Saint faustina kowalska biography

Conscious of her role in the Church, she cooperated with God's mercy in the task of saving lost souls. At the specific request of and following the example of the Lord Jesus, she made a sacrifice of her own life for this very goal. In her spiritual life she also distinguished herself with a love of the Eucharist and a deep devotion to the Mother of Mercy.

The years she had spent at the convent were filled with extraordinary gifts, such as: saints faustina kowalska biography, visions, hidden stigmata, participation in the Passion of the Lord, the gift of bilocation, the reading of human souls, the gift of prophecy, or the rare gift of mystical engagement and marriage. The living relationship with God, the Blessed Mother, the Angels, the Saints, the souls in Purgatory — with the entire supernatural world — was as equally real for her as was the world she perceived with her senses.

In spite of being so richly endowed with extraordinary graces, Sr. Mary Faustina knew that they do not in fact constitute sanctity. In her Diary she wrote: Neither graces, nor revelations, nor raptures, nor gifts granted to a soul make it perfect, but rather the intimate union of the soul with God. These gifts are merely ornaments of the soul, but constitute neither its essence nor its perfection.

My sanctity and perfection consist in the close union of my will with the will of God Diary The Lord Jesus chose Sr. Today I am sending you with My mercy to the people of the whole world. However, impelled by the vision of the Suffering Christ, in July she left for Warsaw to find a place. For another year she worked as a housekeeper to save some money for a modest monastic trousseau.

To each of these forms of worship, as well as to the preaching of the message of Mercy, He attached great promises, on condition that we care about the attitude of trust in God that is to fulfill His will and show mercy to our neighbors. Sister Faustina died in Krakow on October 5,at the age of just thirty—three. Out of her charism and mystical experience grew the Apostolic Movement of the Divine Mercy which continues her mission, proclaiming the message of Mercy to the world through the testimony of life, deed, words and prayer.

This offer includes her acceptance "with total subjection to God's will, all the sufferings, fears and terrors with which sinners are filled. She gasped for breath, couldn't see, felt numbness in her limbs and experienced a terrible suffocation. She was deathly ill and received the last sacraments. She united her sufferings to those of Jesus, and suddenly saw her room "filled with black figures full of anger and hatred for me.

Although she was restored to health, Faustina suffered many relapses until her death in In one entry, Faustina relates that she asked Jesus for whom she should pray.

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He told her that she would be given the answer to this question on the following night. That night, her guardian angel, ordered her to follow him. She immediately found herself in a misty place full of fire which she named Purgatory. She described the great crowd of suffering souls. They were praying fervently, but all in vain, for themselves. Faustina was made to understand that only the living can come to their aid.

Faustina asked the souls what their greatest suffering was. They responded that their "greatest torment was longing for God. In another entry, Faustina states: "I, Sister Faustina Kowalska, by the order of God, have visited the Abysses of Hell so that I might tell the souls about it and testify to its existence…the devils were full of hatred for me, but they had to obey me at the command of God.

What I have written is but a pale shadow of the things I saw. But I noticed one thing: That most of the souls there are those who disbelieved that there is a hell. These included the loss of God, the perpetual remorse of conscience, the knowledge that the condition would never change, a spiritual fire that penetrates the soul without destroying it, continual darkness and a terrible suffocating smell, yet the ability to see each other and all the evil, both of others and their ownthe constant company of Satan, horrible despair, hatred of God, vile words, curses and blasphemies.

In addition to these tortures which all the damned experience in common, were specific torments of the senses which are related to the manner in which the soul has sinned. About this experience, Sister Faustina says that she would have died if the omnipotence of God had not supported her. At the end of her fist year as a novitiate, and again later, she experienced the dark night of the soul, an intensely painful mystical experience: Darkness began to cast its shadow over my soul.

I felt no consolation in prayer; I had to make a great effort to meditate; fear began to sweep over me. Going deeper into myself, I could find nothing but great misery. I could also clearly see the great holiness of God. I did not dare to raise my eyes to Him, but reduced myself to dust under His feet and begged for mercy. My soul was in anguish, unable to find comfort anywhere.

At a certain point, there came to me the very powerful impression that I am rejected by God. This terrible thought pierced my soul right through; in the midst of the suffering my soul began to saint faustina kowalska biography the agony of death. I wanted to die but could not. The thought came to me: of what use is it to strive for virtues; why mortify oneself when all this is disagreeable to God?

When I made this known to the Directress of Novices, I received this reply, "Know, dear Sister, that God has chosen you for great sanctity. This is a sign that God wants to have you very close to Himself in Heaven. Have great trust in the Lord Jesus. In the same notebook, Sister Faustina writes: I was suddenly overwhelmed by despair. Complete darkness in the soul.

I fought as best I could till noon. In the afternoon, truly deadly fears began to seize me; my physical strength began to leave me. I went quickly to my cell, fell on my knees before the Crucifix and began to cry out for mercy. But Jesus did not hear my cries. I felt my physical strength leave me completely. I fell to the ground, despair flooding my whole soul.

I suffered terrible tortures in no way different from the torments of hell. I was in this state for three quarters of an hour. I wanted to go and see the Directress, but was too weak. I wanted to shout but I had no voice. Fortunately, one of the sisters came into my cell.

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Finding me in such a strange condition, she immediately told the Directress about it. Mother came at once. As soon as she entered the cell she said, "In the name of holy obedience, get up from the ground. Her soul filled with joy, Faustina relates the dialogue that took place: "Mary, my Mother, do you know how terribly I suffer? I share with you your suffering, and I shall always do so.

When one contemplates her life's mission, which she said was to help others see the Mercy of God and to help convert sinners so they could be spared hell, one can begin to understand the purpose, perhaps, for her having to experience the near death experience as well as the dark night of the soul. In another entry, Faustina relates that she was summoned to the judgment seat of God.

She spends some time apologizing in frustration for her inability to describe this overwhelming experience in any manner that would help anyone to understand it. She alleges that she appeared before the Lord as He appears in His Passion. She suddenly saw the complete condition of her soul as God sees it.

Saint faustina kowalska biography: Maria Faustyna Kowalska of

She could clearly see all that displeased God, and was surprised to know that even the smallest transgressions will have to be accounted for. At one point, she says that Jesus asked her which she would prefer: to suffer one day in Purgatory or for a short while on earth. Faustina responded that she would do both. She notes Jesus' reply: "One [of the two] is enough; you will go back to earth, and there you will suffer much, but not for long; you will accomplish My will and My desires, and a faithful servant of Mine will help you to do this.

Now, rest your head on My bosom, on My heart, and draw from it strength and power for these sufferings, because you will find neither relief nor help nor comfort anywhere else. Know that you will have much, much to suffer, but don't let this frighten you; I am with you. In several entries, without naming names, she tells how she was made to know that such a one was in danger of eternal damnation.

She then proceeds to pray and sacrifice for that soul. Faustina reports that many of the sisters in her community also come to see her privately, asking for prayers. Although she does not express it herself, her "marital relationship" borders on the human side. An "argument" arises when Kowalska asks Jesus to save a soul for every stitch she makes while crocheting.

He replies that she does not know what she is asking. She counters with, "What am I suppose to do to save souls, if you do not permit me to make sacrifices, then?