Sister Faustina Kowalska: Her LIfe and MIssion

But in spite of h e r genuinely motherly feelings of warm th and caring, which enabled h e r to see into the sp iritual and physical needs of the girls, S is ter F au s tina knew how to keep h e r distance and never allowed familiarity. "She would not tolerate fam iliar ity from the girls. She said tha t she loved us very much, hut she would not allow a caress. She kept us a t a distance." (Archives of S.F., Recollection of Hedwig Owar). The wards recall h e r with g re a t feeling. In th e ir eyes S ister F au s tina was above all o ther educators. She was closest to them and commanded th e ir t ru s t and respect. A ward, Sophie N a tusik , declared th a t "there was a great difference in the behaviour o f S ister Faustina as compared w ith other nuns. It sometimes happened tha t I, or another g irl in the institute d id not behave as we should. The Sisters usually scolded us in such a case and ordered us to apologise. S ister Faustina never asked us to apologise to her, and she always behaved k ind ly and lovingly to everyone she had contact with, whether she had been treated unpleasantly or w ith courtesy." "She was never subject to moods", adds Hedwig Owar, "she was always the same... She made no difference in the way she treated the various girls. She was equally k ind to everyone. She was very understanding towards us as well. She inquired i f we were hungry. She always demanded much more o f herself. S is ter Faustina was popular w ith us because o f her kindness, goodness and understanding. We had to work w ith her, but she never pushed us to work beyond our strength. We used to say o f her: "Sister Faustina is a real Religious." When we wanted to offer her our good wishes on her feast-day or at Christmas or Easter, she would never allow us to kiss her hand." 440