Sister Faustina Kowalska: Her LIfe and MIssion

a frequen t gues t a t th e ir house, and who paid p a r ­ ticu lar a tten tion to Helenka, a re agreed th a t she was a happy girl, full of good humour, equable although she had a lively tem peram en t, and well able to cope with th e children, who made friends with h e r in perfect tru s t ; they were fasc ina ted by h e r inventiveness in th ink ing up games, and never weary of h e r colourful tales. Apart from h e r ta lka tiveness , th e characteristic of Helenka th a t they most recall was t h a t she liked to sing while she worked. Mrs Lipszyc s ta te s th a t they were always religious songs and hymns, and th e most frequen t was one to Je su s in the Most Holy Sacram ent, commencing, "I worship Je su s hidden in th e Blessed Sacrament". This hymn is forever associated in her mind w ith th e image of the girl. Helenka wen t into th e convent on 1st August 1925, and the whole family said goodbye to h e r w ith regret. Mrs Lipszyc, who was only n ine years older th an Helenka, equipped h e r to leave home like a daugh ter, and assu red the girl th a t if h e r a t tem p t to stay in the convent proved unsuccessful, she could always re tu rn to them . Helenka reacted positively to th e u nd e rs tand ­ ing and friendship offered to he r . Mrs Lipszyc was the only person whom she told of h e r f irs t experience of convent life, of h e r difficulties and even of h e r doubts as to w he ther she should s tay in th a t convent. Mrs Lipszyc saw Helenka twice more; once in the convent, when she came a t th e reque s t of the S isters to give a reference for Helenka’s charac ter, and a second time a t home. Aldona Lipszyc, a lthough knowing no th ing of convent life or its requ irem en ts , showed g rea t u nd e r­ stand ing about the difficulties th a t Helenka, w ith her lively tem peram en t, m igh t encounter. She expected th a t th e girl would no t be able to b e a r th e necessity of constantly controlling h e r n a tu ra l liveliness and would give up h e r plans. B u t she h ad no t understood the essence of th e m a tter. The principal problem lay elsewhere. 47