Digital Continent Digital Continent_Template amended | Page 15

PART I. THE LIFE STORY OF SR. MARIA FAUSTINA KOWALSKA 14
Helena Kowalska, the future St. Faustina of the Roman Catholic Church, was born on
August 25, 1905 in Glogowiec, Poland, the third oldest of ten children. 15 Her parents were poor
but godly; her father, Stanislaus Kowalska, a carpenter and her mother, Marianna, an uneducated
homemaker. 16 She was baptized Helena at the St. Casimir Parish Church of Swinice Warckie,
Poland. 17 She felt called to the religious life at age seven (1912) while attending Vespers and
with the Blessed Sacrament exposed. 18 From childhood, she was esteemed for her natural
inclinations to earnest prayer, piety, diligence, obedience, as well as compassionate service to
those who were suffering. 19 She received her First Holy Communion at age nine (1914), deeply
conscious of Jesus’ presence as the special Guest in her soul. 20 Then, at age sixteen, on October
30, 1921, she was confirmed by her bishop. 21
14
Ibid., Diary, xv-xliv; Vatican News Service online. “Mary Faustina Kowalska.”
http://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/saints/ns_lit_doc_20000430_faustina_en.html (Internet Accessed June
21, 2015), 1-3; Odell, Catherine. Faustina, Apostle of Divine Mercy: Her Life Story. (Indiana: Our Sunday Visitor,
1998), 9-54; EWTN Global Catholic Network online. “St. Faustina Kowalska,” 1-2; Catholic Online. “St. Faustina
Kowalska.” http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=510 (Internet Accessed December 20, 2015), 1-2.
15
Ibid., Faustina, Diary, xxix; Addenda, 701.
16
Ibid., Faustina, Diary, xv; Vatican News Service. “Faustina,” 1; EWTN. “St. Faustina,” 1; Odell, Faustina, 11.
17
Ibid., Faustina, Diary, xxix.
18
Ibid., Faustina, Diary, xxix; Odell, Faustina, 10.
19
Ibid., Faustina, Diary, xv; Vatican News Service. “Faustina,” 1; EWTN. “St. Faustina,” 1.
20
Ibid., Faustina, Diary, xxix.
21
Ibid., Faustina, Diary, xxix.
4