Sister Faustina Kowalska: Her LIfe and MIssion

different social conditions and hence o ther needs, so it was necessary to separate. The decision came from France, from the Mother House, so in 19 th e Polish Congregation of S isters of O u r Lady of Mercy separated from the m o ther house as an independen t organization. The S isters in Poland received the decision of the General C hap ter in Laval sadly. The Polish Constitu­ tions, based strictly upon the French , were w ritten after separation, and in 1927 they received th e ir firs t approbation from the Holy See, while in 1935 they received final approbation. After th e Second World War, the activity of the Congregation moved to th e west of Poland. The Houses in Lwow, Vilnius and Plock ceased to exist. However, new Houses arose in Zakopane, Wroclaw and Gdansk. Adapting to newer possibilities and needs, a t p resen t th e S isters of O u r Lady of Mercy in Poland run , among o ther activities: homes for th e old; homes for the incurably sick, handicapped children, the mentally handicapped and crippled; centres for m a ladjusted young people; various pas to ra l centres; re t re a t centres for youth, catechism classes and sodalities. 398