Sister Faustina Kowalska: Her LIfe and MIssion

"Sister Faustina knew how to reconcile her daily duties with spiritual exercises, and stated that no work distracted her from un iting herself w ith Jesus." (Archives of S.F., Recollections). There was ye t ano ther problem in connection with work. S ister F aus tina took g re a t care th a t i t should be done in the time foreseen by God’s law. She would not compromise over this. She was capable of tak ing this up with the h ighest au tho rity in the convent. "How seriously she treated the laws o f God and H is Church can be seen from the following example", says S ister D., who worked with h e r in the garden in Cracow in 1936. "It was the custom o f the House in Cracow, tha t the vegetables intended for the market on Monday were packed on the preceding day, on Sunday. S ister Faustina d id not like this. She told me that she had asked one o f the priests for an explana­ tion, and he had said that such work for the good o f the Congregation, even on Sunday , was permissible. She did not agree w ith this, for she said tha t the commandments o f God and the Church are equally binding on everyone. She said so to S ister Superior, and with her permission we introduced the custom o f rising on Mondays a t three in the morning, so as to be able to prepare the goods for the market in time. This custom has persisted till today." (Archives of S.F., Recollections). S is ter F au s tina ’s style of work had a social effect, as th e sisters did no t work alone b u t in small groups and together with the wards. Her behaviour could not pass unnoticed, and she he rse lf in many cases gave i t a communal character by including h e r fellow-nuns, who had earlier had the opportunity of checking th a t in no way did it interfere with work. Besides, h e r problem, how to cope with too heavy a load of duties, was one 406