Sister Faustina Kowalska: Her LIfe and MIssion

Mother Borgia, w itnessing to the g rea t devotion of S ister F aus tina to the Blessed Virgin, recounts how "she always took part w ith visible joy in all the devotion and feast days o f Our Lady... Whenever she had the opportunity, she would go to Ostra Brama, although it was more than three miles from the convent." (Archives of S.F., Recollections). The devotion to the Blessed Virgin which can be so clearly seen in the sp iritual life of S ister F au s tin a is a fea ture which m us t give rise to an understandab le interest. Because we know th a t she always took everything th a t concerned h e r to the Lord Je su s hidden in the Blessed Sacrament, we m u s t ask ourselves what m a tte rs she brought before Our Lady. S ister F au s tina made no clear division between the sphere of Je su s and the sphere of His Mother. Ra ther can i t be said th a t every m a t te r had a Marian founda­ tion. In her religious life, the two devotions augmented and supplemented each other. She regarded the Mother of Jesus as the most trus tw o rthy Guide to he r Son. I t was he r presence th a t took away the fear of erring or of neglecting something. She therefore consecrated to Our Lady all h e r concerns, desiring the Mother of God to p u t h e r stamp on h e r whole in te rio r life. Among all the requests she brought to Our Lady one was fore­ most: th a t the Immaculate Mother would protect he r from the temptations of the flesh. In h e r Diary, almost a t the beginning, can be found th e prayer: "O Mary, my Mother and my Lady, I offer you. my soul, my body, my Cife and my death, and a tt that zvill follozv it. I place everything in fo u r hands. O my Mother, cover my soul zvith fo u r -virginal mantle and 344