Sister Faustina Kowalska: Her LIfe and MIssion

knocked. I t was she. When I mentioned tha t I had been about to send for her because I wanted to talk to her, she knelt and kissed m y hand and said, "Dear Mother, I apologise for m y behaviour. I know I distracted you during the chapter, but I could not help it, because when you were speaking, I saw that Jesus on the cross over your head was saying the same. I was even more convinced than ever tha t the words o f the superior are the words o f Christ." "I cannot say tha t th is had no effect on me, bu t I tried to give her to understand tha t I considered th is quite ordinary and not worth special attention." (Archives of S.F., Recoil.). The picture of S ister F au s t in a in the eyes of her s isters in religion would not be complete if we were to om it the difficulties or painful moments - inseparable companions of every life - which S ister F au s tina had in h e r life in th e convent. They play an im po rtan t p a r t in the growth of h e r su p e rn a tu ra l sp iritua l life. When we examine th e convent environment of S ister F au s tina more closely, i t appears , however, th a t these difficulties and painful experiences a re grouped in time, particu larly in Plock and Vilnius, and were no t the re su lt of conflict with the Congregation itself. I have already w ritten of the favourable a tt i tu d e of the Mother General to Faus tina . Among th e superiors of the many Houses in which S is te r F au s t in a stayed, only two had any serious reserva tions concerning her: they were the superior in Plock, Mother Rose Klobukowska (bu t only from the time S is te r F au s t in a told h e r of the command of Je su s th a t she should p a in t His picture), and also h e r second superior in V ilnius, Mother Borgia Tichy, who adm its th a t she h ad no unde rs tand ing of the type of piety rep resen ted by S is te r F au s tin a , although she valued h e r greatly. In a ll the convents she lived in, she was considered a model nun and was even se t as a p a t te rn for others to follow. As illustra tion I quote th ree sta tem en ts on th is subject: S ister F. says, 431