Sister Faustina Kowalska: Her LIfe and MIssion

although she was weakly and h e r hea lth began to fail from h e r postulancy, th is h ad no effect on the Congre­ gation’s decision to accept her. To complete the picture we should add th a t in the religious sense there was no difference between the sisters. As a member of the second choir, S ister F au s ­ t in a might perform a secondary type of work and have worse conditions th an sisters of the f irs t choir, and even fewer religious righ ts , b u t the same Rule applied to the whole Congregation. The s isters differed in the work they did, b u t they were un ited in the communal life: in prayer, religious lessons, re tre a ts , and, finally, in the daily recreations, which by grouping them all together gave opportunities for th e w ider exchange of ideas and experiences, and for ge tting acquainted with each other. So, in respect of th e aim of the Congrega­ tion - the salvation of e r ra n t souls- all the s isters had the ir contribution to make, of prayer, penance, and, in one way, or ano ther, of responsible work with the wards. In such a difficult case as th a t p resen ted by Sister F au s tina - a contemplative vocation among active vocations - the Congregation showed g rea t m a tu rity in an expert and discreet solution to th e problems posed. Through the medium of S is te r Fau s tina , Je su s some­ times stepped in to the work of th e Congregation and th e lives of its members, sometimes approving, some­ times ask ing for changes of behaviour, which, although with inner resistance, she re la ted to h e r superiors, on His orders. These requests never troubled the peace of the community. A t the end of these rem iniscences of the sisters concerning the ir dead and holy Sister, I would make one rem ark by way of digression. They all sta te th a t S is te r F aus tina was different from the re s t of them. Her "otherness" m ight annoy some of them , b u t i t did no t preven t them from va lu ing h e r as a model nun. 436