Sister Faustina Kowalska: Her LIfe and MIssion

7 am coming oat o f t f i s retreat thoroughly transformed hy Qod's Cove. M y souC is Beginning a nezv life, earnestly and courageously... I f e e l that I have Been totally imBued zvith Qod and zvith this Qod, I am going Back_ to my everyday life , so draB, so tiresome and zvearying, trusting that Me zvhom I f e e l in my heart zvill change this draBness into my personal sanctity.' (Diary, Notebook V, para . 1362). I t would be difficult to overestimate the significance of th is re trea t. I t gave S is te r F au s tin a a solid foundation for fu r th e r work upon herself. And only one more yea r of life was left to her. For someone fit and strong, th is is not a long time, b u t for someone so sick as she i t stretches into infinity. Joy shortens time, suffering draws i t out. S is te r F au s t in a did no t ye t know when h e r dea th would occur. She had only th e general assurance of Jesu s , th a t e te rn ity was no t far off. But although He repea ted th is more often, thereby making i t easier for h e r to make h e r daily sacrifice, a t the same time He did no t lessen His emphasis on fulfilling the mission with which He h ad en tru s ted her. Approaching death , and th e ta sk facing S ister F au s­ t in a during h e r life, a re no t in contradiction. Nothing h a s freed h e r from any th ing - she is to carry out h e r work to th e end. S is ter F au s tin a closely followed J e su s ’ indications, went through life with the blind t r u s t of a child, and concentrated all h e r a tten tion on w ha t He demanded of her. A little time la ter, a t the beginning of 1938, she formulates in h e r diary, one more time, h e r "pro­ gramme" of sanctity. And a lthough she he rse lf does not h in t a t it, sim ilarities with the "Little Way" of St Therese of Lisieux are too obvious to need pointing out. S is te r F au s tin a was completing the mission of Therese M artin , finding a practical application of h e r concept of a t ta in ing holiness in o rd inary everyday life. She showed 337