have been able to endure it fo r even a moment... Together zvith Jlim, I underzvent, in a special zvay, a d the tortures... I accompanied Jlim to the f a r den o f fethsemane; I stayed zvith Jlim in the prison; I zvent zvith Jlim before the judges; I underzvent zvith Jlim each o f the tortures, f fo t a single one o f Jlis movements or looks escaped my notice. I came to knozv a d the omnipotence o f Jlis love and o f Jlis mercy tozvard souls." (Diary, Notebook III, para. 1054). And then came th e culmination - union with God: "Jit eleven o'clock,.. Jle brought me into such close intimacy zvith Jlimself that my heart zvas espoused to Jlis Jleart in a loving union, and I could f e e l t fe fa in tes t stir o f Jlis heart and Jle, o f mine. The fire o f my created love zvas jo ined to the ardor o f Jlis eternal love... I am immersed in incomprehensible love and 326