Sister Faustina Kowalska: Her LIfe and MIssion

Work as gatekeeper was the la s t employment of S ister F aus tina in her religious life. There is some inner logic in the course of h e r life, which appeared even in the fact th a t she ended h e r life as an apostle of Divine Mercy by doing work which, for the g ra te r p a r t , was concerned with acts of mercy. S ister F au s tina would not be who she was, if th e acts of mercy were confined only to clothing and feeding the needy. The chief goal of h e r efforts was always the soul of the poor person. She devoted a lot of time to listen ing to the ir complaints and problems, so as to be able then to illum inate them from the Divine viewpoint, and to explain in passing the basic t ru th s of the fa ith , reach­ ing th e ir consciences, which had in most cases been depraved no t so much by e rro r as by poverty. In many cases h e r words fell on fertile soil, she cheered more th an one h e a r t and made more th an one aware of his faults, encouraging him towards penance. These deeds a re confirmed by the then superior of Cracow, Mother Irene Krzyzanowska. "I know that the poor who came to the gate con­ fided their difficulties to her and asked for counsel, and she comforted them and gave good advice. She performed th is du ty w ith great joy, as she had the opportunity for an apostolate among the poor... When she took on her duties as gatekeeper, she received permission from me to give alms. She gave alm s to the needy w ith great love and willingness." We also have S ister F au s tin a ’s own account of he r work as gatekeeper. In her Diary she re la tes in detail the difficulties experienced in carrying out the duty. ’9\[ovemBer 5. <Ihis morning f iv e unemployed men came to the gate and insisted on Being let in. ‘When Sister had argued zvith them f o r quite a zvhile and could not 448