Sister Faustina Kowalska: Her LIfe and MIssion

Not long after Easter, on 30th April 1928, Sister F au s tina made h e r f ir s t vows - a t the moment, tem ­ porary, for one year and to be renewed for five years, and to be followed by perpe tua l vows a fte r th is time. Offering oneself to God in th is s ta te of sp iritual prostration was an immense effort. Bu t he r th ir s t to love God helped her. To offer oneself m ean t to love. This she understood. She concentrated he r will upon it. She would endure. S is ter Ludwina G., who was being clothed a t the same time as S ister F au s tina was mak ing her vows, says, "During the mak ing o f vows in the chapel she was very recollected , and later a great joy was visible in her face; it could be seen also during the celebrations which the wards arranged for the Sisters who were mak ing their vows or being clothed that day." (Archives of S.F. Recoil.). The novitiate was over. Now she was a nun. She had reached the goal to which the Lord had called her, four years previously in Lodz. The D irectress, in sending he r forth from h e r care to lead an independent life in the Congregation, well understood the dangers which m ight befall this elect soul, and tried to protect h e r aga inst them. She instructed: ' 'Sister; let simplicity and humility be the characteristic traits o f your soul, (jo through life life a little child, always trusting, always f u l l o f simplicity and humility, content w ith everything, happy in every circumstance. T here, where others fear, you w i l l pass calmly along, thanks to this simplicity and humility. Remember this, Sister, fo r your whole life: as waters f lo w from the 92