Sister Faustina Kowalska: Her LIfe and MIssion

were talking to herself and sm iling. A n older girl, Margaret, who belonged to a sodality and had greater religious sophistication than us, would tell us quietly a t such times that S ister Faustina was ta lk ing to God." (Archives of S.F., Recoil.H. Owar). To sum up these recollections, according to the wards S ister F au s tina was a model nun , and they often became im pa tien t th a t she asked them to pray too much - for she would encourage them to say the rosary, or short prayers, or the Hail Mary for someone living or dead, always hav ing ready an in ten tion in order to encourage them to pray and explain the necessity of it. How could one refuse he r when she asked for a Hail Mary for someone sick, or in trouble, someone who had ju s t died, or someone about to die? So they prayed, although res is ting and in spite of themselves, because they liked h e r and valued her. They did not even notice how gradually a strong sp iritua l link was forming between them and her, and how th e Lord Je su s was en tering more deeply into th e ir lives. To the work of the Congregation on the upbringing of difficult girls, S ister F au s tina ’s contribution m u s t be added. In term s of girls, h e r "percentage" was no t large, for she had no access to large numbers of th e wards, b u t h e r influence left a d istinc t trace on those who were assigned work with her. I t happened th a t girls in one of th e Houses did not w an t to lose her, and did w ha t they could to stay with her. In Jozefinek in 1930 they packed th e ir poor bundles to go with h e r when she was transferred . In Vilnius they also tried to s tay with her, though the ir methods were different. "When she was ill and left Vilnius, we were sure tha t she would return to us. Meeting Mother General, we asked her when S ister Faustina would be coming 444