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III B.17 On the Unkindness of Others
(17.1) Do Not Be Troubled. Endure Martyrdom Silently, in Jesus 269
(Diary, # 181-182): On the unkindness of others, Sr. Faustina directs the soul to expect it,
accept it, and not to be troubled by it. But on the other hand, to endure the pain of martyrdom
silently, in Jesus. Sr. Faustina wrote in her Diary. :
Today I was cleaning the room of one of the sisters. Although I was trying to
clean it with utmost care, she kept following me all the time, and saying, “You’ve
left a speck of dust here and a spot on the floor there.” At each of her remarks, I
did each place over a dozen times just to satisfy her. It is not work that makes me
tired, but all this talking and excessive demands. My whole day’s martyrdom was
not enough for her, so she went to the Directress and complained, “Mother, who
is this careless sister who doesn’t know how to work quickly?” The next day, I
went again to do the same job, without trying to explain myself. When she started
driving me, I thought, “Jesus, one can be a silent martyr; it is not the work that
wears you out, but this kind of martyrdom (Diary, # 181)…
I learned that certain people have a special gift for vexing others. They try you as
best they can. The poor soul that falls into their hands can do nothing right; her
best efforts are maliciously criticized (Diary, # 182).
Sr. Faustina also wrote in her Diary:
A certain sister is constantly persecuting me for the sole reason that God
communes with me so intimately, and she thinks that this is all pretense on my
part. When she thinks that, I have done something amiss she says, “Some people
have revelations, but commit such faults!” She has said this to all of the Sisters
and always in a derogatory sense, in order to make me out as some sort of an
oddity. One day, it caused me much pain to think that this insignificant drop,
which is the human brain, can so easily scrutinize the gifts of God. After Holy
Communion, I prayed that the Lord would enlighten her, but nevertheless I
learned that this soul would not attain perfection if she does not change her
interior dispositions (Diary, # 1527).
(Diary, # 1528): Sr. Faustina went to the Lord about her pain concerning a certain
individual. She wrote in her Diary, “I complained to the Lord Jesus about a certain person,
“Jesus, how can this person pass judgment like that, even about an intention?” But the Lord
269
Ibid., Faustina, Diary, # 181-182, 1527-1528.
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