A Star and the Moon, Part IV: The Lives of Alicja Lenczewska and St. Faustina Kowalska

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In Part 3, I described two miraculous manifestations of God’s grace in Helena Kowalska’s religious life; they are, however, only the tip of the iceberg of her mystical journey. Meanwhile, Alicja Lenczewska—who experienced nearly daily encounters with Jesus and the pivotal gift of the Stigmata—engages in various evangelization efforts after retiring. In these activities, she radiates the Lord’s presence from her soul to those around her, while at the same time learning the truth about herself by continually recognizing her own weakness and sinfulness. By professing vows in the Family of the Heart of the Crucified in 2005—a lay community approved by Church authorities in 1996—Alicja becomes, as it were, a victim soul, offering herself to God for those who have turned away from Him.

ALICJA AND HELENA: HOLY SILENCE

Alicja rarely spoke about her spiritual life. She was private and introspective, choosing to entrust her deepest thoughts to her diary. Those who did not know her well sometimes found her cold and distant. That attitude was certainly influenced by her long tenure as an assistant principal—but was that the whole story?

In her journals I found striking words from Jesus that help explain her reserve. Under the entry for April 5, 1999, Alicja wrote: “Be restrained in speaking about what you learn from Me, so that you do not lose the power of the grace flowing to you.” Faustina made a similar impression on her fellow sisters: “she spoke very little and often seemed lost in thought.”

ALICJA: A FALL

It wasn’t the first fall, and it certainly won’t be the last. She records a dialogue:

(February 23, 1987, 11:00 p.m.)

[Alicja]: “Did I sin gravely today?”

[Jesus]: “Less by your outburst of irritation and more by the fact that you could not open your heart to Me with true contrition. You were absorbed in yourself—in your own humiliation in your own eyes—and in the pain that caused you. You tried to make things right on your own, before others and before Me. That was your mistake. You should have come to Me and offered everything with contrition, trust, and love. Then your burden would have been lighter.”

HELENA: SELF-CONTROL AND THE READING OF HEARTS

Her heroic mastery over her tongue is shown in one episode: Sister Faustina was given a difficult resident to help in the kitchen—a girl with a very unpleasant disposition whom no one else wanted to work with. (The sisters ran a home for troubled girls and women, some of whom had had minor brushes with the law.) “At every turn she caused Sister Faustina trouble,” Sister Alojza recalled, “and yet Sister Faustina never complained about her.”

During her time with Sister Faustina, the girl’s heart changed beyond recognition. “She had such a quiet but godly influence on souls,” Mother Serafina, superior of the convent in Walendów, wrote in her memoirs.

Sister Faustina also influenced not just the residents but her fellow sisters: she had the gift of reading hearts and often offered wise counsel that lifted and strengthened them with the Word of God. “I was surprised,” Sister Placyda recalled, “that she knew about some of my spiritual struggles that were known only to God and me.” As the Mother General admitted, the sisters in both houses—Walendów and Derdy—were deeply impressed by her and wanted her to stay so she could continue to edify them through her spiritual maturity.

ALICJA: Another Fall

On September 10, 1986, at 10.30 p.m., Alicja noted:

[Alicja]: “I am sorry for those little lies in the taxi.”

[Jesus]: “Watch yourself. If you do not want to give truthful answers to questions that are sometimes inquisitive, direct the conversation so that they are not asked, or do not answer. Try to exclude telling untruths completely, even in small and indifferent matters. You know who the father of lies is. Do not help him.”

ALICJA: STRUGGLE

For many, the most common spiritual failing is giving in to emotion and wandering thoughts. Alicja also found this to be a significant spiritual challenge.

“Thoughts full of anxiety and discouragement attack me. I have opened the door to them through a lack of love for people, through excessive criticism and complaining. Forgive me, Father; help me cleanse my heart and my mind,” Alicja says with contrition on Thursday, October 2, 1986, at 11.30 a.m.

In reply she hears:

I have already helped you because you turned to Me with contrition and trust. Watch yourself, my child, for a roaring lion prowls around you and waits for your moment of weakness. Guard yourself and stay as close to Me as possible. Your trust and your love for Me protect you. Know that all doubts, reluctance, or irritation come from him. They are continually sent your way, and only clinging to Me shields you—My Love surrounds you like armour. Your trust and devotion are the shield with which you will repel the blows of evil.

HELENA: MATURITY

Returning to Sister Faustina, she suffered from tuberculosis at a time when no effective medications were available in Poland; the usual treatment consisted of long hours in the fresh air and a high-calorie diet.

After returning from nearly four months of convalescence and feeling somewhat stronger, Sister Faustina resumed work in the garden at Kraków-Lagiewniki. Sister Zefiryna, who was then a young, professed sister, recalled that Faustina “was deeply recollected and never broke the silence. She showed an unwavering love for her neighbour and had a gift for noticing the good in every sister, which was very encouraging.”

Another sister, also newly professed at the time, Sister Eufemia Tarczyńska, remembered her as someone who was “always composed, cheerful, and smiling. I never heard her speak ill of anyone. She longed for holiness and wanted the entire world to be holy.”

ALICJA: MEETING HELENA

At this point, we might get the impression that the 20th century Polish mystic only experienced encounters with Jesus, but this is not the case. She also spoke with the Virgin Mary, saints—including St. Faustina, whose name she took for the Sacrament of Confirmation and who also received the Gift of Stigmata (Diary 705)—Angels, and the Holy Souls. Here is a short dialogue with St. Faustina that serves as a fitting conclusion to Part 4.   

(September 18, 1986, 9:30 a.m.)

[Alicja]: “My patroness, pray for me so that what is happening is not on the verge of psychopathy.”

[St. Faustina]: “Be at peace. To live in marriage with Jesus, one does not need to cross cloister walls. What matters is the decision of your heart and His Will. This does not need to be confirmed by people, nor made public. God the Father knows this and accepts it. You are already in such a state of union with Jesus that this is natural and is only a confirmation of the existing state.”

Contrition for one’s faults and spiritual failings, together with a constant readiness to offer everything to the Lord, are fundamental pillars of holiness. Sister Faustina understands this deeply, while Alicja is only beginning to discover the true meaning of contrition. The former has almost achieved mastery over self-love in her relationships with others; the latter is still learning to guard her tongue and keep her emotions in check.

In Part 5, we will address a theme deeply rooted in Anglo-Celtic culture: independence and self-confidence.

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Editor’s Note: Read the rest of this series on Alicja Lenczewska and St. Faustina here!

Photo by Afonso Azevedo Neves on Unsplash