Sister Faustina Kowalska: Her LIfe and MIssion

loneliness and darkness and sufferings o f a tt kinds Seat against my heart, the mysterious power o f Qod supports and strengthens me. I wan t to drink, the- cup to the hast drop. I trust firm ly that f o u r grace, which, has sustained me in the Qarden o f Olives, w i l t sustain me also now that I am on Calvary." (Diary, Notebook V, para. 1580). B(Ihere are no indifferent moments in my life, since every moment o f my life is f i l le d zvith prayer, suffering and work .. I f not in one way, then in another, I glorify Qod; and i f Qod were to give me a second life, I do not know whether I would make Setter use o f it..." (Diary, Notebook V, para. 1545). Je su s was not sparing of ever new words of love for His spouse, as if th e ir loving intimacy were, a t the p resen t stage of communion, one of His aims. I t is precisely from th is touching intimacy with God th a t S ister F aus tina ’s deep commitment to His in terests stems. The mystical espousal is not the end of the sp iritual m a tu ring of S ister Fau s tina , b u t i t opens a new chapter: everything in h e r is focused, a t th a t present, around one th ing - the transformation of n a tu ra l love into superna tu ra l. The m a tu r ing in he r of the love of God is directed closely by Jesus . I t is He who decides on its direction and kind, and He corrected every wandering from the pa th . Two re tre a ts - the las t in h e r life - have fundam en ta l significance. The firs t was an eight-day re tre a t of th e community in October 1937, and the second was an individual re tre a t made a t the desire of Je su s in Ju n e 1938 in the hospital in Pr^dnik. During the October re trea t, S is te r F au s tina considered th e question of h e r own sanctity. 330