In Part 4, I unveiled Alicja’s spiritual struggles to keep her tongue in check, to avoid “white lies,” and to refrain from hurting others. At the same time, I presented St. Faustina’s unimaginable self-control when a fellow sister teased her. The mystic nun reached spiritual maturity during her stay in the hospital in Pradnik, where she recorded a significant part of her Diary.
ALICJA: CATALIST
The mystical encounter experienced by Alicja during her 1985 retreat suggests that there may have been a prior event of equal significance. It should also be supposed—although there is no empirical proof—that the bedridden Jadwiga, by uniting her sufferings to the Sacrifice of Jesus, offered some of them for her daughter’s conversion. This led my humble research toward the quest for another turning point. I discovered the following:
The death of her mother was a painful ordeal for her. To understand her mother’s faith and piety, and her own new circumstances, she went to the Jasna Gora Marian Shrine with the intention of entrusting herself to the Virgin Mary.
This was set down by Bishop Henryk Wejman in his scholarly work, The Concept of Lay Spirituality: An Analytical Study of the Writings of Alicja Lenczewska. In this very sacred site, the first meaningful invitation for God to dwell in her heart must have taken place.
ALICJA AND HELENA: MYSTICAL RECORDS
A dozen or so months passed in the life of the mystic from Szczecin. Alicja departed for a religious retreat—one she had not planned to attend—acting as a last-minute substitute for a lay leader. It was there that she heard the Voice of the Lord (“the final judgment rests with the Church”), commanding her to commit everything she received to paper.
Thus, the first journal, titled “Testimony” (Swiadectwo), began. Alicja Lenczewska made her inaugural entry on Friday, March 8, 1985, and concluded it on Wednesday, June 21, 1989, at 11:30 p.m. Her second volume, “A Word of Instruction” (Slowo Pouczenia), commenced only two days later, on Friday, June 23, 1989, at 11:35 a.m., and reached its completion on Sunday, January 24, 2010. The same year, her mystical communications ceased, and Alicja fell seriously ill.
A few years before her death, the mystic meticulously organized her notes, transcribing them on a typewriter. Throughout two and a half decades, she produced a mystical corpus numbering several hundred pages. A critical edition of this work appeared in Catholic bookstores a mere four years after her death.
We now turn to the 1930s.
At the express command of Jesus, and at the direction of her spiritual directors, Fr. Michal Sopocko and Fr. Jozef Andrasz, SJ, Sister Faustina Kowalska recorded her spiritual life in Vilnius and Kraków between 1934 and 1938. All her writings reveal a predominant focus on God’s Merciful Love for humanity and, at the same time, the height of her exceptional degree of union with God.
In Fr. Sopocko’s absence, Sister Faustina burned her first notes, having followed the advice of an angel in disguise who was actually the Devil. As a result, the chronology of the first notebook is disrupted: at her director’s instruction, she attempted to reconstruct the destroyed material, incorporating past events into accounts of present ones.
Three months before her death, six notebooks had been completed; for the published edition a small one titled My Preparation for Holy Communion was added. The first critical edition appeared in 1981 and served as the basis for foreign translations and the beatification process.
HELENA: POWER OF WEAKNESS
Turning now to Sister Faustina, we immerse ourselves in the writings she penned during her retreat:
I tried to listen most attentively to everything and to apply everything to my own heart, as in every meditation. When the priest said that an obedient soul was filled with the power of God…Yes, when you are obedient I take away your weakness and replace it with My strength. I am very surprised that souls do not want to make that exchange with Me. (Diary, 381)
ALICJA: INTERIOR STRUGGLE
Continuing with Alicja’s story, it was with great difficulty, yet with steadfast resolve, that she yielded herself to the Workings of Grace. This surrender is not achieved without cost. For a long time, Alicja lived as a dignified director—a woman accustomed to authority, decision-making, and command.
[Alicja]: Why is it that, even when a person knows they must entrust themselves to You, they are so seldom able to do so?
[Jesus]: Human nature is marred by original sin and cannot cast off this burden by its own strength. The inclination to pride appears in man as self-reliance. This drive for independence is stronger than the recognition of one’s helplessness and the need to lean upon Me. I desire to weaken this impulse within you, as well as your habit of self-determination. I wish to teach you to turn to Me and to entrust everything into My hands. Do not ask Me what I ought to do; present the matter to Me and yield to My decision. This is far better, for in this way you show complete trust in Me. For I know better than you what is most necessary for you and what will be for your greatest good.
(October 15, 1986, 11:00 p.m.)
Still, uncertainty and a lack of faith swirl within her, but the Lord comes with help:
All difficult and “hopeless” situations are given to you so that you may turn to Me for help. I desire to guide you and sustain you throughout your life. It is My wish that you remain constantly turned toward Me, relying on Me rather than on yourself or on your brethren. […] Let your weakness become your joy, for it is My glory revealed in you and through you to others—especially to those who have lost their trust and their faith in My Omnipotence and Mercy. Trust in your God, and He will save you and lead you to the Source of Life.
(November 29, 1989, 12:05 p.m.)
HELENA: TOTAL SURRENDER
Tested like gold in a crucible of suffering, Sister Faustina is fully aware that relying on others besides the Lord is as perilous as touching a hot frying pan:
I do not expect anything from creatures, and therefore I am not disappointed. I know that a creature is poor of itself, so what can one expect from it? God is everything to me; I want to evaluate everything according to God’s ways. (Diary, 766)
ALICJA: WARNING
Pursuing earthly success, whether material or spiritual, can lead to a crushing disappointment, as God cautions through Alicja:
[Jesus]: If anyone expects Me to grant him worldly success and privilege, let him beware lest he be disappointed—just as Israel was disappointed when they awaited a Messiah who would bring earthly triumph and power. And let him beware lest, while waiting—as the Israelites did—he reject the true God and fashion a god from the impurity of his own heart. Amen!
(February 2, 1990, 1:25 p.m.)
In this section, both mystics regularly record their encounters with the Lord and their inner experiences; their writings are intended to serve many as a spiritual compass long after their passing. They follow the “little way” of total surrender and complete dependence on God—a path in which independence and self-confidence become obstacles.
Author’s Note: Part 6 may be hard to accept because it focuses on suffering and apocalyptic prophecy.
Editor’s Note: Read the rest of this series on Alicja Lenczewska and St. Faustina here!
Photo by Alexandr Popadin on Unsplash
