Sister Faustina Kowalska: Her LIfe and MIssion

For h e r sta tion in life, she was well-read in religion. However, we should be more precise here, for a m isun­ de rs tand ing is possible. Helenka had access to popular religious lite ra tu re , b u t she obviously had chosen suitably, since she had formed a clearly defined Ch ris­ tian outlook on life. In h e r religious education no small p a r t was played by sermons, church missions and re tre a ts , which she had followed from childhood with g rea t atten tion . By n a tu re a capable girl, with con­ siderable in itia tive and h e r commonsensical way of reasoning, she had learned how to take advan tage of all the ways available to h e r to obtain a basic know­ ledge of the C h ris tian fa ith , in order independently to th ink i t over and apply i t to he r life. She knew the catechism and th e commandments well and tried to follow them . But, un fortuna te ly , she was obliged to decide quite independently th e m easure and m ann e r of th e ir application, especially from the time she left home a t the age of sixteen to go into service. We may therefore have doubts w he ther she invariably found the correct solution or k ep t th ings in proper proportion. In particu lar, she undertook fas ting so often and so rigorously th a t i t soon affected h e r hea lth . She left home a s turdy girl, y e t th ree yea rs la te r when she applied to the convent, Mothers Michael Moraczewska and M argare t G imbutt, who spoke to h e r a t th a t time, both called h e r "skinny little thing" and "thin". Up to the tim e of h e r en try into th e religious com­ m un ity there had never been, most probably, in h e r life any more rem arkab le p r ie s t in whose experience and wisdom she had felt able to tru s t . I t does no t seem th a t she had understood a t all th e need for a pe r­ m anen t confessor, who m igh t have enabled h e r to unde rs tand the reefs and difficulties of the reli-gious life. In h e r as ye t semi-childish reasoning, everything seemed simple and straightforward . Because h e r inner religious life was fa r more in tense th an th a t of those around her, she very early learned to be independen t in h e r in terio r life and formed h e r own judgm en t, 51