Sister Faustina Kowalska: Her LIfe and MIssion

mercy, so draw upon i t fo r yourself and especially fo r poor sinners/ At the end of the re trea t , Je su s , in a sho rt summary, emphasized w ha t He desired from S ister Faustina : 'My daughter, let three virtues adorn you in a parti­ cular way: humility, purity o f intention and love. Do nothing beyond what I demand o f you, and accept everything that M y hand g ives you. S trive fo r a hfe o f recollection so that you can hear M y voice, zvhich is so so ft that only recollected souls can bear it.' (Diary, Notebook VI, para . 1779). This re tre a t was closely connected with all the others which S ister Fau s tina , with the help of Jesu s , had made before. I t forms a crowning po in t among them all. These th ree days sum up finally th a t which for all these years, He had been p repa ring her. In content, they connect daily life with the Gospel and with the Church. Against th is huge pano ram a of the spiritual, S ister F au s tina is once more to examine h e r life and in th is context she is to tak e a decision. Only th en will she see, in the true light, h e r inner tru th and the purity of h e r own intentions. This will be a final decision, which, verifying all the preceding ones, will give them th e ir final form, th a t with which she will en te r eternity . The r e t re a t is therefore a focus which links h e r temporal life with e te rna l life. In the pro­ gramme He had p lanned Himself, Je su s g radua lly leads S is te r F au s tin a along in the th re e days se t aside. As they pass by, He gradually emphasizes h e r personal commitment. S is te r F au s tin a is to experience them ra th e r th an th ink them through. I t is a fea ture of th is r e t re a t th a t Je su s in s is ts th a t S ister F au s tina should take p a r t with h e r whole self, with all h e r faculties, and not only h e r intellect.This 371