Sister Faustina Kowalska: Her LIfe and MIssion

the whole tru th , th a t she was s ilen t about p a r t of it. In 1923, du ring a dance in Lodz, she suddenly saw no t just a light, bu t J e su s himself. The words of b itte r reproach He addressed to h e r are astonishing: 'Ofow (ong s f a t t I pu t up w ith you and how (ong zoifl you keep pu tting Ode off?' (Diary, Notebook I para. 9)' They suggest th a t He m u s t have already called her in a sim ilar way to give he rse lf to Him in the religious life. When did th is happen? Probably in Aleksandrow. Heedful of His call, she obediently wen t home and asked h e r p a ren ts for perm ission to en te r a convent. Her pa ren ts would not agree. The reason th a t they gave was the ir inability to pay for the trousseau and dowry then requ ired of novices. I t was certainly no t the only motive. I t was a su itab le p re tex t to hide the ir real reason. Helenka was the b e s t of all the Kowalski children. Her pa ren ts considered h e r a genuine he lp­ mate. We m u s t remember th a t S tan is lau s was then 53, and M arianna 46. They were weary, and old age was creeping up on them. Village folk, worn ou t by h a rd physical labour, aged quickly. They therefore pro tested energetically. God was ask ing too g re a t a sacrifice. They would not give up th e ir favourite child. The ir opposition was categorical, and both pa ren ts were in agreement. Her s is te r Joseph ine briefly recalls: "I firs t learned from Helenka o f her desire to enter the convent after she returned home from A lek ­ sandrow. We were all very shocked by this, because at tha t time people knew very little about the religious ' Quotations from h e r D iary a re from Divine Mercy in My Soul, the Diary of S is te r M. F au s t in a Kowalska, M arian P ress, Stockbridge U.S.A. 1987. American spellings have been retained . 35