Sister Faustina Kowalska: Her LIfe and MIssion

and fervently. Her soul tensed itse lf to the maximum effort to unde rs tand God’s wishes, so she reac ted to every touch of His grace. Le t us follow her. The tra in arrived a t Warsaw. She had to ge t out. W ha t to do next? Where should she go from here? She tu rned confidently in p rayer to th e Blessed Mother, with the reques t for some indication. Obedient to the voice in h e r soul, and led, too, by h e r r ig h t instincts, she left the cap ita l’s possible d istractions, and spen t the f irs t n igh t in some village on th e sou thern ou tsk irts of Warsaw. Early th e nex t morning we find h e r kneeling in St. Jam e s ’ Church in the Ochota d istric t, a southern suburb of the metropolis. One Holy Mass followed ano ther. Helenka rem a ined in p rayer and pers is ten tly asked Divine Providence for fu r th e r illum ination. H er inn e r voice directed h e r to speak to the parish p r ie s t of St. Jam e s ’, Rev. Jam e s Dabrowski. When he en tered th e sacristy a f te r Mass, she followed him , ask ing to be directed to a su itab le convent. He was clearly surprised. He did no t refuse help, b u t told h e r to find a post un til she could be received into a convent. W ith th is in m ind, he gave h e r a le t te r of introduction to h is friends, M r and Mrs Lipszyc, who lived very n ea r to Warsaw in Ostrowek n e a r Wolomin. W ith a little bundle of all h e r possessions in h e r hand , the girl went to the add ress she h ad been given and was accepted on the spot. She by no m eans concealed h e r plans, so Mrs Lipszyc rea lised she was only to have temporary help, b u t with several small children she needed i t immediately. Mr and Mrs Lipszyc were no t to reg re t th e i r decision. In a sho r t tim e she won not only th e ir complete tru s t , b u t th e i r h ea r ty kindness. In th is house, as in all th e others she h ad worked, she was trea ted almost as a member of the family. She repaid them with obliging affection. P erhaps nowhere she had worked before was she to be so emotionally 45