Sister Faustina Kowalska: Her LIfe and MIssion

type of approach is usua l in Igna tian re trea ts , with which S ister F aus tina was fam iliar, so th a t in th is case we have a new proof of how grace builds upon na ture . S ister F aus tina had been p repared for th is re tre a t also in a na tu ra l manner, by the style of those re tre a ts she had become used to making in the Congregation. Summarising w ha t S ister F au s tin a received to th ink about in th is la s t re trea t, we can sea th a t Je su s began his conference, or teaching, with instruc tions on how she was to act in the difficulties of everyday life, and He then discussed the way in which she was to save souls. He ended His teaching with a general definition once more of S ister F au s tin a ’s life’s mission. T h a t th is re tre a t was a preparation for h e r mission in e tern ity can be seen from w ha t nex t befell her. She made th is re tre a t between 2nd and 5th June , and no t quite two weeks la te r th e sta te of h e r hea lth suddenly worsened considerably. From the description in h e r diary, it appears th a t she suffered an in te rna l haemorrhage, which was, indeed, controlled, b u t the sick young woman became so very weak th a t she was not able to continue h e r notes. The Diary breaks off shortly afterwards, with no explanation, and with no exact date, somewhere in the middle of the second h a lf of Ju n e 1938. She closes i t with a ferven t prayer: 'Way your grace, which f low s down upon me from yo u r Compassionate 9ieart, strengthen me fo r the struggle and sufferings, that I may remain fa i th fu l to you . JAnd, although I am such misery, I do not fea r you , Because I know you r mercy well.'' (Diary, Notebook VI, para . 1803). S ister F au s tina had no more streng th to write the Diary, or a t leas t she had too little to be able to undertake both the effort of w riting and the enduring of exhausting pain, the more so as, despite h e r suffer­ 372