Sister Faustina Kowalska: Her LIfe and MIssion

through the dark n igh t of th e soul, th a t mysterious novitiate of Je su s Himself, which S is te r F au s tina experienced for a year and a half, commencing from the end of the firs t yea r of the novitiate. S ister Mary Joseph had a consummate in tu itive knowledge of the hum an soul, and so was a s tu rdy and unfailing support even in the g rea tes t conflicts and in te rio r experiences of the young nun . Perhaps we m igh t even boldly call h e r the first, in the full m ean ing of the term , sp iritual director of S is te r Faus tina , a director whom Providence had sen t to lead h e r through th e tes ting time of mystical purification and m a turing . We have every righ t to suppose th a t i t was th an k s to the wise direc­ tion of S ister Mary Joseph on the hand , and the tru s t in g obedience of S ister F au s t in a on the other, th a t the la t te r ’s difficult time of God’s h ighes t tr ia l las ted so briefly. In many, even in very g rea t saints, i t has lasted for years, during which they have struggled blindly with overwhelming sp iritua l experiences, try ing alone to find a way out of w ha t seemed to them to be a sp iritua l impasse. Rev. Theodore Czaputa, aged 42, a pene tra ting and unders tand ing confessor, supplemented in the confes­ sional whatever Helena did no t receive in th e com­ munity. Her superiors cooperated well with the priest, dividing amongst themselves th e responsibility for forming the novices en tru s ted to th e ir care. Over th e whole house in Cracow the wise and generous-hearted Superior, Mother Raphael B., presided, one of the most distinguished individuals the Congrega­ tion then possessed. I t is therefore h a rd to imagine more fo rtuna te conditions and a be t te r chosen environment for the sp iritua l growth of the young generation in the com­ munity. S ister F au s tina was surrounded by and in the care of its most valued members. She thu s made g rea t progress. As she had always h ad a marvellous memory and the in terio r readiness to subm it, "it was never necessary to repeat any th ing twice to her". 80