Sister Faustina Kowalska: Her LIfe and MIssion

The central figure in the D iary is C h ris t th e Lord. Everything refers to Him. In i t we find not only what He said to her, b u t w ha t she h e rse lf approached Him about, and i t gives, all told, a full picture of he r intimacy with God. The Diary, though i t is no t only concerned with m a t te rs of conscience, is a good m irror of th a t conscience. S ister F au s t in a herself, concealing i t carefully from o ther S isters , explained h e r behaviour by saying, "It is concerned w ith problems of conscience". T h a t the Diary is only a pa r tia l w itness to S ister F au s tina can be seen from th e reaction of the sisters. When i t was made available to them after h e r death , i t was a surprise to many no t only th a t i t existed, b u t because of i ts contents. S isters who had lived with h e r for years a t work and in close friendship could no t recognize h e r in the Diary. The fu llest account of th is reaction is given by S is ter B.P. '"When, not long after the death o f S ister Faustina, during the N a z i occupation o f Poland in the Second World War, I learned o f the existence o f the Diary... o f which some parts were communicated to me, it seemed to me a little strange tha t S ister Faustina had often described trivial incidents o f da ily life. I do not judge th is to be a lack o f hum ility , but the picture o f S ister Faustina tha t I had formed from direct contact w ith her was somehow different and more real, and d id not match the other picture o f her from her Diary... The personality o f S is ter Faustina, as I had previously known her, was attractive, direct, and straightforward, while wha t is in the Diary seems to me to be m inutiae and unnecessary... I always thought o f S ister Faustina as a very sensible person. In contacts with other people she was tactful and na tur­ al. She knew how to approach anybody, to understand anybody, sympathise w ith those who were sad and rejoice in the joy o f others. She performed her reli­ 413