There are a number of Saint Gertrude’s actually. Today’s Saint Gertrude became a Benedictine
Abbess as is known as St. Gertrude the Great.
She was born of a noble family and placed with the Benedictine nuns for
education at the age of 5, with her sister Matilda, who would also become a
saint. Gertrude was very bright, easily
learning latin in her youth. She loved the study of theology, and had a
uncommon insight into the sacred scriptures.
Our Lord appeared to Gertrude in a vision, telling her that she in fact
was spending too much time studying, to the neglect of her spiritual life. So,
she united herself more deeply to the Lord, and made Him the first priority in
her life. That was really the beginning of a deep mystical life. From that
point on, she had a continual experience of the abiding presence of the Lord
with her, throughout her whole life, except for 11 days when the Lord decided
to test her faith.
Zeal for the Lord’s house consumed her. Gertrude had a deep concern for the salvation
of sinners and the souls in purgatory. She
meditated often on the Passion of the Lord and His love for sinners, and she shed
many tears at the foot of the cross for sinners and before the Blessed
Sacrament. Our Lord gave St. Gertrude a
prayer to pray for the holy souls of purgatory which goes: “Eternal Father, I
offer Thee the Most Precious Blood of Thy Divine Son, Jesus, in union with the
Masses said throughout the world today, for all the Holy Souls in Purgatory,
for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the universal church, those in my own home
and within my family. Amen.”
Gertrude received a number of extraordinary graces
throughout her life. She was taken as a mystical bride of Christ. In a vision,
Jesus placed the mystical wedding ring on her finger. She experienced ecstasies
in which she not only enjoyed the company of Our Lord, but His Holy Mother as
well. Even her favorite Saints came to visit her. She was united to Christ in
love, but also in suffering for the salvation of sinners. She received the Holy
Stigmata of the Heart—feeling deeply wounds of Christ’s heart in her own. After a long illness, born very patiently,
her death finally came in the year 1302.
On her deathbed, the Blessed Virgin Mary descended from heaven to assist
her passing, and one of Gertrude’s sisters saw her soul go straight to the
heart of Jesus which opened to receive her.
Saint Gertrude is certainly one of the great mystics of the
Church. A journal recording the
revelations Jesus made to her continues to be popular spiritual reading. She records in words the indescribable beauty
of the intimate conversation of her soul with Jesus and Mary.
Not a common life. An
extraordinary life, in fact, a life that seems so different from ours. The Lord Jesus gave this holy soul
extraordinary gifts—extraordinary ecstasies, but also, extraordinary
sufferings, which Gertrude no doubt saw as gifts.
Gertrude reminds us to put away the pursuits which keep us
from intimate union with Christ. To not be afraid, to radically seek Him in
prayer and humble service. She reminds
us that things of this world are often distractions, from seeking the one thing
that truly matters: the Sacred Heart of Christ.
May Gertrude assist us in our spiritual journeys, and pray
for us, that we may have the courage to open our hearts more fully to the heart
of Christ, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
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