One day in the novitiate, when the Novice Mistress sent me to work in the children’s kitchen, I was very worried, as I couldn’t manage with the cooking pots, because they were huge. The most difficult thing was draining the potatoes; sometimes I dropped half of them. At midday, as I was examining my conscience, I complained to God of my failing strength. Then I heard these words in my soul: “From today on you’ll have no difficulty at all with it. I shall reinforce your strength.”

In the evening, when it was time to drain the potatoes, I was the first one there, confident in the words of the Lord. I had no trouble with lifting the pot and managed to drain off the water quite easily. But when I lifted the lid to let the steam out, instead of potatoes, I saw sprays of indescribably beautiful red roses in the pot. I’d never seen any like them before. I was very surprised by this and could not understand what it meant, but just then I heard the voice in my soul saying: “I am turning your work into bouquets of the most beautiful flowers, and their fragrance is rising up to My throne.”

From that time on I did my best to be the one who drained the potatoes, not only in the week when I was scheduled to do the cooking, but also to do the draining for the sisters when it was their week on cooking duty. I tried also to be the first to help, not only with this job, but also with other difficult tasks, as I’d seen how much it pleased God. ◊

Words of Our Lord to St. Faustina,
taken from her “Diary”, n.65