Faustina Kowalska, the servant of God's mercy, was the third of ten children. She was born to a poor family. In 1921 after grade school, she started to work to support her family. Around this time she was considering a vocation in the Catholic church. She claimed that God himself was calling her to be a nun. Helena left for Warsaw, and applied to various convents in the capital, only to be turned down each time. She was finally accepted at the convent of the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy. She was eventually initiated as a nun on April 30, 1926, with the name Sister Maria Faustina of the Blessed Sacrament.