Sister Faustina Kowalska: Her LIfe and MIssion

ultimately ineffable experiences is, paradoxically, the vocabulary of others, describing the extremes of sen­ suous experience, for no o ther language seems ade­ quate: cleansing "by fire", torm en t, loss, "death of the soul", love "flaming", "consuming", mystical "marriage", "union", and "intimacy". To a tta in mystical experience, only the f irs t step is man’s: he is then led on by God. The time th is p repara tion takes will vary - long enough for everything which h inders God from embracing th e soul into His possession to be consumed and elim inated. God takes away th e will of the hum an being, which, safely anchored in the sp iritua l life, has become courageous and sufficiently m a tu re interiorly to be able to pass through the torment. The soul has become able to deny the worth of mere earth ly and fam iliar experience and a ttachm en ts , as had the soul of S ister Fau s tina . All th a t is deares t to the soul in the enjoyment of th e senses is surrendered , and a dark mystical n igh t m u s t be endured in which the soul lives w ithout the ir help and comfort. This is called "the dark n igh t of the senses", full of severe sp iritual and physical disturbances. Temptations, violent emotions and even h a tred of God are felt. The soul comes to "know" good and evil, and feels she stands before the divine judgm en t seat. Seeing h e r own nothingness in comparison with the Divine Reality, the soul is terrified and paralysed. However, the reward for th is dark n igh t is th a t th e soul is cleansed and knows herself. The cleansing of the sensual and cognitive faculties allows them now to subm it to the supremacy of the sp iritua l faculties. The soul then en ters the "dark n igh t of the soul", the experience most terrifying and difficult to endure, even for the b rave s t of God’s lovers, w ithout Divine aid. After cleansing comes enlightenment. The soul h a s sacrificed h e r prerogative of h e r own way of th ink ing and willing, and all the supports which make us self-sufficient, to take th is nex t step beyond th e light of reason. The whole process of 82