Sister Faustina Kowalska: Her LIfe and MIssion

"Sister Faustina often wept", says S ister W.N. "It was usually in the chapel. The Sisters saw this. They wondered why she wept, There was no obvious reason, for her superiors were k in d ly to her, and she had no serious problems in the convent life. Some said, "Illusions, hysteria." " Of course we too ask ourselves why she wept. An explanation is offered by S is te r S.W., namely: "In the difficulties S ister Faustina had in the religious life, she always turned to Jesus. She also advised me not to complain to people, but to represent everything to Jesus." This, then , is one of the principal reasons why the s isters could not unde rs tand th e cause of S ister F au s ­ t in a ’s weeping. They simply did not know why, unless they were witnesses of the inc iden t which caused the weeping. S ister F au s tin a complained only to Jesu s , and only before Him did she weep with resen tm en t. She did not go to h e r superiors to grumble, no r did she tell h e r co-sisters of h e r complaints. Life in a Congregation, being a community, requires its members to be able to ge t along together. Every failing in th is regard g ra tes on the whole community. Even a single or a temporary antagonism p u t thorns in S is ter F au s tin a ’s pa th , and we can see th is very clearly in h e r Diary. With h e r sensitivity and simul­ taneous defencelessness re su lting from h e r intention to forgive, th is was a painful problem and one difficult to overcome, both emotionally and morally. I t cost h e r many in terio r struggles. She began by an external self-control, which came easily, for she was no t one of those who store up grudges w ithin the heart. "Towards those w ith an an tipa thy to her, she d id not display unfriendly feelings; she treated her 433