Sister Faustina Kowalska: Her LIfe and MIssion

He has a still vivid sense o f the Divine. W ith humble adoration he acknowledges God’s eternal presence in the world’s courses. Th is deeply ingrained religiosity stamps i tse l f in a special manner on the soul o f the peasan t ." S ister F au s tina b rough t to the convent a pea san t’s personality unadu lte ra ted . Her in n a te tra i ts were: the simple p e a san t honesty, country commonsense, the pea san t’s prudence, independence and reliance on h e r judgment, strong and well-considered principles, and a sense of h e r own dignity, m a tu red w ithin the fram e­ work of th e Rule and the regu la tions of communal life - w ithou t distortion or deviation - in th e vigorously developed form of sp iritua l growth. Her to ta l self-giving to God also stamped h e r with signs observable to others, almost as if they were sp iritua l stigmata. The chief apostolic activity of S is te r Faus tina , how­ ever, was quietly and almost invisibly performed, on various occasions as daily life gave the opportunity. In such a large group of people th e re was no lack of possibilities. S is te r F au s tin a h ad tru ly sisterly feelings for h e r convent companions, and many of them fe lt this. This was expressed in the confidence which they reposed in her, tu rn ing to h e r to listen to h e r counsel or comfort when discouraged or in doubt, and even in more serious m a tte rs , when one or ano the r was ex­ periencing grave in terio r conflict. S ister F au s tina listened with unde rs tand ing and sympathy, b u t not with indulgence. She could p ro tes t strongly t h a t "Jesus does no t like this", and dem and a change in behaviour. She had the gift of "reading" souls and with infallible certa in ty she recognised th e sp iritua l s ta te of pa rticu la r persons and what, a t the given tim e , they needed. Hence h e r counsel was usua lly appropria te , and i t also indicated th a t she knew th e sp iritua l affairs of the given individual b e tte r th an th e information she had been given m igh t w arran t. This explains why he r 427