Sister Faustina Kowalska: Her LIfe and MIssion

WORK AND PRAYER Work was an im po r tan t factor in the sp iritua l life of S ister F au s t in a because she had en tered an active congregation, no t a contemplative. I t was thu s one of th e basic elements in the rea lisa tion of h e r vocation. Bu t i t was no t easy for S is te r F au s t in a to accept th is. As we recall, th ree weeks a f te r en tering she wanted to leave, as she fe lt th a t work took up too much time a t th e expense of p rayer. However, as Je su s h ad decided otherwise, she rem ained , b u t th is m ean t th a t she had to find a balance between th e need for p raye r and the demands of work. She had th e difficult ta sk of working ou t a repertoire of p raye r su itab le for the everyday household chores she did, so th a t the work i tse lf could be transform ed into prayer, and contemplation could be un ited with activity in harmon ious symbiosis. The Congregation h ad a collection of lovely and well-chosen p rayers for th e ir style of convent life, b u t th e demands of household chores often m e an t th a t th e ir use was limited. S ister F au s t in a could no t agree with th is sta te of affairs. Prayer, she though t, is as much a duty as work. Work h a s a tendency to absorb a hum an being completely, w ithou t rega rd for o ther duties; th is m u s t no t be subm itted to. Work canno t be privileged a t the expense of p raye r and m u s t no t be allowed to dictate the conditions under which one prays. 7 uri.CC not aClozv myself, she w rites, ‘to be so absorbed in the zvhirCunnd o f z o o f as to forget about 399