Sister Faustina Kowalska: Her LIfe and MIssion

"In such instances she was capable o f speaking up and reproving even sisters who were older or who held posts o f responsibility. I remember a characteristic example... "I once went to the kitchen for water. Three older sisters were cha tting in the kitchen. Their subject was priests, our confessors. Their conversation was far from elevating. I was rather surprised tha t older sisters could ta lk in tha t way. I wanted to get out o f the kitchen as fa s t as possible. S ister Faustina, who was working there, heard the conversation and said, "Excuse me, but Jesus does not like it, please fin ish your conversation, S is ters ." I was fu l l o f adm iration for a novice who had enough courage to oppose senior sisters. A fterwards at recreation, I asked her what had happened next, and i f she had had any u n ­ pleasantness, bu t she sa id no th ing happened, it w asn ’t worth speaking about because something m igh t be sa id which would be against the principle o f love o f one’s neighbour." After seven weeks of novitiate, on 20 th Ju n e 1926 the re was a change, as I have already w ritten , of Novice M istress, b u t the newly arrived S is te r Mary Joseph Brzoza directed the group en tru s ted to h e r in much the same way as S is te r M argaret. She had, possibly, a more decided approach and wen t more deeply into sp iritua l needs. She was a t ru e sp iritual mother to them. Of the th ree Novice M istresses I have mentioned, S is te r Mary Joseph had the stronges t and most p e r ­ m an en t effect on the sp iritua l formation of S ister Faus tina . I t was to h e r t h a t cred it m u s t go for the strong, hea lthy foundation of monastic charac ter and for the basic ordering of those elements essen tia l for h e r own n a tu ra l sp iritua lity , to be finally completed by Je su s Himself. S is ter Mary Joseph successfully diag­ nosed the specific needs of th is chosen soul and was able to guide h e r w ith a steady, sure h an d even 79