Sister Faustina Kowalska: Her LIfe and MIssion

"She was not invariably understood by those around her", s ta ted Mother Xavier Olszanowska. "Sisters felt tha t she was a nun like others and d id the same as others, but was also different, more inward-looking. I t seemed to them tha t she was above average, and they called her "princess." Mother Borgia says th e same, more expansively: "Sister Faustina was direct, she knew what she wanted, and she sometimes knew how to say "No" i f there was something she could not do. There was something intangible rad ia ting from her personality, which occasionally some sisters fe lt and which annoyed them. I t was something positive, but it did not always meet w ith understanding. I recall tha t sisters nicknamed S ister Faustina "Chatelaine". This was a reference to a character in a p lay p u t on by our wards, a character who was rather strange and. different from the rest. S is ter Faustina d id not react to the nickname and sa id nothing. Another time - th is I know from what other sisters have told me - S ister Faustina was called "Princess". To this, she replied, "Yes, I am a princess, for the royal Blood o f Jesus flows in me." No group likes sheep of ano the r colour among them. In th is "otherness" of S ister F au s t in a probably lay the chief reason for the an tip a thy of some s is te rs to her. I t annoyed them and they even suspected h e r of hysteria . Bu t th is feeling was no t widespread. Fu r th e r , S ister F au s tina was discreetly protected by h e r super­ iors in h e r vocation which differed from th e vocation of th e type of th e others in th e Congregation. At no time can we perceive an inhibition of h e r apostolic activity, w he ther with o ther sisters or w ith the wards. Her superiors h ad confidence in h e r prudence and tact, believing th a t in h e r effect on o ther sisters she would not overstep the conventual norm s, and th a t friendships made with the though t of th e more perfect service of God would no t tak e on too personal a na tu re . 437