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(Diary, # 349): One morning, during meditation, Sr. Faustina felt a painful thorn on the
left side of her head, which lasted the whole day. She meditated continuously about how Jesus
was able to suffer the pain of being crowned with thorns. Sr. Faustina united her suffering to
Jesus’ suffering and offered it for sinners. Then at four o’clock in the afternoon, during
Adoration, she saw in a vision that one of wards was sinning greatly against God by her impure
thoughts. She also saw the person who triggered her sin. Sr. Faustina’s soul was filled with fear,
and pleaded with God, for the sake of Jesus’ pain, to snatch her from this terrible misery.
(Diary, # 350): Jesus responded that He would grant the favor, not for the sinner’s sake
but for Sr. Faustina’s sake. Thereafter, Sr. Faustina understood how much one should pray for
sinners and especially the wards in the convent. She emphasized that one’s life should take on
the “apostolic spirit” meaning that, “Zeal for the salvation of souls should burn in our hearts.”
(Diary, # 1399): Once when Sr. Faustina dropped by the chapel in the evening, she felt a
thorn suddenly pierce her head, which lasted briefly. However, the pain was so great, as if the
thorn pierced her brain, so that her “head dropped onto the communion rail.” But, she considered
all this as “nothing” for it was “all for the sake of souls, to obtain God’s mercy for them.”
(Diary, # 1619): Sometime during the final two days of the “carnival” (a time of
amusement just prior to the Season of Lent), 193 the physical suffering of Sr. Faustina worsened.
But, she united herself more closely with the suffering of Jesus, begging for His mercy for the
whole world that is filled with wickedness. For the whole day, she felt the pain of the crown of
thorns on her head. She was also unable to put her head on the pillow. But by ten o’clock at
night, the pains stopped and she was able to fall asleep at last. But she still felt very tired through
the following day.
193
Ibid., Faustina, Diary, Endnotes, 689n240.
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