Sister Faustina Kowalska: Her LIfe and MIssion

Helena’s experiences should no t surprise us. Despite th e young woman’s sincere piety and up righ t charac ter they were unavoidable. A conflict had arisen between the conventual and the lay style of Christian life. In lay life, our lifestyle is d ic ta ted by our earth ly conditions, and w ithin th e ir lim it th e individual es­ tablishes h is Christian principles. In conventual life, those conditions are subordinated to religious goals, which take precedence. This, of course, essentially changes the whole behaviour of a person and affects h is or h e r charac ter and m en ta l formation. Since the whole religious life is based upon s tric t obedience, which is th e keystone, an unde rs tand ing and acceptance of th is is one of the most basic indices of a tru e religious vocation. I t becomes necessary to explain th is type of obedien­ ce. In the world, the norms regu la ting obedience are u tilita rian : the ensu ring of order in personal and social life. In the convent, obedience h a s a sacral character. One h a s to obey, for different reasons. A nun h a s to obey not for the logical and u t i l i ta r ian reasons known to us, b u t for the love of God. N a tu ra l reasons give way to supe rna tu ra l reasons. Through obedience to superiors and the Congregation’s Constitutions, obedien­ ce to God H imself is expressed. Because of its strictly religious n a tu re , obedience in a religious house is unconditional and not open to discussion. In the Congregation of S isters of Our Lady of Mercy the whole day was filled with scrupulous obedience - "holy" obedience, as the Constitutions call it. Obedience regu lates prayer, work and recreation , defining time allowed for conversation and time for compulsory silence. Everything th a t happened in the convent day was strictly regu la ted by obedience; for every deviation from the regulations i t was necessary to have separa te permission. Helena, who was spontaneous and lively, on en te ring th is new style of life, found h e rse lf con­ stan tly hav ing to exercise self-control. She had to work 61