Sister Faustina Kowalska: Her LIfe and MIssion

LIFE DOES NOT END WITH DEATH The yea r 1938, th a t is the la s t nine months in the life of S is ter Fau s tina , showed a change from all other forms of h e r apostolic work towards intercession. Thus, the oblation of h e r own suffering was the chief com­ ponen t of h e r prayer. On several pages of h e r Diary, we find its expression in the reques ts she m akes with imploring persistence: "Give me suffering if You wish, bu t in exchange give me souls". S is te r F au s tina did no t wish to choose the souls, nor did she define which souls she wanted. The souls of any sinners - both those w ithin h e r sphere of influence and those which Je su s told h e r of - were all th e object of h e r intercession. Je su s no t only did not inh ib it he r fervour, but, as if i t were insufficient for Him, en­ couraged h e r to g rea te r efforts, placing before h e r the h ighes t s tanda rd as a pa tte rn : M y daughter, look^into ‘My M erciful Meart and reflect its compassion in your oum heart and in your deeds, so that you, who proclaim M y mercy to the world, may yourself be aflame w ith it.' (Diary, Notebook VI, para . 1688). This speedily increasing enormous love of souls gave S ister F au s tina s treng th to make a daily oblation of suffering. Meanwhile, the knowledge th a t h e r prayers were being answered - for Je su s was generous in His 355