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Saint Gertrude, Spouse of Jesus, pray for us. 
 
 Thou wilt always find Me, if thou seek Me in the Sacr 
 of the Altar, or in the soul and heart of My 
 Beloved Spouse, Gertrude. 
 
 Saint Gertrude. 
 

 THE 
 
 HEART OF ST. GERTRUDE; 
 
 OR, 
 
 Heart According to That of Jesus, 
 
 FROM THE FRENCH OF 
 
 Le Pere L. J. M. Cros, S. J. 
 
 By P. P. S. 
 
 BALTIMORE: 
 
 JOHN MURPHY & CO. 
 
 1888. 
 
j6K 4-7ov 
 
 The Library 
 
 of Congress 
 
 WASHINGTON 
 
 Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1SS8, 
 
 By JOHN MURPHY & CO., 
 in the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. 
 
SANCTO JOSEPHO 
 
 VIRO MARINE, DE QUA NATUS EST JESUS 
 
 CCELITUM DECORI, 
 
 VIT.E NOSTRA SPEI CERTISSIMLE 
 
 MUNDI COLUMINI. 
 
 Whenever St. Joseph's name was heard in 
 Heaven, all the other Saints respectfully bowed 
 their heads towards this Spouse of the Virgin 
 Mother, and cast upon him looks of congratula- 
 tion upon his incomparable dignity. (Insinuation, 
 Divin. Pietat.j Lib. iv, Cap. xii.) 
 
INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 TT has pleased our Lord to declare that 
 the heart of St. Gertrude is a delight- 
 ful abode for Him, and this revelation is 
 confirmed by the following words of the 
 Church in the Office for the Saint's Feast: 
 " To manifest the merits of a Spouse so dear 
 to Him, Jesus Christ has made known that 
 He dwells in Gertrude's heart as in an abode 
 of delight." The prayers for the Feast 
 attest likewise, and in stronger terms, the 
 Church's approbation : " O God," we read 
 therein, "O God, Who hast prepared for 
 Thyself in the heart of Gertrude a delight- 
 ful abode, etc." 
 
 This heart being then in the eyes of the 
 Church, a temple, a sanctuary, a tabernacle 
 of Jesus Christ, Christian piety, far from 
 
 5 
 
6 Introductory. 
 
 being misled, is, on the contrary, assured 
 of instruction and edification, in making it 
 the object of an attentive study. 
 
 " But," some will say, " Jesus, the Heav- 
 enly Father, the Holy Spirit dwell in the 
 hearts of all the Saints, in all hearts and 
 souls filled with living charity, for so our 
 Lord has declared; why then should ths 
 Church designate thus, in God's name, Ger- 
 trude's heart as an abode of Jesus Christ?'' 
 
 Evidently, because Jesus Himself deigned 
 to honor especially the heart of His spouse ; 
 for Gertrude is indeed privileged among 
 the spouses of Jesus Christ* To be con- 
 vinced of this one needs but read the fol- 
 lowing words of the Heart of Jesus to 
 Gertrude : 
 
 " I have chosen to dwell in thee, and find 
 in thee My delight.f 
 
 *Sexagintasunt reginse . . . et adolescentularuin 
 non est numerus : una est coluinba mea, perfecta 
 mea. (Cant, vi, 7, 8.) 
 
 f Insin., L. I, Cap. xiv, xviii, edit. Salisburgens., 
 1662. 
 
Introductory, 7 
 
 "In thee I wish to amass My treasures 
 and collect all the riches of My grace ; and 
 if any desire and seek these goods, I will 
 that they find them in thee.* 
 
 " I have made of thy heart a channel 
 united to Mine, and through which waves 
 of divine consolation shall flow into hum- 
 ble, confiding souls that seek it of thee.f 
 
 " Whatever a soul hopes to obtain through 
 thy intercession, will surely be granted it. J 
 
 11 1 wish to clothe Myself in thee : con- 
 cealed under this protecting veil, My Hand 
 may thus be enabled to seize sinners and do 
 them good, without being wounded by their 
 stings. I desire likewise to clothe thee in 
 Myself, so as to communicate the same 
 honors and favors to all whom thou wilt 
 bring nigh to Me by recalling them to thy 
 memory. || 
 
 " I attest upon My Omnipotence, that I 
 
 *Insin., L. I, Cap. xix. 
 t Ibid., L. in, Cap. lxvii. 
 J Ibid., L. I, Cap. xv, xvii. 
 || Ibid., L. ill, Cap. xviii. 
 
8 Introductory. 
 
 desire to take no complacency in any crea- 
 ture, without at the same time delighting 
 Myself in thee. My love unites Me to thee 
 by bonds so interlaced, that I will not live 
 happy without thee.* 
 
 " Thou may est give Me thy orders as if 
 thou wert a queen, a sovereign : never was 
 servant more prompt to obey his mis: 
 commands than I will be to comply with 
 all thy desires." f 
 
 Such indeed, among many others of like 
 import, are the words St. Gertrude herself 
 declares she heard from the mouth of Jesus 
 Christ. Hence, the following, also from our 
 Lord, addressed to souls connected with 
 Gertrude by a holy friendship, will not sur- 
 prise the reader : 
 
 " One is ever assured of finding Me when 
 seeking Me either in the Sacrament of the 
 Altar, or in the soul and heart of My 
 beloved spouse Gertrude. % 
 
 *Insin., L. i, Cap. xii; L. in, Cap. Y. 
 flbid., L. in, Cap. xxxiii. 
 J Ibid., L. i, Cap.iV. 
 
Introductory. 9 
 
 " Her soul is so dear to Me that I have 
 made it My refuge. And concealing Myself 
 
 in I rind consolation for the on:: 
 men heap upon Me.* 
 
 3 all in all to Me : love has made 
 Me her captive, and united her to Me even 
 as the fire melts and fuses into one mass 
 diver or gold.T 
 
 " She is a lily I love to hold in My Hand ; 
 she is My embalmed rose, t 
 
 " Gertrude's heart is as a safe bridge over 
 which one may safely reach Me without 
 falling or growing dizzy." || 
 
 Finally, a prayer of the Heart of Jesus 
 to His Heavenly Father contains within 
 itself and crowns all these praises : 
 
 " O Holy Father, for Thy eternal glory, 
 may Gertrude's heart pour out upon men the 
 treasures enclosed in My Human Heart." § 
 
 * Insin., L. i, Cap. iv. 
 
 p. iv. 
 J Ibid., L. I, Cap. iv. 
 [Ibid., L. I, Cap. xv. 
 § Ibid., L. in, Cap. xxx« 
 
10 Introductory. 
 
 Having heard these accents of the love 
 of a God, one may no longer doubt that 
 Gertrude's heart is a most privileged one, 
 and Gertrude a spouse loved with an espe- 
 cial predilection. But what can be the 
 secret of this predilection of Jesus Christ ? 
 The Church aids us to discover it, when she 
 tells us that our Lord, before taking up His 
 abode in Gertrude's heart, there prepared 
 Himself a dwelling according to His de- 
 sires; and Gertrude herself reveals the 
 secret, laying open before us in detail the 
 amorous industry of Jesus in fashioning 
 her heart according to His own. 
 
 To study, to contemplate in the writings 
 of St. Gertrude the common work of her 
 soul and Jesus Christ's love, — is the object 
 of this little book. No doubt, it will foil 
 far short of what the author so earnestly 
 desires it should be — a faithful portrayal 
 of the spirit of the Saint, as evinced in the 
 original ; yet, in spite of this, he hopes his 
 readers will find these pages both interesting 
 and useful — interesting, because therein the 
 
Introductory. 11 
 
 heart of St. Gertrude is laid bare before 
 them, and what Jesus so loved must needs be 
 ever lovely and attractive — useful, because 
 the lessons Jesus gave Gertrude are ap- 
 plicable to all Christians, and He will not 
 fail to prepare for Himself a delightful 
 abode in the hearts of all who hearken to 
 His words with the avidity of Gertrude. 
 
 Moreover, it was for our instruction, and 
 only in obedience to Jesus Who commanded 
 her to do so, that Gertrude committed to 
 writing these lessons of her Spouse. 
 
 u I could not," she says, " resolve to yield 
 to our Lord's desires on this point ; and one 
 day He said to me : ' Thou shalt not leave 
 this world until thou hast written what I 
 desire thee to write. I exact this of thee, 
 that these writings may be, in the far future, 
 a pledge of My divine bounty . . . through 
 them will I benefit souls innumerable . . . 
 whilst thou writest, I will press thy heart 
 to Mine, and instil into it, drop by drop, 
 what thou shouldst say.' " 
 
 When the book was finished, Jesus ap- 
 
12 Introductory. 
 
 peared to her and said : " This book is 
 Mine, and I have steeped it in the depths 
 of My Heart ; each letter has there imbibed 
 the sweetness of My Divinity, and whoever, 
 for My glory, shall read it with humble de- 
 votion, will derive therefrom the fruits of 
 eternal salvation for his soul. 
 
 " For the salvation of mankind, I change, 
 at the Mass, bread and wine into My Body 
 and Blood : so, in like manner, have I con- 
 secrated this book by My benediction, that 
 it may be conducive to the salvation of 
 those who read it with humility and devo- 
 tion. 
 
 " Not a letter in it but charms Me, for 
 each exhales the ineffable sweetness of the 
 perfume of My Mercy. This book is Mine, 
 and I bless it ; I adorn it with the roses of 
 My Five Wounds, and I seal it with the 
 Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit, as so many 
 seals attesting my possession of it, and no 
 one shall be able to take it from Me."* 
 
 *Insin., L. n, Cap. x; L. V, Cap. xxxv. Vide 
 alia, Cap. xxxvi et xxxvii. 
 
Introductory. 13 
 
 Our Lord has given to St. Gertrude's 
 book titles at once mysterious and explana- 
 tory. He calls it: Insinuations of the 
 Divine Bounty, Insinuationes Divince Pie- 
 tatis; Memorial of the Divine Bounty, 
 Memorials Divince Pietatis ; Messenger of 
 the Divine Bounty, Legatns Divince Pie- 
 tatis. One readily perceives that this divine 
 goodness pervading every page is the Heart 
 of Jesus, so that the book is truly a Mes- 
 senger of the Heart of Jesus, sent to souls 
 to awaken in them the memory of His 
 love and fill them with its divine influ- 
 ences. 
 
 Under the common title of Insinuationes 
 Divince Pietatis, is published a volume in 
 five books, the first and second of which 
 were written by St. Gertrude's own hand, 
 about the year 1289. The last three were 
 only dictated by her, or written under her 
 direction or by her orders, the irrefutable 
 proof of which fact is found in chapter 
 XXV, of the fifth book, where we read: 
 " When this book was finished, Jesus ap- 
 
14 Introductory. 
 
 peared to her." Then follow the divine 
 promises already referred to. 
 
 The Saint's secretary also gives us an 
 account of the last moments and death of 
 the Spouse of Jesus Christ. 
 
 The material of the present volume is 
 taken principally from the first, second and 
 third books of the Insinuations. 
 
 The first contains a biographical notice 
 of St. Gertrude, and an abridged picture 
 of her virtues. The author of this book 
 was, for several years, the Saint's most in- 
 timate and confidential friend.* 
 
 In the second, St. Gertrude herself, and 
 in the third, a depositary of her soul's se- 
 crets exposes the favors Jesus accorded her 
 
 -Ad (Dei) laudem, ea quae multis annis secreta 
 quadarn familiaritate ab hac sancta virgine perci- 
 pere potui, revelabo. (Lib. I, Cap. vi.) This con- 
 fidant was perhaps the pious and learned Theodoric 
 of Alpudia. Lanspergius says of him in his preface 
 to the Insinuations* : " Qui cum sancta hac virgine 
 yaria saepenumero habebat colloquia, ejusque spir- 
 itum ac verba magnopere praedicabat. Quo etiam 
 auctore liber natus est." 
 
Introductory. 15 
 
 and the instructions He gave her in pre- 
 paring her heart for the grace of perfect 
 union. 
 
 We have borrowed from the fifth book 
 the description therein given of St. Ger- 
 trude's happy end. All is delicious honey 
 in Gertrude's book ; and in reading it we 
 are reminded of this counsel of the Holy 
 Spirit : ''It is not good for a man to eat 
 much honey." 
 
 It had been easy indeed, were it neces- 
 sarv, to adduce pages of illustrious testi- 
 mony in favor of the writings of a Saint 
 whom Teresa of Jesus and Francis de Sales 
 honored and loved as their spiritual mother, 
 but the veneration the Church pays them 
 renders their testimony all sufficient ; and 
 moreover, the Church herself declares that 
 Gertrude was favored with divine revela- 
 tions, and that her spiritual writings are 
 wholesome food for Christian piety.* 
 
 * Office of the Saint, Lesson VI.— The holy abbot 
 of Liesse, Louis de Blois, who lived about the year 
 1530, was accustomed to read over all St. Gertrude's 
 
16 Introductory. 
 
 We shall make no effort to prove that in 
 these marvellous communications between 
 the Heart of Jesus Christ and Gertrude's, 
 there is nothing that should be repugnant 
 to the pious belief of the reader. This book 
 is addressed to souls who value the judg- 
 ment of the Church far above learned dis- 
 sertation, and the Church recognizes that it 
 has pleased Jesus to love thus His spouse 
 Gertrude. Moreover, the lives of all the 
 Saints reveal facts not less marvellous, and 
 it is only the unthinking who are astonished 
 that the God made man for love of man 
 should thus deign to converse familiarly, in 
 the present life, with those whose Brother 
 He has become, and who are destined to a 
 life of familiarity with Him in eternity. 
 
 writings twelve times a year; and he also advised 
 those in whose spiritual advancement he was inter- 
 ested, to read them. The friend of his from whom 
 we obtain this information adds : " The venerable 
 abbot's writings are redolent of the spirit of St. 
 Gertrude ; there is scarcely a page of his precious 
 works in which one cannot trace ideas evidently 
 drawn from the source so dear to him.' , 
 
THE HEART OF ST. GERTRUDE; 
 
 OR, 
 
 A Heart According to That of Jesus. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 rpHE illustrious order of St. Benedict has 
 -*- the honor of having given to the 
 Church three virgin Saints named Gertrude. 
 
 The first was the daughter of the duke 
 of Brabant, Pepin de Landen, and his 
 virtuous wife, Iduberge. On becoming a 
 widow, Iduberge founded the monastery of 
 Nivelle, and there consecrated to God her 
 daughter Gertrude, who died in the year 
 664, at the age of thirty-three. 
 
 Another Gertrude, daughter of Pepin the 
 Short and Berbertha or Bertrade, died in 
 2 17 
 
18 The Heart of St. Gertrude. 
 
 the odor of sanctity, and was venerated 
 after her death at the monastery of Neu- 
 stadt, which Charlemagne, her brother, had 
 founded. This blessed death occurred about 
 the year 794. 
 
 But the most celebrated of the three 
 Benedictine virgins is she whose memory 
 the Roman Church honors on the 15th of 
 November, and it is this Gertrude who 
 forms the subject of our book. 
 
 Several centuries elapsed between her life 
 and those of the other two. They who deny 
 this could not certainly have read her writ- 
 ings attentively ; for these give undeniable 
 proofs that Gertrude devoutly celebrated 
 the feasts of St. Bernard, St. Dominic, St. 
 Francis — likewise, that she was not only a 
 contemporary, and a friend of St. Mech- 
 tilde, but probably her sister. 
 
 Gertrude was born at Eisleben, in the 
 Duchy of Mansfield, on the feast of the 
 Epiphany, 1222. Her parents were noble 
 and rich. 
 
 " In this blessed child," says an old his- 
 
Gertrude's Childhood. 19 
 
 torian, "the fruits seemed to precede the 
 flowers ; her first steps crushed under foot 
 the vanities of the world, and her first salu- 
 tation to it was an eternal adieu. " And in 
 reality she was not yet five years old, when 
 with her parents' consent she retired to the 
 monastery of Rodersdorff, in the diocese of 
 Halberstadt. 
 
 Innocence was not the only virtue of the 
 little Gertrude. Her good sense, prudence 
 and piety were wonderful in one so young, 
 and the amiability of her disposition was 
 such as to win all hearts. To these quali- 
 ties were added rare intellectual gifts, which 
 with her love of study soon caused her to 
 outstrip all her companions. At a very 
 early age, she became familiar with the 
 Latin language, and her fondness for liter- 
 ature amounted to a passion. Moreover, 
 the purity of her heart permitted her to 
 see clearly the true and beautiful, whilst 
 the serenity that reigned in her soul could 
 but favor in a remarkable degree her intel- 
 lectual progress. 
 
20 The Heart of St Gertrude. 
 
 It was thus Gertrude grew from child- 
 hood to womanhood, preserved from even 
 the shadow of evil, thanks to the continued 
 vigilance of Him whose love ever encom- 
 passed her ; and hence "it is Him we must 
 thank, in Gertrude's name," says one who 
 had her holiest confidence. May He be 
 blessed throughout eternity ! * 
 
 * Synopsis vitae S. Gertrudis, auctore Laurent. 
 Clement. Benedictin. — Insinuate Lib. I, Cap. i. 
 
CHAPTEE II. 
 
 ^1 ERTRUDE had now reached her 
 ^^ twenty-fifth year; her piety and 
 many other beautiful qualities of mind and 
 heart all combined to make her the ornament 
 and treasure of the monastery of Heldelfs, 
 when suddenly, enlightened from on high, 
 she sees what no one else saw, and what 
 hitherto had been unsuspected by herself — 
 her soul was sterile, disordered, guilty even, 
 and God invited her to be converted to 
 Him. 
 
 I. 
 
 Let us listen to Gertrude's own account 
 of this great event of her life : 
 
 "May my soul bless Thee, O God, my 
 Creator! May all within me sing Thy 
 praises ! With what patient charity didst 
 
 21 
 
22 The Heart of St. Gertrude. 
 
 Thou not shut Thy eyes, as it were, to the 
 years of my infancy, childhood and youth, 
 spent in the pursuit of vanity ! For did I 
 not indeed live as if a pagan among pagan 
 people, ignoring Thee, my God, who dost 
 reward the good and punish the wicked? 
 Such was my folly that until I had nearly 
 completed my twenty-fifth year, I would 
 probably, without remorse or scruple, have 
 permitted myself any thought, word or 
 action, inconsiderate or even guilty, had 
 not Thy mercy restrained me, either by in- 
 creasing in my heart that natural horror 
 of evil and relish for good so early im- 
 planted there, or by exciting the vigilance 
 and zeal of the guardians of my soul. 
 
 "And yet, notwithstanding such conduct, 
 what was there Thou hadst not done for 
 me? When but in my fifth year, Thou 
 didst introduce me into the sanctuary of 
 the religious life, remitting; me to the care 
 of Thy dearest friends. Ah ! should I not 
 have spent every instant in blessing Thee ! 
 but alas! so negligent, so guilty indeed was 
 
Gertrudes Conversion. 23 
 
 my life, that, if possible, it had diminished 
 Thy divine beatitude, and obscured that 
 glory it should have been my most ardent 
 desire to increase. Touched by Thy grace, 
 my heart now deplores these wanderings, 
 and Thou knowest, Thou alone knowest the 
 bitterness of my regret." 
 
 It is but natural to ask, what then 
 Gertrude's wanderings and errors were. 
 Truth forces us to say that they were far 
 other than those of sinners, being in reality 
 nothing more serious than a certain juvenile 
 levity, puerile vanities and an excessive love 
 of study, literature and the sciences, as we 
 shall soon learn from her own accusations 
 against self. * 
 
 . * All the Saints, even the most innocent, have re- 
 garded themselves as the greatest of sinners, which 
 sentiment may be explained in several ways. "We 
 will content ourselves with giving but one explana- 
 tion as contained in the following fines borrowed 
 from the life of St. Francis of Assissium (Wading, 
 annal.) : " A companion of St. Francis said to him 
 one day : ' Father, everybody runs after you and 
 venerates you as a saint : now, tell me, what is 
 
24 The Heart of St. Gertrude. 
 
 "Buried in an abyss of humiliation, I 
 adore Thee, O Father of mercy, and praise 
 Thy unbounded goodness; for this it was 
 that when I walked in the paths of perdi- 
 tion ever bore me in mind, and meditated 
 upon my soul, not indeed in designs of ven- 
 geance, but of love, seeking to exalt my 
 baseness by the multitude and grandeur of 
 its benefits, as if I had distinguished myself 
 among men by the life of an Angel. " 
 
 " It was in Advent, and on the next feast 
 of the Epiphany I would complete my 
 twenty-fifth year. Thou didst now fill my 
 heart with an indescribable longing and 
 unrest, whose salutary effects w r ere to give 
 me a disgust for the frivolities and levity 
 of youth ; this was the first step of Thy love 
 
 your opinion of yourself. ' Francis replied, ' I am 
 the vilest of sinners.' ' How can you think that ?' 
 was the answer ; 'you are not a thief, a murderer, 
 an adulterer. 7 ' If such sinners as you have men- 
 tioned,' said Francis, 'had received the graces I 
 have, they would have made better use of them, 
 serving God more zealously and advancing His 
 glory far more than I have done.' M 
 
Gertrude's Conversion. 25 
 
 in preparing my heart for Thyself. Then 
 gradually, Thou didst overthrow the fortress 
 of vanity and curiosity, which pride had 
 raised in my interior, notwithstanding I 
 bore the habit and name of a religious, 
 alas, so un worthily !" 
 
 II. 
 
 "This unrest lasted until Monday, the 
 27th of the following January. That happy 
 day saw an end to my puerile vanities, and 
 the shades that had enveloped my soul were 
 dissipated. 
 
 " The feast of the Purification of Thy 
 chaste Mother approached. I was in the 
 dormitory, after Compline, just at the beau- 
 tiful hour of evening twilight, when one of 
 our aged Sisters passed by. According to 
 the rule of our Order, I made an inclina- 
 tion towards her in token of respect. Rais- 
 ing my head, w T hom should I behold but 
 Thyself, O my Beloved, my Redeemer, O 
 Most Beautiful among the children of men! 
 
26 The Heart of St Gertrude. 
 
 " Thou didst appear to me as an amiable, 
 modest youth of about sixteen years of age, 
 thus not disdaining to accommodate Thy- 
 self to my infirmities, in clothing Thyself 
 with a form which Thou didst know would 
 be pleasing to my eyes. 
 
 " Standing before me, Thou didst say to 
 me in accents of indescribable sweetness : 
 1 Thy salvation is near at hand ; why dost 
 thou so afflict thyself about it ? Hast thou 
 no counsellor, no friend who can assuage 
 thy ever-renewed sorrows ? ' 
 
 " These were Thy words, and suddenly, 
 though fully conscious that I was still in 
 the dormitory, I beheld myself in the choir, 
 in the corner where I was accustomed to 
 make my careless, tepid meditations, and 
 there Thou didst speak to me again : ' I will 
 save thee and deliver thee ; fear not/ Thou 
 didst say, taking my right hand in Thy 
 own noble hand, as if in pledge of Thy 
 words, and adding : ' With My enemies thou 
 hast licked the earth ; suck now the honey 
 sticking to the thorns ; return to Me ; I will 
 
Gertrudes Conversion. 27 
 
 welcome thee tenderly, and inebriate thee 
 with the torrent of My divine joys. 1 * 
 
 "Out of myself with excess of joy on 
 hearing these words, I endeavored to ap- 
 proach Thee, but now saw, for the first 
 time, that a long hedge, so long that I could 
 see neither end of it, lay between Thee and 
 me. I longed to force my way through, 
 but it was bristling with sharp thorns, and 
 in no part of it could I perceive the least 
 break that would allow me to reach Thee, 
 Thou only joy of my heart. 
 
 "And now, whilst burning with desire 
 of reaching Thee, I detested and bewailed 
 my sins and defects, of which this hedge was 
 the figure ; Thou, Father of the poor, didst 
 extend Thy hand to mine, and immediately, 
 without the least effort, I was beside Thee. 
 
 "My eyes fell upon Thy Hand, and there 
 I saw, sweet Jesus, the scars of those Wounds 
 that paid all our debts. 
 
 "And now, from this moment, my soul 
 was enlightened, my heart softened, Thy 
 powerful grace extinguishing within me all 
 
28 The Heart of St, Gertrude. 
 
 disorderly passion for worldly learning, and 
 detaching me from all my vanities. What 
 had heretofore charmed me, now appeared 
 contemptible. I commenced to taste only 
 Thyself, O my God. I had not known the 
 interior of my soul ; Thou didst acquaint 
 me with it; and from this hour henceforth, 
 in the depths of my heart, hast Thou con- 
 versed with me as a dear friend living under 
 the same roof, as a tender Spouse with His 
 Beloved. 
 
 "I praise Thee, I bless Thee, I return 
 Thee thanks, not as I should, but as I am 
 able, for having, with so much amiability 
 and sweetness, commenced the work of 
 my conversion. Blessed be Thy merciful 
 wisdom which didst devise so engaging a 
 manner of bringing under Thy yoke my 
 stubborn, rebellious will, and making light 
 and easy for me a burden I had believed 
 insupportable." * 
 
 *Lib. I, Cap. ii; Lib. I, Cap. i; Lib. I, Cap. 
 xxiii. — The Benedictine Father, Laurent Clement, 
 fixes (and with some degree of probability) the 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 Sbrlmta^ jSandifiorfurtt* 
 
 /H ERTRUDE'S heart was turned to God: 
 ^-^ the orators and poets of pagan Rome 
 no longer charmed her ears and consumed 
 her moments of leisure. She now devoted 
 to the study of the Fathers of the Church 
 and to meditation upon the Holy Scrip- 
 tures, all the hours not allotted to prayer 
 or the work of the Community. Very soon, 
 mystic theology had no secrets from her; 
 God taught her to penetrate the most 
 hidden sense of the Inspired Books, and 
 
 period of Gertrude's birth in the year 1222. Hence, 
 her conversion took place, January 27, 1247. — We 
 lay especial stress upon these dates as important 
 epochs in the life of our Saint. She herself fur- 
 nishes us all the data and information, save that 
 of one year. 
 
 29 
 
30 The Heart of St. Gertrude. 
 
 she was enabled to instruct the clergy 
 themselves, who often had recourse to her 
 for enlightenment. Regarding herself as 
 a depository of divine treasures, she felt 
 constrained to dispense them to all around 
 her ; and not content with communicating 
 to these alone, the lights which illumined 
 her from Heaven, in the hours of study 
 or prayer, she carefully preserved the 
 memory of them in books written by her 
 own hand, thus ensuring them to future 
 generations, 
 
 Meanwhile, Jesus continued the work of 
 sanctifi cation which was to prepare for 
 Himself a delightful abode in her heart. 
 Jesus was working in and with Gertrude 
 daily ; but there are two especially memo- 
 rable days which were characterized by 
 such an abundance of marvellous graces 
 that she has seen fit to mark the dates 
 thereof: the eve of the Annunciation of our 
 Lady, March 24, 1247, and the feast of the 
 Ascension of the same year. She says : 
 
Gertrude s Sanctification. 31 
 
 I. 
 
 " Among the many graces received from 
 Thee, O Light of my soul, from the hour 
 of Thy first apparition, there is one that 
 far outweighs all others. Heretofore I had 
 never carefully considered the interior of 
 my soul; but now my gaze was directed 
 towards it, and illumined by Thee I dis- 
 cerned much therein that was intolerable 
 to Thy sanctity ; so great was the disorder 
 reigning throughout that it were indeed an 
 abode utterly unworthy of Thee. And yet 
 my unsightliness repelled Thee not, my 
 most loving Jesus; and in the frequent 
 Communions of the days which followed, I 
 saw Thee sensibly present, although not 
 clear and distinct as in open day, but rather 
 as if enveloped in auroral mists. 
 
 " Thou didst wish by this amiable con- 
 descension, to encourage me to continue the 
 work which would prepare me for the full 
 enjoyment of Thy presence and love. 
 
 " Scarcely had I set about this task, when 
 
32 The Heart of St. Gertrude. 
 
 Thou didst deign to visit and fill me with 
 the blessings of Thy sweetness — me, so un- 
 worthy of such favors. It was on a Sunday 
 after Matins, and the eve of the Annuncia- 
 tion. 
 
 " How shall I describe the ineffable joys 
 of Thy visit? I cannot find words to do 
 so. I can but immolate, in the depths of 
 my heart, a host of praise, conjuring Thee 
 often to repeat this favor to myself and Thy 
 elect, making us experience the sweetness 
 of such union and joy as until that hour I 
 had never imagined. Everything in my 
 past life shows clearly that this was a gra- 
 tuitous gift of Thy love. 
 
 " Thus didst Thou labor with marvellous 
 suavity to detach my heart from everything 
 and draw it to Thee. 
 
 II. 
 
 " Again, one day, in the interval between 
 the feasts of the Resurrection and Ascen- 
 sion of our Lord, seated in the garden near 
 
Gertrude's Sand Ijicat ion. 33 
 
 a little lake, I let my thoughts revel in the 
 beauties of the spot. I was charmed with 
 the transparency of the waters, the refresh- 
 ing coolness of the shade, the joyous flights 
 of numberless birds, especially the doves, 
 that flew hither and thither around me, but 
 more than all, w T ith the mysterious peace- 
 fulness of my retreat. 
 
 " It was then, O Jesus, Author of all true 
 joys, Thou didst whisper to my soul : ' If, 
 by gratitude, thou makest ascend to Me the 
 waters of My graces ; if, increasing in vir- 
 tue, thou clothest thyself with good works 
 like a rich verdure ; if, detached from all 
 earthly objects, thou art free like the dove 
 to soar towards heaven, there to abide with 
 Me, far from the noise of the world, thou 
 preparest and givest Me a more delightful 
 abode in thy heart than that of any garden, 
 how beautiful soever it be. 
 
 "All day long, this thought was before 
 
 me ; and at night, kneeling to say the last 
 
 prayers as usual before retiring, suddenly, 
 
 my mind was filled with these words of the 
 
 3 
 
34 The Heart of St. Gertrude. 
 
 Gospel : 'If any one love Me, he will keep 
 My word, and My Father will love him, 
 and we will come to him, and will make 
 Our abode with him.' At the same instant, 
 my heart of flesh, my corruptible heart felt 
 that Thou hadst entered therein and taken 
 possession of it, Thou, my God, my only 
 Beloved ! 
 
 "Oh ! that my eyes could have shed an 
 ocean of bloody tears to wash away the 
 sink of iniquity within me, since Thou, 
 Sovereign Dignity, didst deign to make 
 Thy abode with me ! Oh ! that I could, 
 just for an hour, have snatched from my 
 breast this heart, and rending it in pieces, 
 cast it thus into a living brasier, that puri- 
 fied from the least stains, it might become 
 not indeed worthy, but less unworthy of 
 serving Thee as an abode ! " 
 
 "We have seen that Jesus draws Gertrude 
 to Himself, contracts an alliance with her, 
 and finally, establishes Himself in her heart. 
 He must now fully assimilate that heart to 
 His own, and consummate that union the 
 
Gertrude s Sanctification. 35 
 
 perfection of which is expressed by St. 
 Paul in these words : " I live, not now I, 
 but Jesus Christ liveth in me." 
 
 New favors, of which the Saint has given 
 us a detailed description, manifest in vivid 
 colors these supernatural operations of grace. 
 Gertrude mentions three of the principal 
 ones : the impression of the Wounds of Jesus 
 in her heart, which took place during the 
 winter of 1249; the Transverberation of 
 her heart, on the third Sunday of Advent, 
 1254; the transforming and deifying visit 
 of the Infant Jesus to her heart, on the 
 Christmas of the same year. 
 
 III. 
 
 " It was during the winter of the first, or 
 perhaps the second year after my conversion, 
 that I found in a little book, the following 
 prayer. 
 
 " i O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living 
 God, grant me to aspire after the possession 
 of Thee ; enkindle in my heart an ardent 
 
36 The Heart of St. Gertrude. 
 
 desire, a burning thirst for Thee. May I 
 live and breathe in Thee, sweetest Jesus, 
 and may all the pulsations of my heart, be 
 directed to Thee, O Thou Supreme Happi- 
 ness! 
 
 " ' With Thy Precious Blood, most merci- 
 ful Lord, engrave Thy Wounds upon my 
 heart, that reading therein Thy sufferings 
 and Thy love, I may be excited to compas- 
 ate them, and the fire of ardent love for 
 Thee, be enkindled within me. Grant that 
 every creature may become as naught to me, 
 and Thou alone my all/ 
 
 " This prayer pleased me very much, and 
 I often recited it. It was during this same 
 winter, soon after finding this little prayer, 
 w T hilst seated in the refectory, near a Sister 
 to whom I had confided the secret of several 
 divine favors vouchsafed me, that I sud- 
 denly become conscious that our Lord, in 
 spite of my unworthiness had deigned to 
 hear me. I felt, O my God, that thou didst 
 distinctly imprint upon my heart, the Stig- 
 mata of Thy Five Adorable Wounds ; and 
 
Gertrude's Sanctifieation. 37 
 
 notwithstanding my exceeding unworthi- 
 ness, Thy infinite bounty, has, even to this 
 hour, preserved therein the impression ! 
 
 " Later on, in the seventh year of my con- 
 version, towards the approach of Advent, a 
 person, yielding to my importunity, daily 
 recited before the crucifix the following 
 short prayer for me : 
 
 " ' O most loving Lord, I pray Thee by 
 Thy wounded Heart to pierce Gertrude's 
 with the arrows of Thy love, that being 
 freed from all terrestrial dross, it may 
 be thoroughly penetrated by the divine 
 action.' 
 
 " Shortly after, on the third Sunday of 
 Advent, dining Mass, and especially as I 
 going to the altar, Thou didst enkindle 
 in me, O my God, so ardent a desire for 
 this favor that I was constrained to cry out, 
 in the depths of my soul, ' Lord, I confess 
 that I have done nothing to render myself 
 worthy of the least of Thy gifts, and yet I 
 dare conjure Thy bounty that regarding 
 not mine, but the merits of souls here pres- 
 
38 The Heart of St. Gertrude. 
 
 ent, Thou wouldst deign to transpierce my 
 heart with an arrow of Thy love.' 
 
 " I felt immediately that my prayer was 
 answered. Having returned to my place, 
 after receiving the Sacrament of Love, and 
 casting my eyes upon the crucifix in the 
 sanctuary, I saw escaping from the Wound 
 in the Side a ray of light, pointed as an 
 arrow. 
 
 " It inundated me with torrents of de- 
 light ; but the desires of my soul were not 
 fully satisfied until the following Wed- 
 nesday. 
 
 " The Mass was nearly ended, the priest 
 reading the words which recalled Thy ador- 
 able Incarnation. I was not altogether 
 recollected and attentive, yet notwithstand- 
 ing, it was then Thy arrow wounded my 
 heart and Thou didst say to me : ' I will 
 that the waves of thy affection rise to 
 Me.' 
 
 " Thou, O God, Who readest all my 
 secrets, knowest that Thy graces in my 
 heart have always been as royal diamonds 
 
rtrudes Scuictificaiion. 39 
 
 Jost in an unclean vase. Oh! inspire then, 
 him who reads these writings, with a tender 
 compassion for Thee, that, admiring the 
 bounty with which for the salvation of 
 souls Thou hast consented to leave even 
 until now Thy precious jewels in such a 
 vile receptacle, and endeavoring to supply 
 my deficiencies, he say to Thee with heart 
 and lips : 
 
 " ' Father, O God from Whom all good 
 proceeds, Thou dost merit all praise: to Thee 
 be honor, benediction and glory ! ' 
 
 " It was the anniversary of that blessed 
 night in which Heaven distilled upon earth 
 the dew of the Divinity : whilst with my 
 Sisters, exciting my soul to the holy offices 
 of servant of the glorious Mother of the 
 Infant Man God, I felt that a tender, new 
 born Infant was placed in my heart, At 
 the same instant, I beheld my soul entirely 
 transformed ; its color (if I may be per- 
 mitted to call by the name of color, that to 
 which nothing visible is comparable) was 
 that of the infant ; and I was filled with an 
 
40 The Heart of St. Gertrude. 
 
 ineffable comprehension of these ravishing 
 words : ' God will be all in all/ 
 
 " Jesus now said to me : ' As I, in My 
 Divinity, am the figure of the substance of 
 My Father, so thou shalt be the living 
 image of My Humanity ; and as the sun 
 communicates to the air, his own clearness 
 and light, thus will I deify thy soul, pene- 
 trating it with the rays of My Divinity.' 
 
 " O power, O mercy of God ! truly infinite 
 indeed ! how hast Thou poured the inappre- 
 ciable liquor of Thy graces into a vase of 
 clay, a vase destined of itself to ignominy ! " 
 
 IV. 
 
 We have already observed, and St. Ger- 
 trude herself remarks it, that these marvel- 
 ous favors and others with which she was 
 honored, for instance, the interchange of 
 hearts between Jesus and herself, conceal 
 operations beyond the ken of human under- 
 standing. She designates them in her mys- 
 tic language by such words as attraction, 
 
trude's Satictification. 41 
 
 union, inhabitation, consummation. Noth- 
 ing binders our contemplating the image 
 
 of thai consummation in the scene just 
 
 described, and no doubt it will be profitable 
 for us to do bo. The end of sanctity is indeed 
 the being fully transformed into Jesus, and 
 participating thus, in a measure incompre- 
 hensible, in the plenitude of the divine 
 filiation. Now Jesus Himself in the Gos- 
 pel, has given us clearly to understand, 
 that the humility, sweetness and simplicity 
 of His Heart, are just such as we see in 
 childhood : for thus He expresses the per- 
 fection of sanctity when He says : u Who- 
 soever, therefore, shall humble himself as 
 this little child, he is the greater in the 
 kingdom of Heaven." Hence, Jesus con- 
 summated this sanctifying work in Ger- 
 trude's heart, when under the form of the 
 Infant God, He transformed it into the 
 image of His Humanity, and inundated it 
 with the rays of His Divine Nature. 
 
 Let us observe that these graces were not 
 the work of sanctitv, but rather successive 
 
42 The Heart of St. Gertrude. 
 
 compensations for work accomplished, and 
 encouragement to new labors, these favors 
 crowning virtues already obtained, and 
 inviting Gertrude to the acquirement of 
 others. The transformation which the 
 Heart of Jesus wrought in Gertrude's 
 progressed by slow degrees only, and it 
 was not yet consummated, when nine years 
 after her conversion, she exclaimed, " I have 
 seen my heart transformed. " And long 
 years after, she still with Jesus pursued this 
 grand work, striving earnestly to make her 
 heart humble, sweet, pure, abandoned to 
 God's good pleasure, and devoured with 
 zeal for the salvation of souls, — in a word, 
 a heart modelled upon that of Jesus. 
 
 Gertrude herself will reveal to us the 
 labors that began and finally consummated 
 its transformation, but she will first tell us 
 how great a part the Blessed Virgin Mary 
 had in this grand and beautiful work. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Wjp jRpm % $&*»& Tirgm fait 
 ju ©orirutr^s jlantiifinittxm* 
 
 n^TO saint probably has understood bet- 
 -*-^ ter than Gertrude, the necessity and 
 power of Mary's assistance in the sanctifica- 
 tion of souls. Our Lord Himself was pleased 
 to manifest to her the incomparable dignity 
 to which the Blessed Trinity had exalted 
 our Lady, making her co-operation essential 
 and decisive in the execution of the divine 
 plans. 
 
 I. 
 
 One day, whilst chanting at Matins the 
 Ave Maria, Gertrude saw gush forth from 
 the Heart of the Father, of the Son and of 
 the Holy Ghost, three streams which pene- 
 trated to the Blessed Virgin's heart, and 
 
 43 
 
44 The Heart of St. Gertrude. 
 
 thence remounted to their source ; whilst at 
 the same time, she heard an interior voice 
 saying in the depths of her soul, "After the 
 power of the Father, the wisdom of the Son, 
 the tender mercy of the Holy Spirit, nothing 
 approaches the power, the wisdom, the ten- 
 der mercy of Mary." And she was made 
 understand, on the same occasion, that this 
 effusion from the Heart of the Trinity takes 
 place, every time a soul on earth devoutly 
 repeats the Ave Maria ; and it thus through 
 the ministry of the Blessed Virgin, dispenses 
 the dews of a new joy among the Saints 
 and Angels, and itself receives an increase 
 of those spiritual treasures with which the 
 Incarnation of the Son of God had already 
 enriched it. 
 
 It was indeed for love of Mary that God 
 had pity on the human race, and commu- 
 nicated to it His divine riches, to partici- 
 pate in which man must first salute Mary. 
 Gertrude, one day, heard Jesus say to His 
 Mother, "It is for thy sake, O Queen, O 
 Mother most loving, I have had pity on 
 
The Blessed Virgin Mary. 45 
 
 sinners. " And again, Mary spoke thus to 
 Gertrude. " In favor of those who recall 
 to me the joy of my soul on the day of the 
 Incarnation, I will realize the desires of the 
 Church when she chants: "O show thyself 
 a mother : " Monstra te esse matrem. Yes, 
 I will show myself a Mother to them — 
 Mother of the King of Glory and Mother 
 of suppliant man — of the first, by display- 
 ing my power to assist, — of the second, by 
 dilating for him the bowels of my compas- 
 sion. " 
 
 Gertrude had not always understood this 
 double Maternity of the Blessed Virgin, and 
 one Christmas day, whilst chanting the 
 words : First-Born of the Virgin Mary : 
 Primorjenitus Mariae Virginia, she said 
 within herself: "It seems to me that the 
 title of Only Son were a far more fitting 
 one for Jesus than First Born." But just 
 then our Lady appeared and answered her 
 thus: "No, not Only Son, but First Born 
 is the fitting title ; for after Jesus, my best 
 loved Son, or rather I should say, truly in 
 
46 The Heart of St Gertrude. 
 
 and by Him, I have engendered ye all in 
 the bowels of my charity, and ye have 
 become my sons, the brothers of Jesus." 
 
 II. 
 
 In the following manner, Mary deigned 
 to make Gertrude understand yet more 
 clearly the sovereignty she exercises over 
 the Heart of Jesus in virtue of her Divine 
 Maternity, and also her tenderness in still 
 recognizing as the brothers of Jesus, souls 
 even defiled by sin: She saw, one day, 
 legions of angels giving their invincible 
 protection to souls grouped around Mary : 
 these were the Blessed Virgin's devoted 
 servants — whilst to the shelter of her vast 
 royal mantle which Mary spread out to 
 cover them, ran multitudes of animals of 
 every sort, which the glorious Queen of 
 Heaven caressed with her hand, one after 
 another : these were sinners yet stained by 
 their sins ; and the Blessed Virgin wished 
 to show Gertrude by this, how she welcomes 
 
The Blessed Virgin Mary. 47 
 
 and protects them when they have recourse 
 to her mercy, hoping it may lead them to 
 repentance and reconciliation with God. 
 
 This Divine Mother manifested to Ger- 
 trude, on the Feast of His glorious Nativity, 
 her maternal authority over the Heart of 
 Jesus as follows : 
 
 Gertrude was saying the Salve Regina. 
 When she came to these words : " Turn 
 then, most Gracious Advocate, thine eyes of 
 mercy towards us" she saw the Blessed 
 Virgin holding the Divine Infant in her 
 arms. Mary gently touched Him on the 
 shoulder, and causing Him to turn His 
 Face towards Gertrude and her companions : 
 " Behold/' said she, " 'mine eyes of mercy ' — 
 they are those of my Son, Jesus, and I turn 
 them upon all who invoke me, for their 
 eternal salvation." 
 
 Jesus, on His side, revealed to Gertrude, 
 in a thousand ways, the law He had imposed 
 upon Himself of communicating His riches 
 to man, only through the hands and Heart 
 of Mary. 
 
48 The Heart of St. Gertrude. 
 
 During one of the early days of her con- 
 version, a conversion which was begun on the 
 feast of our Lady's Purification, and signally 
 blessed on that of the Annunciation, Jesus 
 said to Gertrude, " I give thee My sweet 
 Mother as thy Protectress, I confide thee 
 to her care." When the hour of trial came, 
 Gertrude terrified, called upon Jesus to 
 help her. He replied : " I have given thee 
 My own most merciful Mother for thine, 
 and it is through her, I will dispense my 
 graces to thee ; have recourse to her in all 
 thy necessities and thou wilt surely find 
 strength and consolation." 
 
 Despite these reiterated lessons of Jesus 
 Christ and our Lady, Gertrude could not, 
 at first, banish an apprehension, alas ! too 
 common among Christians — she feared lest 
 all these testimonies of respect, confidence 
 and love for the Blessed Virgin might be 
 prejudicial to the rights of her Divine Son; 
 but He Himself gave her a new lesson on 
 this subject which dissipated such scruples 
 forever : 
 
The Blessed Virgin Mary. 49 
 
 It was on the feast of the Annunciation. 
 A priest in his instructions to the Commu- 
 nity had so expatiated upon the virtues and 
 grandeur of the Blessed Virgin, without 
 mentioning the love of the Son of God 
 in the Incarnation, that Gertrude felt 
 worried and grieved. On returning from 
 the sermon and passing an altar of our 
 Lady, as usual she made an inclination 
 before the statue, but with less warmth and 
 devotion than formerly, directing her affec- 
 tions rather towards Jesus, the blessed fruit 
 of the Virgin's womb, and proposing to 
 herself this intention every time she hence- 
 forth saluted our Lady's image. 
 
 Very soon after, however, she felt trou- 
 bled, and wondered within herself if she 
 had not displeased the powerful Queen of 
 Heaven. Then Jesus Himself in all con- 
 descension and sweetness answered her per- 
 plexities thus : " Never fear, dear daughter, 
 to displease My Mother by directing all thy 
 affections to Me ; on the contrary, it pleases 
 her. But to do away with thy scruples, 
 4 
 
50 The Heart of St. Gertrude. 
 
 henceforth, in passing her altar, devoutly 
 salute her image and neglect Mine." 
 "Oh!" replied Gertrude, "God grant I 
 may never act thus! No, Lord, never 
 could my heart consent to this! Art Thou 
 not my Only Good, my Salvation, my Life? 
 and shall I neglect Thee, to lay my tribute 
 of love at the feet of another? " " My dear 
 daughter," said Jesus gently, "obey Me, 
 and every time thou thus neglectest Me to 
 salute My Mother, I will experience the 
 same joy and thou merit the same recom- 
 pense, as if thou hadst cheerfully sacrificed 
 immense gains to increase My glory." 
 
 Gertrude thus instructed, comprehended 
 more clearly the Mystery of the Divine 
 Mercy, which abandons the salvation of 
 the world and the sanctification of souls, 
 God's gifts, God Himself to the hands of a 
 Woman, our Sister, our Mother ; and she 
 ever after, besought Mary's intercession 
 with increased fidelity and ardor. That 
 her Communions might be worthy and 
 profitable, she always conjured Mary to 
 
The Blessed Virgin Mary. 51 
 
 prepare her for them ; and Mary thus 
 invoked, ornamented her daughter with 
 the jewels of her own virtues, so that Jesus 
 made known to Gertrude the joy of His 
 Heart, at finding her radiant in the reflec- 
 tion of that beauty which alone, as sings 
 the Church, could delight His gaze.* 
 
 If Gertrude's heart became thus a pre- 
 ferred abode of Jesus, it was only because 
 Mary, listening to her prayers, prepared it 
 for Him. One day at the hour of medita- 
 tion, our Saint asked Jesus, " What can I 
 do to please Thee yet more?" "Behold 
 My Mother," was the answer, "endeavor 
 to praise her worthily." Then Gertrude 
 addressed Mary, as "the Paradise of de- 
 lights," and congratulated her on having 
 been chosen for the abode of her God, 
 adding to these words of praise the follow- 
 ing petition: " Obtain for me, I beg of thee, 
 that my heart may be, in the eyes of God, 
 adorned with such virtues as will cause Him 
 
 *Sola placuisti Domino Nostro Jesu Christo. 
 (Office of the Blessed Virgin). 
 
52 The Heart of St Gertrude. 
 
 to deign select it for His dwelling." Mary 
 testified that this prayer was agreeable to 
 her, for it seemed to Gertrude that, at this 
 same hour, the Blessed Virgin planted in 
 her heart the roses of charity, the violets 
 of humility — indeed, the various flowers of 
 every virtue. 
 
 IV. 
 
 Soon, Gertrude's fears were no longer 
 that she might honor our Lady too much, 
 but too little. She felt the impossibility of 
 ever herself paying the meed of respect and 
 gratitude due this August Sovereign, this 
 Universal Benefactress ; and the Heart of 
 Jesus alone, it seemed to her, w T as capable 
 of supplying men's deficiencies in honoring 
 and loving our Lady. We find frequent 
 expressions of this sentiment throughout 
 Gertrude's writings. 
 
 On the eve of one feast of the Assump- 
 tion, deeply impressed with the thought 
 that she had ever been sadly lacking in her 
 duty towards the August Queen of Heaven, 
 
The Blessed Virgin Mary. 53 
 
 Gertrude earnestly conjured our Lord Him- 
 self to make amends for her defects, and 
 render His Mother favorable to her. Then 
 Jesus, tenderly embracing His Mother, and 
 with other demonstrations of filial love for 
 her, addressed her in these words: "Deign, 
 O most loving Mother, to look upon this 
 soul I have chosen for Mine own, and 
 regard it with not less tenderness than if it 
 had always been most faithful and zealous 
 in thy service." 
 
 Again, on the feast of Mary's Nativity, 
 Gertrude with sighs and tears, accusing 
 herself of her shortcomings towards our 
 Queen, besought Jesus to repair her negli- 
 gence, with this intention, reciting the Salve 
 Regina, but offering it to Mary through the 
 Heart of Jesus. Whilst thus engaged, she 
 heard the most beautiful melodies arising 
 from the Heart of Jesus to that of His 
 Virgin Mother : it was a canticle of filial 
 love with which He paid Gertrude's debts. 
 
 One time, as she was praying Jesus to 
 present His Mother some good works in 
 
54 The Heart of St. Gertrude. 
 
 her name, thus to repair the little zeal she 
 had heretofore manifested for the Blessed 
 Virgin's glory, Jesus, the King of Glory, 
 arose, and offering Mary His Divine Heart, 
 said: "Most loving Mother, behold My 
 Heart: I offer it to thee with all that 
 divine and eternal love which prompted 
 Me to predestinate, create, sanctify and 
 choose thee for My Mother. I offer thee 
 in this Heart all that filial tenderness, of 
 which I gave thee so many tokens on earth, 
 when thou didst nourish and bear Me, a 
 little child in thy arms. I offer thee, in 
 this Heart, that faithful love which kept 
 Me near thee all My mortal life, obedient 
 to thy wishes, as any other son to his 
 mother — Me, the King of Heaven. I offer 
 thee especially, that love which on the 
 Cross, made Me, in a measure, forget My 
 tortures to compassionate thy bitter desola- 
 tion, and leave thee in My place, a guardian 
 and son. And lastly, behold in My Heart, 
 the love which prompted Me to exalt thee 
 in thy blessed Assumption, far above the 
 
The Blessed Virgin Mary. 55 
 
 Saints and Angels, and crown thee Queen 
 of earth and Heaven. All this I offer thee, 
 dearest Mother, to supply the negligencies 
 of my beloved in thy service, and I entreat 
 thee at the hour of her death to meet her 
 with a mother's welcome." 
 
 " O my Brother," said our Saint on 
 another occasion to Jesus Christ, " O my 
 Brother, since Thou hast been made Man 
 to pay man's debts, deign now, I pray Thee, 
 to supply the deficiencies of my indigence, 
 and make amends for my negligencies in 
 Thy Blessed Mother's service." 
 
 Jesus immediately arose, and advancing 
 respectfully towards His Mother, fell upon 
 His knees, and saluted her, bowing His 
 head with a dignity and grace incompara- 
 ble.* 
 
 * Ad quae verba Filius Dei, reverendissinie assur- 
 gens et procedens, coram Matre sua genua flexit, et 
 motu capitis earn decentissiuie et amicabilissime 
 salutavit. 
 
56 The Heart of St Gertrude. 
 
 V. 
 
 In thus answering Gertrude's prayers, 
 our Lord gave her, as we perceive, lessons 
 of ever increasing respect and affection for 
 our Lady, from which the Saint learned 
 how impotent were all man's efforts to 
 honor Mary worthily did not the Heart of 
 Jesus Itself pay our debts. How indeed 
 could man ever sufficiently revere her 
 before whom the Son of God deigned to 
 bend the knee ? Gertrude, at last, compre- 
 hended something of the unsearchable 
 depths of those w 7 ords of the Gospel declar- 
 ing that Jesus was subject to Mary, and 
 henceforth called her the Sovereign, the 
 Lady of the Heart of Jesus.* 
 
 * The title of Sovereign of the Heart of Jesus is 
 indeed the grandest of the glorious ones bestowed 
 upon Mary; for all the treasures of the Divinity 
 are contained in the Heart of Jesus, and the Holy 
 Trinity Itself, finds therein Its highest Heaven. 
 Hence, we cannot call upon her too often by this 
 sweet and glorious title, our Lady of the Heart of 
 Jesus. Devotion to Mary under this title was 
 
The Blessed Virgin Mary. 57 
 
 One more incident in Gertrude's life will 
 finish the instructions of this chapter, and 
 teach our readers an easy means of drawing 
 down upon themselves and others our Lady's 
 most abundant benedictions : 
 
 As Gertrude was praying one day, the 
 Blessed Virgin was shown to her under 
 the figure of a dazzling white lily, before 
 the Holy Trinity. This lily had three 
 leaves, one representing the power of the 
 Father, one, the wisdom of the Son, and a 
 third, the benignity of the Holy Spirit, 
 which each of these Divine Persons had 
 communicated to her in such a degree as 
 to reproduce in her their vivid resemblance. 
 
 The Blessed Virgin now said to Gertrude : 
 "If any one salute me devoutly as the 
 white Lily of the Trinity, the brilliant 
 
 established at Paray-le-Monial, the source of devo- 
 tion to the Heart of Jesus, and in the year 1846, 
 that of the coronation of Pius IX. 
 
 We leave our readers to imagine the incompara- 
 ble grandeur to which God was pleased to raise the 
 Blessed Virgin's Spouse, St. Joseph, when He 
 deigaed to make His Son subject to Him. 
 
58 The Heart of St. Gertrude. 
 
 Rose of Paradise, I will do for him what I 
 can through the omnipotence of the Father, 
 the wisdom of the Son communicated to me 
 for the salvation of man, and the supera- 
 bundant mercy which, flowing from the 
 benignity of the Holy Spirit, fills my heart; 
 and at the hour the soul which shall have 
 thus saluted me, quits the body, I will appear 
 to it in the splendor of such beauty, as will 
 be to it a foretaste of the joys of Paradise." 
 
 From that day, Gertrude took the reso- 
 lution of addressing our Lady or reciting 
 before her ima^e the following salutation : 
 
 " I salute thee, White Lily of the glorious 
 and ever peaceful Trinity, brilliant Rose of 
 Paradise. O thou of whom the King of 
 Heaven was born, and with whose milk 
 He was fed, nourish our souls, I entreat 
 thee, with thy divine graces." * 
 
 *Ave, candidum liliura fulgidae semperque tran- 
 quillae Trinitatis, Rosaque praefulgida ccelicoe 
 amoenitatis, de qua nasci et de cujns lacte pasci 
 Rex coelorum voluit : divinis influxionibus animas 
 nostras pasce. 
 
CHAPTEE V. 
 
 \ \TE have seen that the Blessed Virgin 
 * * prepared Gertrude's heart for Jesus 
 by sowing it thick with violets. From Ger- 
 trude's heart indeed, as from that of Jesus, 
 arises the perfume of humility, and all her 
 words are redolent of it. 
 
 " O God of my life," she writes, " what 
 desert places, what rough and rocky roads 
 hast Thou not been forced to traverse — I 
 mean, what resistance of will had not Thy 
 grace to surmount, ere reaching the valley 
 of my misery ! 
 
 "Whence comes it, O my God, that 
 Thou dost humiliate Thyself thus, even to 
 lavishing upon me the gifts of Thy bounty? 
 Perhaps Thou wishest to make a trial in me 
 of the truth of these words of St. Bernard : 
 
 59 
 
60 The Heart of St Gertrude. 
 
 ' Thou pursuest those who fly from Thee ; 
 Thou seekest the face of those who have 
 already turned their back upon Thee ; 
 Thou implorest, and they continue to 
 despise Thee, yet nothing can repel Thee, 
 nor diminish Thy love ! ' 
 
 " O superabundant sweetness of my God ! 
 I see that my sins, my multiplied crimes, 
 grieve more than they irritate Thee ! 
 Truly, to bear thus with my miseries, Thou 
 must needs have, it seems to me, greater 
 treasures of benignity and patience than 
 when in those days of Thy life on earth, 
 Thou didst so tenderly bear with the com- 
 pany of the traitor Judas. 
 
 " Thou knowest, O my God, wherefore I 
 am overcome with sorrow and confusion — 
 it is because of my infidelity, my negligence, 
 my irreverence, my ingratitude for Thy 
 benefits. Yes, hadst Thou given me but a 
 bit of twine, me so unworthy of anything, 
 it should have merited more reverence and 
 love than I have returned Thee for all Thy 
 graces. 
 
The Humility of Gertrude s Heart. 61 
 
 "O my God, where is Thy wisdom? 
 What strange love has thus made Thee 
 forget Thy dignity? What intoxication, 
 if I may dare use the expression, has 
 possessed Thee, that Thou seekest in the 
 depths of its baseness so vile a creature as 
 I, to unite Thyself to it ? Ah ! Thou wish- 
 est to teach men confidence in Thy love, 
 for nowhere couldst Thou find one who 
 shows less appreciation of Thy gifts, and 
 scandalizes his brethren more." 
 
 Every page of Gertrude's book is filled 
 with such expressions; and often, even 
 more merciless than this against herself, 
 she descends into such abysses of humility 
 that we are not able to glance at their 
 depths. 
 
 II. 
 
 By act, not less forcibly than word, did 
 Gertrude manifest the humility of her 
 heart. 
 
 " Abbess of the monastery for forty 
 years," writes one of her companions, " she 
 
62 The Heart of St. Gertrude. 
 
 was most faithful iu her attentions to the 
 infirm, recreating with them as a mother 
 with her children, and never hesitating to 
 perform the lowest and most menial offices 
 for them. She was first to sweep the house ; 
 and for a long time, this part of the manual 
 work she did entirely, until the example of 
 her humility had vanquished the repug- 
 nance of the Sisters to share it." 
 
 The author of the first book of the 
 Tasinuationts furnishes yet more decisive 
 proofs of Gertrude's humility in the follow- 
 ing : " She whom the wisest consulted, she 
 so versed in the knowledge of Scripture, 
 consulted the opinion of others in all things, 
 being ever ready to follow or suspend, or 
 abandon her own desires and plans accord- 
 ing to the approval or disapproval of those 
 to whom she submitted them. It was but 
 seldom indeed she judged it her duty to 
 prefer her own opinion to that of others, 
 and she acted in such cases very reluc- 
 tantly. 
 
 " Gertrude did not conceal the graces she 
 
The Humility of Gertrude's Heart 63 
 
 received from God ; on the contrary, as we 
 have already seen, she loved to communi- 
 cate them not only to the directors of her 
 soul, but to others, and this from a princi- 
 ple of the purest humility. Fully pene- 
 trated with the sentiment of her utter 
 unworthiness of such favors, she did not 
 doubt that they were lavished upon her 
 only as precious seeds to be sown in better 
 soil. It was dishonoring these gifts of God, 
 she thought, to leave them buried in the 
 mire of her own heart, and they would not 
 begin to fructify for their Master until they 
 were drawn forth, and deposited in another 
 more worthy of receiving them." 
 
 Hence, the zeal with which she wrote 
 and dictated the last four books of the 
 Insinuationes and other works not now 
 extant. At first, natural instinct and a 
 humility not uncommon, made her shrink 
 from it, but a more perfect humility tri- 
 umphed, and she pursued these labors with 
 a view solely to God's honor and glory, and 
 her neighbor's salvation. Having finished 
 
64 The Heart of St. Gertrude. 
 
 these books, she would often say: "If, after 
 death, I am cast into hell for my sins, there 
 will remain for me one consolation — the 
 thought that others, reading my writings, 
 will praise God, and His graces, sterile in 
 me, will bring forth in them, blessed fruits 
 of immortality " — words embalmed in the 
 perfume of humility and charity. 
 
 One of the industries of Gertrude's hu- 
 mility was not to struggle directly against 
 the imaginations of pride or vanity. Did 
 such thoughts strive to penetrate her medi- 
 tations or mingle with her good works, she 
 would immediately say to herself: " Yes, it 
 is true that, in addition to all my other 
 miseries and defects, I must also bewail 
 pride, yet one consolation remains to me: 
 perhaps others in witnessing my good 
 actions will be led to imitate them, with- 
 out imitating my pride, and thus God will 
 be glorified and gather at least this fruit 
 from my sterility," 
 
The Humility of Gertrude's Heart 65 
 
 III. 
 
 Gertrude's humility was not the sudden 
 growth of a day ; the generous virgin had 
 acquired this virtue only at the cost of daily 
 struggles, guided and sustained therein by 
 the lessons of Jesus Christ. 
 
 Jesus left Gertrude some spiritual in- 
 firmities as the safeguard of her humility. 
 
 A pious woman, yielding to Gertrude's 
 entreaties, had been praying for her some 
 time, when one day, our Lord said to her : 
 " These defects over which My Beloved 
 grieves are very profitable to her. I daily 
 fill her soul with such an abundance of 
 graces, that, to preserve her from the attacks 
 of vanity (for she is human), I must needs 
 conceal some of them from her under the 
 cloud of these trifling defects. Manure 
 fertilizes the earth : the soul's consciousness 
 of her failings evokes acknowledgment, and 
 every time she thus humbles herself for 
 them, I bestow upon her a new grace which 
 destroys them; little by little, I change 
 5 
 
66 The Heart of St Gertrude. 
 
 them into virtues, until the soul, one day, 
 finds herself in an atmosphere of unclouded 
 light." 
 
 Sometimes, Jesus would deprive Gertrude 
 of these favors. His reasons for this He 
 made known to her as follows: "It is for 
 the sanctification of thy soul, I elevate thee 
 by contemplation, to the knowledge of My 
 divine secret ; and in like manner, for thy 
 salvation, do I exclude thee from them. 
 When elevating, I wish to teach thee, 
 that with the assistance of My grace, thou 
 canst comprehend and accomplish great 
 things ; and abasing thee, the lesson to be 
 derived therefrom is thy nothingness apart 
 from Me." 
 
 Jesus showed Gertrude how He alone, as 
 St. Paul tells us, is all sufficient — that we 
 must remain in Him and be clothed with 
 Him if we wish to please God. 
 
 Holding His Heart in His hands one 
 day, He presented it to Gertrude, saying : 
 " Behold, My Heart, that harmonious In- 
 strument whose sweet tones ravish the Holy 
 
The Humility of Gertrude's Heart 67 
 
 Trinity. I give It to thee that, like a 
 faithful, zealous servant obedient to thy 
 commands, It may supply thy deficiencies. 
 Make use of It, and all thy works will 
 chacm God's ear." 
 
 Gertrude hesitated, but Jesus triumphed 
 over her fears, enlightening her humility 
 by the following simile : 
 
 "A man/' said He, " is called upon to 
 sing before an honored assembly, but his- 
 voice is so weak and false that it pains one 
 to hear it. Thou art near him, thou whose 
 voice is clear, flexible, and sweet. Thou of- 
 ferest either to lend him thy voice (which 
 thou canst do) or sing in his place. Wouldst 
 thou not feel indignant if he refused thy 
 generous offer ? And thus is it with thee 
 and Me. I know thy poverty, thy defi- 
 ciencies, and My Heart ardently desires to 
 supply them — this were Its greatest joy. 
 It asks only of thee that thou give thy 
 consent, if not in words, at least, by a sign." 
 
 To make Gertrude understand that God 
 finds not in us, but in Himself, the impulses 
 
68 The Heart of St Gertrude. 
 
 of His bounty, Jesus gave her a new lesson 
 on this important truth in which humility 
 strikes its deepest roots : 
 
 One day, enlightened from above, Ger- 
 trude discovered in her soul some defects 
 hitherto unperceived. " Lord, Lord," she 
 exclaimed, horrified at the sight of her 
 spiritual deformities, a how could I ever 
 have pleased Thee with so many stains on 
 my soul ? and how many more may there 
 not be upon it which none but Thine All 
 Seeing Eye can discern ! " Immediately 
 she heard these words: "Love makes com- 
 placency," which she understood thus — 
 "Love, even among men, so governs the 
 heart as to render attractive and pleasing 
 the object beloved, though it be unsightly 
 and deformed — it sometimes carries one to 
 the point of wishing to share these defects, 
 as if they were not blemishes but the oppo- 
 site. Now God is love itself, and in this 
 lies the secret of His loving us, despite our 
 spiritual deformities." 
 
 Jesus also gave Gertrude another shield 
 
The Humility of Gertrude's Heart 69 
 
 against the assaults of pride, by telling her 
 the reason of the very especial favors He 
 seemed to reserve for her : 
 
 " It was a feast-day," writes our Saint ; 
 " not being able to communicate on account 
 of sickness, I refreshed my soul by calling 
 to mind the benefits of my God. The con- 
 templation of the many and great graces 
 I had received, made me fear lest the wind 
 of pride, passing over my soul, should dry 
 up the dews of mercy ; and I begged our 
 Lord to give me some especial antidote 
 against vanity, and here is the lesson of 
 His paternal goodness : 
 
 " ' In a large family of children, strong, 
 healthy, and handsome, will always be 
 found one lacking these qualities — delicate, 
 homely, and otherwise unattractive perhaps. 
 Is not this the child towards whom the 
 father's heart goes out with most tenderness 
 and compassion, which he expresses in little 
 presents and caresses denied the others ? ' 
 
 " Jesus also said to me, 'As long as thou 
 continuest to consider thyself the most im- 
 
70 The Heart of St Gertrude. 
 
 perfect, so long will I inundate thy soul 
 with the waves of My divine tenderness.' " 
 
 IV. 
 
 Jesus gave Gertrude still other lessons on 
 this same subject — humility. She learned 
 from Him that pride closes the doors of the 
 soul against grace, whilst humility opens 
 them and introduces it therein. 
 
 She was once praying for a person w^ho 
 greatly desired to taste divine consolations. 
 Jesus appeared to her and said : " This soul 
 has no one to blame but herself that the 
 sweetness of My grace cannot reach her — 
 she is too full of herself, attached to her 
 own ideas, obstinate in her judgments. The 
 effect of such pride in the soul is to paralyze 
 that faculty which inhales the perfume of 
 divine love. Vainly indeed were sweet odors 
 exhaled near a person, whose nostrils were so 
 obstructed that he could not perceive them." 
 
 Again, as she was praying for another 
 who had been recommended to her, both 
 
The Humility of Gertrude's Heart. 71 
 
 directly and indirectly with the deepest 
 humility, she saw Jesus incline towards 
 that soul, with ineffable condescension, 
 inundate it with celestial splendor, and fill 
 it with the graces it had hoped to obtain 
 through Gertrude's intercession. At the 
 same time, He said to our Saint: " Humil- 
 ity is so dear to Me, that when a soul 
 humbly recommends itself to the prayers 
 of another, hoping to obtain My grace 
 through such intercession, I will never 
 fail to grant its desires, even though the 
 person asked to pray may never have done 
 so." 
 
 Gertrude was once so overcome at the 
 consideration of the magnitude and num- 
 ber of her sins (for such was the jricture 
 of them upon her delicate conscience) that 
 me wished to flee the light and lose herself 
 in an abyss of darkness. But whilst thus 
 humbliug herself, she saw Jesus descending 
 towards her with such demonstrations of 
 love that the Angels and Saints were filled 
 with admiration. And Jesus, as if answer- 
 
72 The Heart of St. Gertrude. 
 
 ing their astonishment, said : " I can but 
 follow her; her humility has captivated 
 My Heart and drawn It to her by bonds 
 I cannot break." 
 
 But perhaps the most efficacious of all 
 the lessons on humility Jesus gave Ger- 
 trude, was to be found in the divine deli- 
 cacy with which He treated her. Often 
 He seemed blind to those defects His 
 Spouse bewailed, and the more her noble 
 heart deplored them, the greater His ap- 
 parent ignorance of them. The following 
 incident will reveal the exceeding delicacy 
 and sweetness of the love of Jesus in His 
 dealings with Gertrude : 
 
 "O my Master," exclaimed our Saint on 
 one occasion, " Thou dost work no greater 
 miracle than this — that the earth supports 
 me — me, an unworthy sinner!" "Yes," 
 replied Jesus immediately; " cheerfully in- 
 deed should earth offer to bear thy footsteps, 
 since Heaven itself with inexpressible im- 
 patience, awaits the happy hour when thou 
 wilt tread its precincts ! " 
 
CHAPTER VL 
 
 TESUS is as kind and gentle as He is 
 ^ humble — says the Apostle of the Gen- 
 tiles, "the goodness and kindness of God 
 our Saviour appeared."* Hence, Ger- 
 trude's heart to please Jesus, must repro- 
 duce the benignity that filled His own. 
 
 The lessons of this gentle Master warned 
 her against the shoals of anger, irritation 
 and rancor ; and sinners' iniquities, or the 
 imperfections of the just, viewed in the 
 light of these divine instructions, excited 
 not indignation, but pity. She knew how 
 to reprove without harshness, and over- 
 flowing with that charity imbibed from 
 the Heart of Jesus, she was disposed to do 
 
 *Benignitas et humanitas apparuit Salvatoris 
 nostri Dei. (Tit. Ill, 4). 
 
 73 
 
74 The Heart of St. Gertrude. 
 
 or suffer anything that could aid or console 
 her neighbor. 
 
 As she was praying one day for some 
 wretches who had not only already heaped 
 injuries upon the Community, but threat- 
 ened still more, our Lord appeared to her. 
 Showing her His Arm painfully twisted 
 and bent, He said : " Consider what excru- 
 ciating pain anyone would cause Me, who 
 should strike heavy and repeated blows 
 upon this Arm. And yet this is just what 
 they do who breathe out resentment and 
 fary against the people who persecute thee, 
 forgetful of the fact that these wretches im- 
 periling their souls thus, are still members 
 of My Body. They, on the contrary, who 
 pray Me to touch thy persecutors' hearts 
 and convert them, who gently exhort them 
 to repair their wrongs, are to Me, like skil- 
 ful physicians, who pouring over My Arm 
 with gentle hand, a healing oil, gradually 
 and painlessly bring back the muscles to 
 their right position." * 
 
 *The reader mus:t ever bear in mind that, as St. 
 
The Benignity of Gertrude's Heart 75 
 
 Surprised at this excess of divine benig- 
 nity, Gertrude replied : " Dear Lord, how 
 canst Thou call such unworthy people Thy 
 Arm?" "I call them thus in all truth, 
 because they are part of the Body of the 
 Church, of which I am the honored Head." 
 " But are they not cut off from the Church, 
 by solemn excommunication, for their law- 
 lessness?" " Yes, it is true they are excom- 
 municated; but as they may yet receive the 
 Church's absolution should they repent, I 
 consider this a bond uniting them to Me, 
 and the interest of their souls causes Me 
 inexpressible solicitude. Oh! how ardently 
 I desire their conversion ! " 
 
 Gertrude begged Jesus to protect the 
 convent from the evils with which these 
 wretches threatened it. " I will do so," 
 replied our Lord, " if, in humility of heart, 
 
 Paul says, the Church is the Mystical Body of Jesus 
 Christ, and we, the members. Jesus speaks of the 
 Wounds of nis Mystical Body. It was in this 
 same sense, He could say to St. Paul himself: 
 " Why persecutest thou Me ? " when Saul was 
 1 breathing out slaughter ' against the Christians. 
 
76 The Heart of St. Gertrude. 
 
 thou acknowledge that these chastisements 
 of My paternal bounty, are merited ; if, on 
 the contrary, thy pride fill thee with wrath 
 against these unhappy creatures, by a just 
 judgment, I will allow them to prevail and 
 do thee still greater injury." 
 
 Whilst Gertrude was once praying for a 
 very imperfect soul, she beheld Jesus, the 
 right side of His Body arrayed in royal 
 vestments, whilst the left exposed to view 
 w 7 as full of ulcers. It was made known to 
 her that the former represented souls ad- 
 vanced in virtue; the latter, those who 
 w T ere still very imperfect — also, that to pray 
 for the former is to clothe Jesus in costly 
 apparel; whilst to criticise the imperfect, 
 or harshly reproach them for their faults, 
 their spiritual miseries, is furiously to tear 
 open the ulcers of Jesus Christ. 
 
 Such was the interpretation our Lord 
 gave His Spouse of this vision, saying 
 moreover: "Would to God my friends 
 would strive to heal the wounds of My 
 Church which are Mine own, by bearing 
 
The Benignity of Gertrude's Heart 77 
 
 with and healing the defects of the imper- 
 fect. Sores should be handled very care- 
 fully ; likewise, should one treat gently the 
 soul whose defects it hopes to cure, having 
 recourse to severity, only when assured 
 that no other means will effect the desired 
 reformation." 
 
 II. 
 
 " How many," continued Jesus, " have 
 no compassion for My wounds! Seeing 
 their, neighbors' faults, they immediately 
 take advantage of it to bring them into 
 contempt, instead of kindly giving a salu- 
 tary word of correction, afraid lest the latter 
 course might expose themselves to disagree- 
 ables, or be too much trouble; and their 
 excuse for this neglect of duty is that of 
 Cain: 'Am I my brother's keeper?' These 
 are they who spread an ointment over My 
 ulcers that inflames them and breeds worms 
 in them. A word in season, perhaps, had 
 corrected their brother's faults ; whilst ill- 
 
78 The Heart of St Gertrude. 
 
 timed silence and oblivion of them is often 
 nourishing food to their growth. 
 
 "Others, indeed, inform the Superiors of 
 their brethren's defects, but they are so 
 indignant that the correction is much less 
 grave than they expected, that they take 
 the resolution of never again making known 
 these matters to Superiors who apparently 
 deem them so trifling. At the same time, 
 they sit in judgment, harsh judgment upon 
 the unhappy ones, the cure of whose spirit- 
 ual infirmities they profess to have at heart, 
 and never address them one kind word 
 calculated to direct their steps aright. 
 These also spread an ointment upon My 
 sores, but under it is concealed their hypo- 
 critical hand, holding a sharp-edged trident 
 which rends and tears them. 
 
 " Others again, who could correct their 
 neighbor, neglect it, not from malice, but 
 indifference ; and these cause me the same 
 pain as if passing near Me, they crushed 
 My feet under their own. 
 
 " Some strive to correct, but in doing so, 
 
The Benignity of Gertrude s Heart 79 
 
 neglect three very important rules of effica- 
 cious correction — first, that he who corrects, 
 prepare himself for it by serenity of counte- 
 nance, charity in words, and delicacy of 
 action; secondly, that he observe secrecy 
 regarding the faults committed, or, reveal 
 them only to those w T ho should know them, 
 either to aid in the correction, or withdraw 
 from the influence of bad example; thirdly, 
 that he act promptly when the favorable 
 moment for correction arrives, laying aside 
 all human respect, all timidity, and having 
 in view solely God's glory and the salvation 
 of souls. 
 
 " One must know how to close his eyes 
 io light failings. How often does it not 
 happen that little children dispute among 
 themselves when playing ? A certain ani- 
 mation seems to fire every one of them, but 
 it is not wrath ; and the good father who 
 witnesses their spirited contentions will 
 most frequently be blind to them. Yet his 
 conduct would change should one of the 
 children get angry and threaten, or even 
 
80 The Heart of St Gertrude. 
 
 strike another. And thus do I daily dis- 
 simulate, in regard to the trifling conten- 
 tions of my children — I, the Father of 
 Mercies ; and, nevertheless, I prefer peace, 
 perfect harmony." 
 
 III. 
 
 All who knew Gertrude attest that her 
 conduct was regulated upon these lessons 
 of Jesus Christ, and that the most hardened 
 hearts yielded to her influence, her kind- 
 ness, according to the Evangelic Words, 
 gaining an absolute empire over wills the 
 most rebellious.* 
 
 Gentle and affectionate towards the 
 wicked, Gertrude lavished upon her com- 
 panions a love truly maternal; and our 
 
 * Gertrude never saw suffering without being 
 touched by it ; the sight of a wounded bird, or a 
 beast of burden struggling under a load beyond its 
 strength, always appealed to her heart, and when 
 unable to assist them in any way herself, she had 
 recourse to God, begging that He would aid His 
 poor creatures. 
 
The Benignity of Gertrude's Heart 81 
 
 Lord, to excite her zeal for charity, made 
 known to her. by the following incident, 
 the value of any work, no matter how in- 
 significant, if inspired by fraternal charity: 
 
 In spite of her infirmities, Gertrude had 
 arisen one day to recite Matins, and had 
 already finished one Nocturn, when another 
 sick Sister took a place near her. Our Saint 
 offered to begin again, and, with great devo- 
 tion repeated what she had already recited. 
 Mass followed, and during it, Gertrude sud- 
 denly saw herself arrayed in a mantle glit- 
 tering with diamonds. Jesus had recom- 
 pensed her charity for the sick religious, 
 and the mantle had as many diamonds as 
 the Nocturn contained words. 
 
 The sight of this exterior decoration 
 revived in Gertrude's heart the sentiment 
 of her un worthiness; she bethought herself 
 of several faults she had not been able to 
 make known to the confessor, then distant 
 from the monastery; and grieved at not 
 having it in her power to accuse herself of 
 them before receiving Holy Communion. 
 6 
 
82 The Heart of St. Gertrude. 
 
 " Why," said Jesus, " dost thou worry so 
 over these faults, when thou art enveloped 
 in this rich mantle of charity ? Dost thou 
 not know that charity effaces all thy sins?" 
 "And have not these faults left their stains 
 upon my soul?" "No," was our Lord's 
 answer, " charity has not only effaced the 
 faults, but also their stains; not so thor- 
 oughly does the sun penetrate and illumine 
 crystal, as charity the soul, making it re- 
 splendent with the treasures of new merits." 
 
CHAPTEE Vn. 
 
 IIq xtf totality !f$mt 
 
 O AID a holy old man to whom Gertrude 
 ^ manifested all the secrets of her soul: 
 "I have never known any one more a 
 stranger than Gertrude to aught that might 
 wound chastity or obscure its brightness.' y 
 
 Gertrude wished to please the most inno- 
 cent Heart of Jesus ; and she took great 
 pains to preserve the lily of her virginity 
 in all its whiteness and fragrance. Those 
 who were best acquainted with her, attest 
 that she never looked upon a man's face, so 
 that by the countenance alone she could 
 never have recognized even those who 
 visited her most frequently. 
 
 83 
 
84 The Heart of St. Gertrude. 
 
 Though passionately fond of reading the 
 Scriptures, if she came upon a line, or a 
 word, that seemed not written for her, she 
 v/ould instantly turn away her eyes. 
 
 To the delicate questions often addressed 
 her by souls tormented by importunate 
 temptations, Gertrude would reply with 
 wisdom and charity; but it was easy to 
 see that she had rather have been pierced 
 by a sword, than add one useless word to 
 these necessary conversations. 
 
 II. 
 
 It was of a purity whose roots were far- 
 reaching and deep that Gertrude showed 
 herself jealous, for God is jealous of it — 
 that which strives to destroy in the heart 
 the germs of its least faults — that which 
 keeps the heart detached from all purely 
 natural friendship, all material possessions, 
 all useless solicitude, permitting it to seek 
 in everything but God alone. The follow- 
 ing will enable us to understand more 
 
The Purity of Gertrude's Heart 85 
 
 clearly this perfect purity of Gertrude's 
 heart : 
 
 She detested as a mortal poison all 
 friendships not founded upon charity or 
 thoroughly imbued with it. A word, a sign 
 of affection, when she perceived the purely 
 human tenderness inspiring it became in- 
 supportable to her. Few could appreciate 
 like herself the sweetness of friendship ; and 
 her continual tribulations and trials urged 
 her to those outpourings of the heart which 
 are so great a relief; yet she preferred the 
 renunciation of such consolations, rather 
 than be the object of a friendship cemented 
 by nature only, or the occasion of one 
 affectionate word not ennobled by charity. 
 Kind and charitable to all, she was very 
 careful to address none in words of unusual 
 tenderness, or give them too vivid marks 
 of affection, for fear of awakening in their 
 hearts a sentiment of passionate friendship 
 for her. 
 
 Still less did Gertrude attach herself to 
 those innumerable objects cupidity pursues, 
 
86 The Heart of St Gertrude. 
 
 and whose possession encuaining the heart 
 by a thousand bonds, arrests its flight , 
 towards God. The faithful Spouse of Jesus 
 wished nothing in her cell but what was 
 indispensable. As soon as an object ceased 
 to be necessary, she would not keep it a day 
 longer, but obtaining permission, she gave 
 it to another, without the slightest regard for 
 her own natural sympathies or aversions. 
 
 So great was her delicacy of conscience, 
 alarmed at the shadow of evil, so great the 
 care she took to preserve her heart from 
 sin and the solicitude with which she puri- 
 fied it from even the least stains, that Jesus 
 Himself had often to console His Spouse, by 
 showing her that these faults she deplored 
 became for Him an occasion of joy. 
 
 Examining her conscience one sleepless 
 night, she reproached herself bitterly for 
 the habit she had contracted of saying these 
 two words: God knows — Deus scit; and 
 she conjured our Lord to pardon the past, 
 and help her correct the future. "Ah! 
 then," said Jesus, "wilt thou deprive Me 
 
The Purity of Gertrude's Heart. 87 
 
 of the pleasure thou givest Me, every time 
 that falling into this fault thou dost humble 
 thyself, and make a resolution of amend- 
 ment ? Is not a king pleased when he sees 
 one of his soldiers struggling bravely against 
 the enemies of the kingdom ? Such is My 
 satisfaction in this ; and thou dost also in- 
 crease thy merits." 
 
 But at the same time that His love 
 encouraged and consoled her, Jesus ex- 
 cited her by a salutary fear to nourish in 
 her heart horror for the least faults. 
 
 One day, whilst reciting the Canonical 
 Hours, Gertrude heard the demon repeat 
 after her in a hurried, excited manner a 
 verse of a Psalm, and then say : " It is all 
 pure loss indeed that your Creator, your 
 Saviour and Beloved has given you organs 
 so delicate that you can both speak rapidly 
 and clearly articulate the words ; for in one 
 Psalm alone, you have mispronounced so 
 many words, syllables, letters." " I under- 
 stood from this," said Gertrude, " with what 
 rigor the demon will accuse, at God's tri- 
 
88 The Heart of St. Gertrude. 
 
 burial, those who precipitately recite the 
 Divine Office." 
 
 "Alas ! " said Gertrude one day, to Jesus 
 Christ, "although my soul through Thy 
 grace, appears to me now purified from its 
 stains, I have reason to fear that it will 
 soon be profaned by new ones. O dearest 
 of Masters, teach me how I can quickly 
 wash away my daily transgressions." "I 
 do not wish thee ever to leave these stains 
 on thy soul," replied our Lord, " and I will 
 teach thee how to efface them. Hasten as 
 soon as thou perceivest them, to address 
 Me with all humility and devotion in the 
 words of the Psalm, Miserere me, Deris, 
 secundum mag nam tuam, or, better per- 
 haps, in the following invocation : ' O my 
 Only Salvation, Jesus Christ, blot out all 
 my sins by Thy holy death.' M 
 
 III. 
 
 A stranger to sin, free from all dis- 
 orderly affection for creatures, Gertrude's 
 
The Purity of Gertrude's Heart. 89 
 
 heart sought God alone and found Him 
 everywhere. To please Jesus in all things 
 was the one aim of her life. 
 
 Our Lord Himself made this known to 
 Saint Mechtilde by the following vision. 
 He appeared to her seated upon an elevated 
 throne, before which Gertrude came and 
 went in various directions, but always with 
 her face fixed upon His. " See," said He, 
 " the life of Gertrude. She walks ever in 
 My presence, never losing sight of Me for 
 an instant ; she has but one desire, that of 
 knowing the good pleasure of My Heart, 
 which when learned, she executes with 
 incredible eagerness. Scarcely has she 
 accomplished one of Its behests ere she 
 applies to Me for others, which are exe- 
 cuted with like celerity. And thus her 
 whole life is devoted to My honor and 
 glory." " But," asked Mechtilde, " how is 
 it with gaze ever fixed on Thee, she sees 
 so well all the faults and failings of the 
 Sisters under her charge, and why does 
 she attach so much importance to their 
 
90 The Heart of St Gertrude. 
 
 least defects ? " " Having a horror of 
 seeing the least stains on her own soul, 
 neither can she suffer them in the souls 
 of those who are dear to her," replied our 
 Lord. 
 
 Gertrude lived for Jesus Christ alone, 
 and her fidelity lay at His feet every act 
 of her life, with a simplicity we can but 
 admire. If she preferred the books of her 
 cell, the table upon which she wrote, it was 
 because they served her better than any- 
 thing else in making Jesus Christ know^n 
 and loved. She even had an especial fond- 
 ness for a certain book, after a Sister once 
 said to her, " This book has done my soul 
 much good." 
 
 Indeed, forgetting herself to see only 
 Jesus therein, she considered as done for 
 Him any kindness to herself, His Spouse, 
 and even rejoiced at some little expense 
 with which her infirmities had charged the 
 monastery. It was to Him she referred the 
 nourishment, rest, sleep, her body demanded. 
 These words of His in the Gospel : " What- 
 
The Purity of Gertrude's Heart. 91 
 
 soever ye do to the least of these, is done 
 to Myself," were to her an ever-burning 
 beacon. One little incident alone which 
 we give below, will prove how agreeable 
 to Jesus Christ was this uprightness, this 
 simplicity of Gertrude's heart : 
 
 Holy meditations had banished sleep 
 from her eyes. Overcome by weariness 
 and feeling very faint, Gertrude ate, in 
 the middle of the night, a bunch of grapes, 
 proposing to herself in so doing, the lauda- 
 ble intention of refreshing Jesus Christ 
 thereby. " Now," said our Lord to her, 
 "do I imbibe from thy heart a delicious 
 beverage, whose sweetness compensates Me 
 for the bitterness of the vinegar and gall, 
 that My love of thee made Me taste on 
 Calvary." 
 
 Gertrude had thrown the grape-skins 
 ^nd seeds upon the floor of her cell. She 
 saw the demon attempt to pick up one of 
 the skins, so as to produce it against her, 
 at the tribunal of God, as a witness that 
 she had broken the rule by eating before 
 
92 The Heart of St Gertrude. 
 
 Matins. But no sooner had lie touched it, 
 than she saw that it burnt his fingers, and 
 he fled precipitately, uttering most fright- 
 ful cries. Gertrude also noticed that in 
 fleeing he was careful to avoid the burning 
 skins and seeds. 
 
 IV. 
 
 Jesus encouraged Gertrude's fidelity by 
 other lessons of charity. He told her of 
 the jealousy of His love for her. 
 
 Grieved one day by the ingratitude and 
 contempt with which a soul requited all 
 her efforts to save it, she had recourse to 
 Jesus. "It is I," said our amiable Lord, 
 " Who have permitted thee to be thus 
 afflicted. I desire that thou find neither 
 consolation nor unalloyed joy in thy friends, 
 that thus repelled, thou art constrained to 
 come to Me and remain near Me. When 
 a mother so loves a little child, that she 
 longs to have it ever beside her, if it 
 attempts to stray off to mingle in the sports 
 of other children, does she not strive to 
 
The Purity of Gertrudes Heart. 93 
 
 recall it by speaking of apparitions or 
 monsters it may meet, or even, perhaps, 
 by placing in its way something that will 
 frighten it? And thus do I act with thee, 
 
 so as to keep thee ever near Me." 
 
 These confidences of the love of Jesus did 
 not permit Gertrude to take pleasure in 
 vain conversations. On the contrary, these 
 wearied her, and just as soon as charity 
 allowed her to withdraw, she would hasten 
 to be more closely united to Jesus, either 
 in solitude or meditation. Kneeling before 
 a crucifix, she would address Him thus : 
 " Master, behold me at Thy Feet. The 
 conversation of creatures is weariness to 
 my soul, which takes no pleasure but in 
 Thy company. I turn away from them 
 and come to Thee, Sovereign Good, 
 Sole Joy of my heart/"' 
 
 Then, affectionately kissing on her cruci- 
 fix the Five Wounds of Jesus, she would 
 say at each: "I salute Thee, Jesus, Spouse 
 ornamented with wounds as with flowers; 
 I salute and embrace Thee, with a love in 
 
94 The Heart of St Gertrude. 
 
 which all other loves are united ; with the 
 complacency of Thy Divinity itself, I kiss 
 Thy Wound of love." 
 
 Gertrude had been practising this pious 
 exercise a long time, when one day our 
 Lord said to her : " Every time thou actest 
 thus, I ponder in My Heart the five-fold 
 return I will make thee in Heaven for the 
 joy thou givest Me during thy sojourn on 
 earth." 
 
 Simplicity and purity of intention are 
 but aspects of, or acts springing from, 
 purity of heart, which, when perfect, pro- 
 duces liberty. A friend of our Saint once 
 asked Jesus Christ, at meditation : " What 
 disposition of Gertrude's soul is it that 
 pleases Thee most?" "Her liberty of 
 heart," answered Jesus. " She permits her 
 heart to be attached to nothing that may 
 turn it aside from Me ; hence, the progress 
 she makes in the paths of sanctity. It is 
 this liberty of heart which daily renders 
 perfect her charity." 
 
CHAPTER YIIL 
 
 Wip ^unfitting Jjattn rf Gterlntirjfs 
 
 A LL the Saints have loved Jesus Christ : 
 -*--*- love of Jesus Christ is the perfection 
 of sanctity : but this love presents different 
 characteristics in the hearts of different 
 Saints. The most salient feature in Ger- 
 trude's was her confidence. More fully 
 than any other does she seem to have 
 understood these words of Jesus: "Be of 
 good heart, It is I, fear ye not." 
 
 I. 
 
 "All that I have received," she used 
 to say. " I owe to my confidence in the 
 
 gratuitous bounty of my God." Our Lord 
 Himself, once reproaching a holv soul for 
 
 °95 
 
96 The Heart of St Gertrude. 
 
 the timidity of her petitions, said : " Why 
 art thou not like My beloved Gertrude? 
 There is nothing she does not hope for 
 from My bounty, and there is nothing 
 My bounty will ever refuse her." 
 
 In all things she had recourse to Jesus 
 as a child to its mother, nothing, in her 
 eyes, being too trivial to be recommended 
 to Him. On one occasion, having lost a 
 needle in a pile of straw, she besought 
 Him to find it for her. " O dear Jesus," 
 said she, " vainly, indeed, would I search 
 for this needle ; it were lost time ; please 
 get it for me Thyself." Extending one 
 hand, and turning away her head, she 
 immediately found the needle between her 
 fingers. 
 
 She called Jesus by titles the most affec- 
 tionate, and His brotherly Heart encour- 
 aged this confidence so dear to It. "I 
 salute Thee, most loving Lord," said Ger- 
 trude to Jesus one day, " I who am but a 
 vile little creature." "And I," immediately 
 replied Jesus, "salute thee, My beloved 
 
Confiding Love of Gertrude's Heart. 97 
 
 Spouse." Our Lord made her understand, 
 on this occasion, that His Heart was most 
 responsive to such tender epithets as Be- 
 loved, sweetest Jesus, and others of similar 
 nature when dictated by piety and devotion. 
 Her confidence in Jesus banished all fear 
 of death. One day, climbing up a rough 
 place, Gertrude fell. On arising, she said, 
 gaily : " O what a happiness, dear Jesus, 
 had this fall but brought me to Thee ! " 
 " What! " exclaimed in astonishment those 
 who were with her, "would you not be 
 afraid to die without the Last Sacraments? " 
 " I desire with all my heart to receive them," 
 was her answer, " but I prefer to the Sacra- 
 ments, Providence and my Master's Will. 
 Moreover, whether I die suddenly or other- 
 wise, I feel confident that His mercy will 
 never be wanting." 
 
 II. 
 
 The contemporary author of Gertrude's 
 life mentions especially as one of her most 
 
 7 
 
98 The Heart of St. Gertrude. 
 
 admirable acts of confidence in Jesus Christ, 
 the frequency of her Communions, and the 
 care she took to banish all exaggerated fears 
 and false ideas of respect that might have 
 kept her from the Eucharistic Table. No- 
 thing she heard or read about the risk of 
 making bad Communions, could ever have 
 sufficient weight with her to make her 
 forego even one. Such books or discourses, 
 on the contrary, only animated her confi- 
 dence in the infinite goodness of our Lord, 
 and she would go to Communion without 
 fear, endeavoring to inspire others with thk 
 same unwavering confidence. 
 
 " Humility," she would say to them, 
 " should force you to communicate. What 
 indeed were your longest, most assiduous 
 preparations for Communion when you 
 think of the grandeur of this Gift of Jesus 
 Christ, wholly gratuitous? Even your 
 greatest efforts would be but as a drop of 
 water compared to the ocean. Of course, 
 make all preparation in your power, but if 
 it seem to you insufficient, walk fearlessly 
 
Confiding Love of Gertrude's Heart 99 
 
 to the Holy Table, relying upon the bounty 
 of Jesus." 
 
 Often Gertrude used her authority as 
 Superior to lead to the Holy Table the 
 Sisters who were too scrupulous. 
 
 One day, as she was quite worried on 
 this account, thinking she had exceeded 
 her limits and been wanting in discretion, 
 our Lord said to her : " Fear not ; thou 
 hast done well. For thy consolation and 
 guidance in future, I promise thee that, 
 never shall thy counsels or orders be the 
 occasion of an unworthy Communion. I 
 will extend a loving welcome to all souls 
 whom thou shalt bring to Me." 
 
 We meet throughout Gertrude's writings 
 similar anecdotes, showing how agreeable to 
 Jesus was her confidence. Let us recount 
 a few of them. The reader will find therein 
 abundant justification of the doctrine of the 
 Saints and great theologians, which teaches 
 that Communion may be allowed all Chris- 
 tians in a state of grace ; that exemption 
 from mortal sin suffices to render the Com- 
 
100 The Heart of St Gertrude. 
 
 munion profitable ; and humility and con- 
 fidence supply the place of dispositions 
 apparently more perfect — in a word, that 
 the Holy Communion is the remedy of 
 sinners, the nourishment of the weak, not 
 the recompense of the Saints.* 
 
 Once when about to communicate, Ger- 
 trude said to Jesus, " Lord, what wilt Thou 
 give me ? " "I will give thee Myself, as I 
 did to My Mother," was the answer. " Yes- 
 
 *Some directors oppose to souls who would com- 
 municate frequently, the following words of St. 
 Francis de Sales: "To communicate every eight 
 days, one should be free from mortal sin, likewise, 
 all affection to venial sin, and have a great desire 
 of communicating." These sentiments of St. Fran- 
 cis de Sales, which he, by a common error of his 
 times, attributed to St. Augustine, are in reality, 
 taken from the writings of Gennadius. A Saint, 
 Alphonsus Liguori, whose authority, more espe- 
 cially on such points as these, is no less weighty 
 than that of the Bishop of Geneva, writes as fol- 
 lows, about the end of the last century : "If the 
 Blessed Francis de Sales, who advocated frequent 
 Communion, had known that the above quoted pas- 
 sage was to be attributable not to St. Augustine, but 
 to Gennadius, his (St. Augustine's) adversary, he 
 
Confiding Love of Gertrude's Heart 101 
 
 terday the Sisters received Thee with me ; 
 to-day, they do not. Shall my merits or 
 recompense thereby be greater than theirs? " 
 she asked. " In the world/' answered Jesus, 
 "the governor who is twice elected to his 
 high office, takes precedence of him who 
 occupies it but once; and shall not then 
 one be more glorious in Heaven, the 
 oftener he shall have received Me upon 
 earth?'' "Oh!" exclaimed Gertrude, " what 
 
 would, no doubt, have given it slight consideration." 
 — St. Thomas of Aquin also attributed this same text 
 to St. Augustine, but he (St. Thomas) excludes from 
 the Holy Table only such as carry to it mortal sin 
 already committed, or the will to commit a mortal 
 sin ; for it is thus he interprets the words of Gen- 
 nadius : Si mens in affectu peccandi non sit. — Here 
 are the words of St. Thomas (in 1 ad Cor. 2, lect. 7) : 
 " Tertio modo dicitur aliquis indignus, ex eo quod 
 cum voluntate peccandi mortaliter accedit ad 
 Eucharistiam : inde y in libro de Dog-mat. Eccles. 
 dicitur: Si mens in affectu peccandi non sit." 
 
 How, moreover, the above quoted words of St. 
 Francis de Sales may be reconciled with the doc- 
 trine universally admitted, St. Thomas formulates 
 in these terms : "The presence of venial sins in the 
 
102 The Heart of St. Gertrude. 
 
 then will be the glory of priests, since they 
 communicate every day ! " " Their glory 
 is great indeed," answered Jesus, " if they 
 communicate worthily. The Holy Com- 
 munion, though always conferring glory, 
 does not always, however, produce sensible 
 joy. He who communicates from habit 
 does not taste the sweetness of the Eucha- 
 rist ; whilst he who prepares his heart for 
 Its reception by exercises of piety and 
 
 soul is an obstacle to the impressions of sensible 
 devotion which the Sacrament ordinarily produces; 
 but it does not prevent the increase of sanctifying 
 grace or charity, which is the principal fruit of the 
 Sacrament. " 
 
 In fine, directors are always careful to bear in 
 mind that frequent falls into certain mortal sins 
 are oftenest arrested, or diminished in their vio- 
 lence, only by very frequent Communions — such 
 is the opinion, among others, of St. Ligouri, Cardi- 
 nal Tolet and Cardinal de Lugo, three theologians 
 of the first order. 
 
 Says Blessed Albert le Grand, it is not more 
 natural for water to quench thirst, than it is for 
 the Sacrament of the Altar to moderate the ardor 
 of concupiscence. 
 
Confiding Love of Gertrude's Heart. 103 
 
 devotion, tastes of this sweetness in propor- 
 tion to his dispositions. In fine, he who 
 approaches Me with fear and reverence, is 
 less eagerly welcomed than he who comes 
 to Me from love." 
 
 " Thou hast so often given me Thy Divine 
 Heart, O my Beloved, what shall I gain in 
 receiving Thee to-day, once more ? " Thus 
 spoke Gertrude after one of her Commu- 
 nions. Jesus answered: "Catholic Faith 
 teaches that in communicating but once, 
 the Christian receives Me, for his salvation, 
 with all My goods — that is, with the united 
 treasures of My Divinity and Humanity; 
 but he does not appropriate the abundance 
 of these treasures except by repeated Com- 
 munions. At each new Communion, I in- 
 crease, I multiply the riches which are to 
 make his happiness in Heaven. " 
 
 Among the directors of the monastery, 
 was one whose sentiments on the subject 
 of Communion were inspired more by zeal 
 for justice than the spirit of mercy. And 
 according to his ideas, some of the Sisters 
 
104 The Heart of St Gertrude. 
 
 had not the requisite devotion for frequent 
 Communion, or did not sufficiently prepare 
 themselves for It. Expressing himself thus 
 in a public instruction, he soon succeeded in 
 breaking down the confidence of many of 
 the Religious. Gertrude, greatly afflicted 
 at this, and praying one day for the aus- 
 tere director, asked Jesus : " Lord, what dost 
 Thou think of his conduct ? " And our Lord 
 answered : 
 
 " My delights are to be with the children 
 of men. To satisfy My love I instituted 
 this Sacrament. I remain thus with them 
 until the end of the world, and I desire that 
 they receive Me frequently. If then, any 
 one, either by public instruction or private 
 counsel, keep from the Holy Table a soul not 
 in mortal sin, he hinders or interrupts the 
 delights of My Heart. Did a young prince 
 take great pleasure in talking to or recre- 
 ating with children of an humble condition, 
 would he not be vexed and irritated, were 
 his preceptor harshly to reprove him and 
 drive the children off, under the plea that 
 
Confiding Love of Gertrude's Heart 105 
 
 it was unbecoming the dignity of a prince 
 to indulge in such sports and associate with 
 his inferiors/' 
 
 "Lord," continued our Saint, "if the 
 person of whom we have been talking were 
 to change his sentiment and conduct on this 
 point, wouldst Thou not pardon him all the 
 wrong he has thereby done Thee to this 
 day?" "Not only would I pardon him," 
 answered Jesus, "but I would also be as 
 delighted with him as the young prince 
 with his preceptor, should the latter, relax- 
 ing his austerity, himself invite the children 
 he had driven away, to return and resume 
 their sports with his royal charge." 
 
 On one occasion, when the time of Com- 
 munion had arrived, Gertrude felt less 
 devotion than usual. " O my soul," she 
 cried within herself, " behold thy Spouse 
 comes to thee and thou art without adorn- 
 ment. But place all thy confidence in 
 Him. Didst thou spend a thousand years 
 in preparing thyself for His reception, thou 
 wouldst still be unworthy of such a favor ; 
 
106 The Heart of St. Gertrude. 
 
 nothing thou couldst do would render thee 
 worthy ; come then to Jesus with humility 
 and confidence." And as she thus advanced 
 to the Holy Table, deeply impressed with 
 the sense of her unworthiness, Jesus Him- 
 self came to her assistance, and arrayed her 
 in His own virtues — His innocence, the 
 humility which inclined Him towards us, 
 His desire of being united to us, His love, 
 the joy He tastes in our Communions, the 
 confidence that urges Him to deliver Him- 
 self to us, and seek the delights of His 
 Heart amid our lowliness and miseries — 
 all of which adornments of the soul in its 
 Spouse's eyes were shown to her under 
 the figure of costly garments of various 
 colors. 
 
 Once, after she had heard a long and 
 terrible sermon upon God's holiness and 
 justice, and the great fear with which one 
 should approach the Sacraments, Jesus 
 said to her: "It is not My justice, but My 
 goodness and tenderness especially, I strive 
 to manifest in the Eucharist. To be con- 
 
Confiding Love of Gertrude's Heart. 107 
 
 vincecl of this, let one but consider how I 
 am imprisoned in a little ciborium, and 
 under what lowly appearances I come to 
 men, I, the King of glory ! Even thus is 
 My justice imprisoned by My mercy, sweet 
 mercy, which alone I extend to all in this 
 Sacrament. Dost thou not see that whilst 
 reducing Myself (in a certain sense) to the 
 tiny proportions of the Host, I really sub- 
 ordinate My Body thus humiliated, to the 
 body of him who receives Me ? and this is 
 only an image of my subjection of will to 
 that of the communicant. 
 
 " Why not ponder the lesson given by 
 the spectacle of the priest administering 
 Holy Communion ? He is clothed in rich 
 sacred vestments, but he holds My Body 
 in his naked hand, from which we may 
 learn that although one should make every 
 preparation for Communion by prayer, fasts, 
 vigils and other exercises of piety, yet my 
 compassionate tenderness brings Me nearer 
 those who, naked of these ornaments, seek 
 in this Sacrament only the fountains of My 
 
108 The Heart of St Gertrude. 
 
 mercy, deeply conscious of their indigence 
 and frailty. Such is My benignity, but 
 many there are who will not believe it." 
 On one occasion, the hour for Communion 
 approached, and Gertrude had made no 
 immediate preparation. "Alas ! dear Jesus," 
 said she, " Thou seest how unprepared I am 
 to receive Thee ! Since Thou canst do it, 
 why hast Thou not supplied my deficiency?" 
 " Does not a spouse," He answered, "some- 
 times prefer to see the white, delicate hand 
 of His beloved unadorned by a glove? 
 Even so, am I often more pleased with the 
 humility of the communicant than his 
 devotion." 
 
 Jesus does not even approve always of 
 one's abstaining from Communion, for fear 
 of scandalizing the witnesses of a fault 
 recently committed. 
 
 A Sister in Gertrude's Community once 
 absented herself from the Holy Table for 
 this reason. As Gertrude was praying for 
 her, our Lord enlightened her (Gertrude) 
 as follows : " That fault was of service to 
 
Confiding Love of Gertrude's Heart 109 
 
 our Sister's soul, because her humiliation 
 and confession effaced not only it, but 
 several others, even as in washing one 
 stain off our hands we wash off any others 
 that may be on them ; and she ought to 
 have communicated, satisfied that I had 
 restored her soul its interior beauty, and 
 striving to become indifferent to its exte- 
 rior, that is, as to what others would think 
 in seeing her communicate so soon after 
 her fault. In acting otherwise, she has 
 attached more importance to the judgment 
 of men than to privation of the grace of 
 the Sacrament.' ' 
 
 "The fruits of this Sacrament are im- 
 measurable," said our Lord to Gertrude 
 again. "It compensates for all spiritual 
 losses and deficiencies, provided It be re- 
 ceived in a state of grace. Yes, when urged 
 by the vehemence of My love, I unite 
 Myself by Holy Communion to a soul not 
 in mortal sin, I fill it with treasures untold ; 
 and, at that moment, all the inhabitants of 
 Heaven, earth and purgatory even, experi- 
 
110 The Heart of St. Gertrude. 
 
 ence the wonderful effects of My good- 
 ness." 
 
 In all Gertrude's writings, amid the 
 numberless sweet invitations of the Heart 
 of Jesus urging men to seek Him in the 
 Eucharist, we find but one passage breath- 
 ing the spirit of severity. It refers to 
 those who having permitted their tongue 
 slanderous or immodest words, come to the 
 Holy Table, ere expiating by Confession, 
 the injury done these, His two dearest vir- 
 tues — charity and purity. " These per- 
 sons," said our Lord, "give Me a cruel 
 welcome in Communion, not unlike that of 
 a man who should greet the guest crossing 
 his threshold, by letting fall upon his head 
 a heavy beam or a shower of stones. I feel 
 the outrage the moment My Body touches 
 their tongue." On hearing this, Gertrude 
 pierced to the heart with grief, exclaimed : 
 " O cruel man ! how canst thou treat thus, 
 Him Who flies to thy soul with an excess 
 of love to embrace and save it ! " 
 
Confiding Love of Gertrudes Heart 111 
 
 III. 
 
 The Saints always united to the worship 
 of the Eucharist great devotion to our 
 Lord's Passion ; and Gertrude lived ever 
 in the presence of Jesus on Calvary, study- 
 ing her crucifix assiduously, and pondering 
 the love which had embraced such suffer- 
 ings for us. 
 
 At the beginning of her conversion, she 
 ardently desired to have a crucifix which 
 she could honor according to her good 
 pleasure ; but later, she began to fear lest 
 this exterior devotion prove prejudicial to 
 her interior exercises. Jesus reassured her. 
 "No," said He, "on the contrary, it is very 
 agreeable to Me to see thee thus honoring 
 the crucifix. It is always by an effect 
 of divine grace that men's eyes meet the 
 Image on the Cross, and never once do they 
 rest upon It, but his soul is benefited." 
 
 One day, as Gertrude was affectionately 
 holding her crucifix and kissing it, our 
 
112 The Heart of St. Gertrude. 
 
 Lord said to her : " Every time one kisses 
 the crucifix, or looks at it with devotion, 
 the eye of God's mercy is fixed upon his 
 soul. He should then listen within himself 
 to these words of tenderness from Me : ' Be- 
 hold how I, for love of thee, have been 
 nailed upon a cross — naked, disfigured, 
 covered with wounds, all My members 
 violently distended ; and My Heart is so 
 enamored of thee, that were it necessary 
 for thy salvation, I would joyfully undergo, 
 for thee alone, all that I suffered for the 
 whole human race.' " 
 
 Gertrude's eyes ever sought her crucifix, 
 sorrowful memento of the love of Jesus ; 
 and at night, this " bundle of myrrh " (for 
 so she called it) never left her hands. Not 
 even this satisfied her devotion, and she 
 consecrated the whole of every Friday to 
 meditation on the Passion. 
 
 More than once, our Lord made known 
 to her how agreeable this devotion was to 
 Him. " Even though a soul be lacking in 
 fervor, yet will I look upon her with much 
 
Confiding Love of Gertrude's Heart 113 
 
 love, if she sometimes meditate upon My 
 Passion. It is an exercise possessing a 
 value in My eyes infinitely surpassing that 
 of any other. Even a short meditation 
 upon My Passion, is worth more than long 
 and multiplied acts of piety that have no 
 direct reference to My sufferings and 
 death." 
 
 IV. 
 
 Devoted to the Eucharist and the Pas- 
 sion, Gertrude nevertheless concentrated 
 all her love of Jesus Christ, all her acts of 
 piety in a devotion eminently embodying 
 the others — devotion to the Sacred Heart. 
 
 Jesus, indeed, is entire in His Heart, and 
 it is there she found at their inexhaustible 
 source, the gifts of His love, there she saw 
 the abysses of His most cruel sufferings. 
 
 It was in 1674, Jesus confided to Blessed 
 Margaret Mary the mission of proclaiming 
 to the world the love and plaints of His 
 Heart ; but four centuries previously, had 
 He already ordered Gertrude to write the 
 8 
 
114 The Heart of St Gertrude. 
 
 book reveal! ;„ the depths of His Heart. 
 Henceforth, she was (this book confirming 
 it forever) the confidante most intimate, 
 the Evangelist dearest among the Spouses 
 of the Heart of Jesus. 
 
 On the feast of St. John, Gertrude was 
 shown the disciple whom Jesus loved, in 
 glory incomparable. " Dearest Lord," 
 said our Saint to Jesus Christ, " why dost 
 Thou present me, me so unworthy, to Thy 
 Beloved Disciple?" "Because I wish to 
 establish between him and thee a holy 
 friendship ; henceforth, will he be in 
 Heaven, thy faithful protector." 
 
 John now said to Gertrude, " Spouse of 
 my Master, come let us repose our heads 
 upon our dear Lord's bosom ; in it are all 
 the treasures of Heaven." And as they 
 were thus reclining, Gertrude on the right, 
 John on the left side of Jesus, the Beloved 
 Disciple continued : " Here is the Holy of 
 Holies, whither are attracted as towards 
 their centre, everything on earth and in 
 Heaven." 
 
Confiding Love of Gertrude's Heart 115 
 
 Meanwhile, the beatings of the Heart of 
 Jesus ravished Gertrude's soul. "Beloved 
 of the Lord," she asked St. John, " did not 
 these harmonious pulsations, now filling my 
 soul with joy, delight thine when at the 
 Last Supper thou didst recline upon the 
 Master's bosom?" "Yes, their sweetness 
 penetrated to the depths of my being." 
 " Whence comes it then that thou hast said 
 so little about it in the Gospel?" "My 
 ministry in those days of the early Church 
 was limited to making known the Uncre- 
 ated Word, the Eternal Son of the Father, 
 only saying what would serve as fruitful 
 meditation for man's intelligence, and not 
 exhausting the riches of these divine trea- 
 sures. To later days, the far future, was 
 reserved the grace of hearing the eloquent 
 voice of the throbbings of Jesus Christ's 
 Heart. At this persuasive voice, the world 
 grown old, will be rejuvenated, and arous- 
 ing from its torpor, it will be inflamed with 
 the fire of divine love." 
 
 The following from another portion of 
 
116 The Heart of St Gertrude. 
 
 Gertrude's book sounds like an echo of 
 these pulsations of our Lord's Heart: "Ah! 
 dearest Lord," exclaimed Gertrude, on see- 
 ing her companions hastening to the chapel 
 to assist at a sermon, whilst she, sick and 
 suffering, was unable to accompany them, 
 " how I would love to hear the sermon ! " 
 " Wouldst thou have Me to preach thee a 
 sermon, Beloved?" said our Lord. "Oh! 
 joyfully indeed would I listen to Thee," 
 answered Gertrude. Then Jesus inclining 
 her soul towards His Heart, she immedi- 
 ately distinguished two harmonious pulsa- 
 tions. " One of these throbs," said Jesus, 
 " works the sanctification of the just, the 
 other, the salvation of sinners." 
 
 "The first is ever pleading with My 
 Father, to appease His justice and open 
 the fountains of His mercy. By this also 
 do I speak to all the Saints, making 
 excuses to them for sinners, with the indul- 
 gence and zeal of a good Brother, and 
 urging them to intercede for these unhappy 
 
Confiding Love of Gertrude's Heart. 117 
 
 creatures, deaf to the voice of My love. 
 This same throb is likewise the incessant 
 appeal I mercifully address the sinner 
 himself, with that inexpressible desire of 
 seeing him return to Me, which never 
 wearies of awaiting him. 
 
 " By the second throb, I ever repeat to 
 My Father how much I congratulate 
 Myself on having shed My Blood to 
 redeem so many just, in whose hearts I 
 find My delights. I invite the whole 
 celestial court to admire with Me the life 
 of these perfect souls, and return thanks 
 to God for the blessings He has already 
 bestowed upon them or has prepared for 
 them hereafter. In fine, this throb of My 
 Heart is the habitual and familiar conver- 
 sation I have with the just, either to testify 
 My love for them, or to reprove their faults 
 and thus hourly and daily advance them in 
 the paths of perfection. 
 
 " As no exterior occupation, no distrac- 
 tion of sight or sound ever interrupts the 
 
118 The Heart of St. Gertrude. 
 
 throbbings of the heart of man, even thus 
 in the providential government of the Uni- 
 verse, will nothing to the end of ages ever 
 arrest, or slacken for an instant, these two 
 pulsations of My Heart." 
 
CHAPTEK IX. 
 
 Wfa Jlfonkmmimi nf §wivnW$ If&trt 
 ixt % itoxrfo Jhn%uv$ of $&tt&+ 
 
 pi ERTRUDE had great confidence in 
 ^-^ the love of Jesus Christ become Man 
 for love of His brethren ; and without for- 
 getting that Jesus is God, she always 
 remembered that He is Man. This con- 
 fidence, as we have seen, banished fear 
 from her soul ; and yet more — it disposed 
 her to receive with unfailing faith and 
 serenity, whatever came from His fraternal 
 hand, blessing Him alike under all cir- 
 cumstances, and blindly abandoning her- 
 self to the good pleasure of His Heart. 
 ■ 
 
 i. 
 
 It was to these dispositions she owed 
 the joy that irradiated her countenance — 
 
 119 
 
120 The Heart of St Gertrude. 
 
 nothing troubled her, neither physical suf- 
 ferings, nor persecutions, nor interior trials. 
 Tribulation, indeed, seemed rather to in- 
 crease her joy, for she firmly believed that 
 the love of Jesus Christ directed all the 
 events of life, and it could draw from 
 all, tribulation especially, the soul's best 
 aliment. Hence, she neither tasted nor 
 wished to taste anything save the good 
 pleasure of Jesus Christ, and her heart 
 could conceive of no other motives of 
 action, either of choosing, desiring, mourn- 
 ing or rejoicing, save in this same good 
 pleasure. 
 
 One trifling incident alone, of frequent 
 recurrence, manifested to Gertrude's Sis- 
 ters this perfect abandonment of her will. 
 When presented with clothing, furniture, 
 fruits — divers objects, and given her choice 
 among each, she w 7 ould close her eyes, and 
 reaching forth her hand, accept as from 
 Jesus Himself, the first of these articles it 
 met. 
 
 "I could not be irritated against Ger- 
 
Abandonment of Gertrude's Heart 121 
 
 trude," said our Lord to Saint Mechtilde, 
 "for she finds all My ways perfect; and 
 amiable, all My dispositions in regard to 
 herself, even the most painful. Wherefore, 
 all her works please Me, and when some 
 imperfections are mingled with them, My 
 mercy excuses these human infirmities." 
 
 " Gertrude," said He again, " clings so 
 closely to My Heart, and I have so cemented 
 the bonds uniting us, that she has become 
 one with Me. She lives in absolute depend- 
 ence upon My will ; the members of one's 
 body being not less dependent upon the 
 heart than Gertrude upon My will. As a 
 man says only in thought to the hand, do 
 this ; to the eye, look ; to the tongue, speak ; 
 to the foot, advance, and these members 
 instantly obey, so Gertrude is to Me a 
 hand, an eye, a tongue, obeying My least 
 desires." 
 
 II. 
 
 Numberless and admirable were the les- 
 sons of Jesus Christ imprinting these perfect 
 
122 The Heart of St Gertrude. 
 
 dispositions upon Gertrude's heart. By 
 1 degrees, He made her understand that 
 everything comes to the just from the 
 hand of God ; that sufferings and humilia- 
 tions are of an incomparable price and the 
 most precious gifts of His providence; 
 likewise, that spiritual infirmities, tempta- 
 tions, even faults may become, through His 
 grace, powerful instruments of sanctifica- 
 tion. Jesus also made known to her that 
 He hears His friends' prayers, even when 
 He seems to neglect or repulse them ; that 
 in His sight, the intention alone is the merit 
 of one's works, and that even good desires 
 are accounted works. He revealed to her 
 the sovereign perfection of complete aban- 
 donment to His good pleasure, and the joy 
 of His Heart at seeing a soul blindly com- 
 mit itself to the care of His providence and 
 love. 
 
 Gertrude knew how to profit by these 
 lights ; she obeyed these impulses of grace, 
 and her heart learned to sing hourly the 
 hymn of abandonment, the hymn of the 
 
Abandonment of Gertrude's Heart 123 
 
 Heart of Jesus Christ: "Yea, Father, for 
 so it hath seemed good in Thy sight: " Ita, 
 Pater, quia sie fuit plaeitum ante te. 
 
 " Would that My friends/ ' said Jesus to 
 His Spouse, " deemed Me less harsh. Let 
 them do Me the justice of believing that 
 if sometimes I oblige them to serve Me 
 laboriously and at a sacrifice, it is for their 
 good alone, and their supreme good. Oh ! 
 if instead of being irritated at their troubles 
 or against their enemies, they would con- 
 sider these but the instruments of My 
 paternal bounty ! The rod in the hand 
 of a father correcting his son must needs 
 obey the will of him who wields it ; 
 and the wicked are the rod with which 
 I correct My children. I do so in love, 
 for were not contradiction and correction 
 necessary to cure their faults, or increase 
 their eternal glory, never should a rough 
 wind blow upon them. A right under- 
 standing of these things would fill them 
 with pity for their enemies instead of 
 indignation, for in purifying the good, 
 
124 The Heart of St Gertrude. 
 
 these often stain themselves with grievous 
 sins." 
 
 In these words of the Salve Regina 
 "Turn thine eyes of mercy towards us," 
 Gertrude was once begging Jesus to give 
 her health. He answered with a smile : 
 " It is when thou art sick in body or 
 troubled in soul that Mine eyes of mercy 
 are fixed upon thee. Didst thou not know 
 this?" 
 
 Sad and disheartened, she said to Him : 
 "What shall I do now to please Thee?" 
 " Learn to suffer patiently," was the answer. 
 " Lord, teach me," she said. Then Jesus, 
 drawing her towards Him, as does the 
 teacher a little child whom he is going to 
 teach its letters, spoke to her as follows : 
 " Know thou that the King has no friend 
 more dear than he who most resembles him. 
 And hence, the greater is My love for thee, 
 the more thou strivest to become like Me 
 by patient suffering. Think, too, how all 
 the court honors the King's favorite, believ- 
 ing that a glorious recompense in Heaven, 
 
Abandonment of Gertrude's Heart 125 
 
 will crown thy daily sufferings here. Be- 
 think thyself again, that a faithful friend 
 always compassionates his friend's suffer- 
 ings, and endeavors to assuage them by 
 his caresses. What then may est thou not 
 expect in Heaven from the tenderness of 
 My affection which carefully notes all thy 
 pains and sorrows ? " 
 
 The monastery being burdened with a 
 heavy debt, Gertrude begged our Lord to 
 send the trustees the means of paying 
 it. Jesus smiled sweetly, and said: "And 
 what will I gain by that?" "What 
 wilt Thou gain, Lord?" she answered. 
 "That the trustees serve Thee with less 
 solicitude and more devotion." "But sup- 
 pose I do not wish them to serve Me 
 thus," said Jesus. "It is the intention 
 which makes all the merit, either of solici- 
 tude or peace. Had I preferred being 
 served in the peace of contemplation, I 
 would have provided for it, by exempting 
 redeemed humanity from the cares inci- 
 dent upon nourishment, lodging, clothing; 
 
126 The Heart of St. Gertrude. 
 
 but I derive more profit from the labor of 
 My friends." 
 
 Gertrude, at this moment, perceived, 
 bending low before Jesus, a man who, 
 arising with great effort, placed in our 
 Lord's hands a piece of gold, in the centre 
 of which gleamed a beautiful diamond. 
 "If I had granted thy petition." continued 
 Jesus, "the trustee could have given Me 
 only the gold piece without the diamond, 
 and his recompense would have been less 
 in Heaven. To do My will amid peace 
 and consolation is to give Me a gold piece; 
 amid trials and cares, is to add to the gold 
 piece a costly diamond." 
 
 Gertrude was once praying for a friend 
 who had sustained a serious injury. "I 
 will restore her the use of the afflicted 
 member," said our Lord, " although she 
 purchases a great reward by her sufferings." 
 " How can our sufferings have so much 
 merit?" inquired Gertrude, '• for we take 
 remedies to assuage them, and we would 
 rid ourselves of them entirely, if possible." 
 
Abandonment of Gertrude s Heart 127 
 
 "Yes," replied our Lord, "but what suf- 
 fering remains after one has exhausted 
 attempts at relief, will, if borne patiently 
 for love of Me, work the sufferer incompa- 
 rable glory ; I myself sanctified it, when in 
 My Agony in the Garden, I cried to My 
 Father, ' My Father, if it be possible, let 
 this chalice pass from Me.' " " But, Lord," 
 again asked Gertrude, " would it not be 
 more pleasing to Thee if, instead of resign- 
 ing ourselves lovingly only to such suffer- 
 ings as will not be assuaged, one patiently 
 suffers all, without seeking alleviation ? " 
 " That is the secret of My justice ; " He 
 answered, " according to the human con- 
 ception of things, these two diverse senti- 
 ments are like two beautiful shades of 
 color, perfectly distinct, and so beautiful, 
 that it were impossible to decide between 
 them." "Lord," continued Gertrude, 
 " when I make known to the sick per- 
 son the instructions Thou hast given me 
 on this subject, deign, I pray Thee, to fill 
 her with a sensible impression of joy." 
 
128 The Heart of St Gertrude. 
 
 " No ; " answered our Lord, " If I did so, 
 three of her virtues would lose their bright- 
 ness — her patience, for the joy would make 
 her forget her sufferings ; her faith, these 
 vivid impressions rendering evident the 
 mysterious designs of My Providence ; her 
 humility, in the consciousness that I had 
 thus favored her. It is far more profitable 
 to her soul, that she believe God deems her 
 unworthy of communicating His graces and 
 benefits directly to her." 
 
 III. 
 
 Gertrude had arisen from several spells 
 of illness ; after a seventh relapse, she said 
 to Jesus : " O Father of Mercies, will I be 
 long sick ? " " My Paternal Providence," 
 answered Jesus, " sees fit to leave thee in 
 ignorance of this. If I had told thee at the 
 beginning of thy illness, that thou wert to 
 suffer seven successive attacks, thy patience 
 perhaps had not sufficed for such a burden ; 
 if I w 7 ere to tell thee now that this spell 
 
Abandonment of Gertrude's Heart 129 
 
 would be the last, or of short duration, 
 such knowledge would greatly diminish 
 thy merits. Leave to Me the disposing of 
 this as of everything else in thy regard ; I 
 know thy weakness, and I will proportion 
 the trial according to thy strength. Thanks 
 to the ingenuities of My love, thy will stands 
 firmer after the seventh attack than at the 
 first." 
 
 Some one complaining to Gertrude of a 
 lack of divine consolations in her spiritual 
 exercises and even in Holy Communion on 
 solemn feast days, our Saint asked Jesus 
 the reason. " It is for the greater good of 
 her soul," He answered; "humility is often 
 more profitable than devotion. Moreover, 
 I am often nearest the soul at the very time 
 it complains of My remoteness. When a 
 friend embraces us, do we distinguish his 
 features as clearly as when he is a little 
 farther off? "With consolation, are not 
 unfrequently mingled imperfections that 
 impede the abundant effusion of My 
 graces. I could prevent these imperfec- 
 9 
 
130 The Heart of St Gertrude. 
 
 tions even whilst flooding the soul with 
 sensible joy, but when humiliations ward 
 them off, the soul acquires more merit." 
 
 A lay Sister was greatly troubled that 
 the multiplicity of her manual labors inter- 
 fered with her meditations. Gertrude rec- 
 ommended her to our Lord. "She wishes," 
 answered Jesus, " to serve me an hour, and 
 I exact much more of her, desiring to have 
 her with Me the whole day, these multiplied 
 duties of which she complains, uniting her 
 inseparably to Me : wherefore, let her do 
 all things, not only with an eye to the 
 corporal welfare of the Sisters, but even 
 the advancement of their souls in My love. 
 Every time she performs an action thus, 
 she prepares for Me a delicious repast." 
 
 Gertrude was once recommending to 
 Jesus a person who often fell into the same 
 faults. " I will leave her the temptation," 
 said He; "it causes her to acknowledge 
 and deplore the fault she tries so hard to 
 correct, and yet has the humiliation of fall- 
 ing into so often. This nourishes humility 
 
Abandonment of Gertrude's Heart 131 
 
 in her heart; and whilst she combats the 
 inclination and grieves over these sins, I 
 am working within her the destruction of 
 several others that she scarcely perceives. 
 When we wash our hands to rid them of 
 one stain, we also wash off others that may 
 be on them." 
 
 Our Saint begging Jesus to correct the 
 faults of one of the Superiors of the monas- 
 tery, He made this reply : " Not he alone 
 of whom thou speakest to Me has faults, 
 but each of the other Superiors of My dear 
 Community, has likewise, his own. It is 
 My tender love for thee which has willed 
 it thus for thy greater merit. It is indeed 
 far more meritorious to obey a Superior 
 whose defects are apparent, than one whose 
 works seem perfect." 
 
 IV. 
 
 " I have been prayed for so much," said 
 a person to Gertrude, " and yet I do not 
 experience any of the good effects." Ger- 
 
132 The Heart of St Gertrude. 
 
 trade asked our Lord the reason of this. 
 His answer was : "Ask that person if some 
 one were to offer her either a benefice for 
 her little brother, or its present value in 
 money, w-hich she would choose. Her good 
 sense would no doubt prompt her to select 
 the former, the revenues of which would 
 accumulate until the child reached his 
 majority, whilst money placed in his hands 
 would soon be frittered away. Let her 
 apply this to herself, and confide entirely 
 in My bounty ; I am her Father, her 
 Brother, her Friend, much more preoccu- 
 pied with her true interests, both of body 
 and soul, than she could ever be with those 
 of another. I faithfully collect the fruits 
 of all the prayers, all the good desires 
 offered Me for her, and I will remit them 
 into her hands, at a time when it will be 
 out of her power to let them slip from her." 
 Gertrude herself was once complaining 
 thus to our Lord : " Thou hast said to me, 
 dearest Lord, ' Command, and I will hasten 
 to obey, even as a subject his sovereign.' I 
 
Abandonment of Gertrude's Heart 133 
 
 wish not, my good God, to doubt these, Thy 
 words of merciful condescension, but whence 
 comes it then, that so often my prayers seem 
 without effect?" Jesus answered : " A queen 
 says to her servant, ' Take that string off my 
 left shoulder/ He hastens to obey, but per- 
 ceives that it hangs from the right. Now, 
 as the queen cannot see her shoulders, he 
 quietly takes the string hanging from the 
 right, and gives it to her, knowing that it 
 is better to act thus than violently to snatch 
 from the left side a string of some of her 
 garments. And thus it is with thy pray- 
 ers ; when I seem not to hear them, I am 
 often, in reality, obeying thy dearest desires, 
 and according thee graces more precious 
 than those thou askest." 
 
 One festival day, Gertrude confined to 
 her cell by sickness, grieved at not being 
 able to assist at Vespers. "Alas! dear 
 Lord Jesus," she said, "would it not be 
 
134 The Heart of St. Gertrude. 
 
 more to Thy glory were I now with my 
 Sisters, chanting Thy praises, instead of 
 losing my time like this in quiet and inac- 
 tion ? " Jesus answered : " Is not a spouse 
 as well pleased to converse familiarly with 
 his beloved at home as to behold her else- 
 where, arrayed in fine and costly garments ? 
 Know, however, that good desires alone 
 content Me, when it is I who hinder their 
 execution, and nothing is as agreeable to 
 Me as to have My friends abandon them- 
 selves to My good pleasure." 
 
 " What are thy commands, O My Sov- 
 ereign Mistress ? " said Jesus, on one occa- 
 sion, to Gertrude. She answered : " I beg 
 of Thee, with all my heart, to accomplish 
 most perfectly in me, Thy good pleasure." 
 Jesus then mentioned several persons whom 
 Gertrude had recommended to Him, and 
 continued: "What shall I do for these, 
 and also that other, who was recommended 
 to thy prayers to-day ? " "I ask nothing, 
 save that Thy most amiable will be accom- 
 plished in thern." "And what for thyself? " 
 
Abandonment of Gertrude's Heart 135 
 
 " Only that Thou deign accomplish fully in 
 nie, and in every creature, Thy holy will, 
 and to obtain this, I would undergo every 
 torture." "This disposition of thy heart is 
 so agreeable to Me," said Jesus, " that it 
 has adorned thy soul with beauty incom- 
 parable, so that it now appears in My sight 
 as if it had never contradicted My will 
 even in things the most trifling." 
 
 As Gertrude was once praying for a 
 person who had said in her presence : 
 " The trials God sends me are not the sort 
 I need; a different kind would suit me 
 better," our Lord answered her thus: 
 "Ask her what kind of trials she does 
 need, for it is only through these she gains 
 Heaven ; tell her also that when they do 
 come, she must bear them patiently." 
 " Our Lord's tone and manner made Ger- 
 trude understand that it is very dangerous 
 to desire crosses different from those He 
 sends. Suddenly, changing His counte- 
 nance and voice, He said to Gertrude: 
 " Art thou, too, dissatisfied with the trials 
 
136 The Heart of St. Gertrude. 
 
 I send thee? Do thine seem to thee ill 
 chosen ? " " Oh ! no, Lord," was her 
 answer; "I acknowledge, and will acknow- 
 ledge all my days, that Thy Providence 
 has wonderfully disposed every event of 
 life — health or sickness, joy or sorrow, for 
 the good of both my body and soul." It 
 now seemed to Gertrude that Jesus con- 
 ducted her, first to the Heavenly Father, 
 then to the Holy Spirit, before whom, at 
 our Lord's invitation, she repeated the 
 profession she had just made, after which, 
 Jesus said to her: "From this moment 
 henceforward, I am obliged to have a more 
 especial care of thee," by which she under- 
 stood that Jesus encompasses with His 
 Providence those who thus commit them- 
 selves to His love, as the Superior of a 
 monastery feels his obligation to watch 
 solicitously over the necessities of the 
 Religious, since by their vows they have 
 renounced all temporal goods and cares. 
 '•' The soul," continued Jesus, " who 
 blindly confides in Me, is that dove men- 
 
Abandonment of Gertrude's Heart 137 
 
 tioned in Scripture as chosen among thou- 
 sands. She is that best beloved Spouse 
 whose look alone wounds My Heart ; and 
 if I were powerless to help her, My Heart 
 would experience such desolation as all the 
 joys of Heaven could not assuage." " I 
 see," answered Gertrude, "that abandon- 
 ment to Thee ravishes Thy Heart. But 
 tell me how to obtain this perfect gift of 
 Thee?" "My grace," said Jesus, "is 
 wanting to no one; and what person is 
 there that cannot, if he will, at least force 
 his lips to murmur some of those many 
 words of abandonment and confidence scat- 
 tered throughout the Holy Scriptures, such 
 as : ' Thou hast saved my soul out of dis- 
 tresses ; ' 'Although He should slay me, I 
 will trust Him ? ? " 
 
 " Some trials," continued Jesus, " are much 
 harder to bear than others, and probe the 
 human heart to its depths ; for instance, the 
 grief one feels at the death of a dear friend, 
 or the hourly expectation of it. But in all 
 such cases, the afflicted Christian, assisted 
 
138 The Heart of St. Gertrude. 
 
 by My grace, can resign himself to My 
 good will and say : ' I accept whatever 
 God ordains ; and I would willingly sacri- 
 fice my own desires were I given a choice 
 between them and the accomplishment of 
 His will.' The soul thus forcing itself for 
 even an hour to bend its will to Mine, may 
 rest confident that I will ever ensure to this 
 generous act its first perfection, and far 
 from being offended by that prostration 
 and dejection which naturally follows, I 
 will make all conducive to its eternal wel- 
 fare and temporal consolation. When 
 wrapped in grief, this soul deplores its sad 
 loss, and ponders the cruel void death has 
 made in its affections, My compassion will 
 regard this as a mere outgrowth of human 
 frailty, and I engage myself to compensate 
 these passing sorrows by never-ending joys 
 and merit. My goodness will constrain Me to 
 act thus. When the artist has made a place 
 in the precious metal for its setting of pearls, 
 he must needs insert them. Nor does My 
 goodness ever leave its works unfinished." 
 
CHAPTEE X. 
 
 rpHE peaceful abandonment of the Heart 
 of Jesus to Its Father's good pleasure, 
 was Its supreme act of zeal for His Father's 
 glory ; this abandonment, in reality, consti- 
 tuting the absolute reign of God over man's 
 will. Jesus longed to establish this reign 
 cf God in all souls, thus saving them and 
 extending God's kingdom, and the fire of 
 zeal, which devoured His Sacred Heart, 
 was also a burning flame in that of Ger- 
 trude's, His Spouse. 
 
 It was zeal for the salvation of souls 
 which urged her to reveal those wonderful 
 graces with which our Lord favored her; 
 
 139 
 
140 The Heart of St. Gertrude. 
 
 zeal, also, which made her so often defer 
 her frugal repasts, abridge her hours of 
 repose, neglect the care of her delicate 
 body. Meditation was to her an antici- 
 pated Heaven, yet, whilst thus engaged, 
 did a soul solicit her charity, she never 
 hesitated an instant at the sacrifice, but 
 abandoned her dearest exercises with a 
 cheerfulness that beamed in her counte- 
 nance. 
 
 Her meditations were, we might say, 
 scarcely more than an incessant prayer to 
 God for the increasing sanctification of the 
 just and the conversion of sinners. Always 
 patient, compassionate and affable towards 
 those whose vices or faults stood between 
 their souls and God, she nevertheless could 
 not tolerate the vices and faults themselves, 
 and spared herself no effort for their eradi- 
 cation. Some one once said to her: "Pray 
 no longer for such or such persons ; waste 
 no more advice on them ; if they are damned 
 you will certainly have nothing to answer 
 for." "Oh!" answered our Saint, "how 
 
The Zeal of Gertrude's Heart. 141 
 
 these cruel words pierce me like a sword: 
 I would rather die than console myself 
 thus for the loss of a soul ! " 
 
 One of the most habitual and deepest 
 griefs of her heart, was the thought of so 
 many Jews and pagans who lived, and 
 died perhaps, without participating in the 
 riches of the divine mercy. 
 
 II. 
 
 Gertrude prayed and immolated herself 
 for the conversion of infidels and sinners ; 
 hut the greatest activity of her zeal was 
 directed to the sanctification of the souls 
 of the Religious under her charge. Jesus, 
 one day, appeared to her, almos-t bowed to 
 the ground beneath the weight of an im- 
 mense house upon His shoulders. " Thou 
 seest," He said to her, "how nearly crushed 
 I am beneath this edifice, which is that of 
 the Religious State ; it is everywhere giving 
 way, and few are the generous souls that 
 meet and assist Me in bearing the burden 
 
142 The Heart of St. Gertrude. 
 
 of it. O My Best Beloved, have compassion 
 upon Me." From that day henceforth, 
 Gertrude was most vigilant in maintaining 
 the rule in her monastery, herself setting 
 the example of a heroic fidelity in the 
 observance of it. " Every Religious," said 
 our Lord to Gertrude, " is obliged to labor 
 for the correction and sanctification of his 
 brethren. He should advise them of their 
 faults, or acquaint the Superior with them, 
 that they may be remedied. Let no one 
 shirk this positive duty, excusing himself 
 by saying : ' It is not my place to correct 
 others/ or, ' I am no better than they are.' 
 Such conduct is like that of Cain, whose 
 answer to God's inquiry about his brother 
 was : ' Am I my brother's keeper V It is 
 I who warn every Religious that if, through 
 his negligence or indifference, his brethren 
 perish, I will demand of him an account of 
 these souls, more rigorous, perhaps, in some 
 instances, than of the Superiors themselves; 
 for circumstances may prevent these latter 
 from remarking defects that others, in a 
 
The Zeal of Gertrude's Heart 143 
 
 different position, see readily. Not to labor 
 to correct the faults of one's brethren is to 
 be an accomplice; for it is written: not 
 only ' Woe to him who does evil/ but like- 
 wise, ' Woe to him who consents to evil : 
 V03 facienti; vce, vce consentientV " 
 
 To these words of Jesus deeply engraven 
 upon Gertrude's heart, was due the pene- 
 trating vigor of her corrections. Without 
 forgetting, for an instant, her maternal 
 benignity, she could give, when needed, 
 such vigor to her accents and words that 
 the guilty trembled and the most rebellious 
 hung the head. 
 
 Gertrude had once corrected thus a Sister 
 wmose many virtues rendered her very dear 
 to our Saint. Shortly after, the Sister 
 deeply touched, said to Jesus : " Lord, I 
 pray Thee, temper this too fervent zeal of 
 Thy beloved Gertrude." " When I lived 
 on earth," He answered, "the sight of 
 iniquity enkindled within Me just such 
 zeal." " But, Lord," continued the Sister, 
 " Thou didst say harsh words only to those 
 
144 The Heart of St. Gertrude. 
 
 who were obstinate in evil; whilst Gertrude 
 is very severe to those who are esteemed 
 Thy friends, and considered good." " Like- 
 wise did those among the Jews," replied 
 our Lord, " who were most violent against 
 Me, pass, in the eyes of all, for very holy 
 persons." 
 
 It was thus Jesus urged and assisted His 
 Spouse, to pursue even the shadow of evil 
 in the souls of the just, at the same time 
 that He revealed to her how great must be 
 her hope in His mercy for the conversion 
 of the greatest sinners — stimulating her 
 zeal, in turns, by fear and love. 
 
 A clergyman having said in her presence, 
 that no one could be saved without charity 
 - — that is, unless the repentance for his sins 
 proceeded, in part, at least, from love of 
 God, Gertrude felt grieved and perplexed. 
 "Alas!" she thought, "what will become 
 of so many sinners, who seem to repent at 
 the hour of death, but only from fear of 
 hell ? " Jesus answered : " When I see on 
 the brink of death, persons who have been 
 
The Zeal of Gertrude's Heart. 145 
 
 not unkindly disposed towards Me, and who, 
 perhaps, have done some good works in My 
 honor, just at the moment they are about 
 to leave this world, I appear to them, 
 with looks so compassionate and loving, 
 that their hearts are touched to the depths, 
 and they make that act of contrition which 
 saves their souls. I desire that My elect 
 in remembering My other benefits, w T ould 
 render thanks to Me for this supreme act 
 of mercy towards dying sinners." 
 
 10 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 
 !>§£ drafting nf Ssrtntte** If&ttt 
 
 TESUS, whilst revealing to Gertrude all 
 ^ the mysteries of His love for her and 
 for sinners, frequently invited her to pay 
 Him, in the name of all, a debt nearly all 
 forget — that of thanksgiving. Gertrude 
 was grateful, very grateful, and her life, 
 her writings are one hymn of thanksgiving. 
 Let the following from her book confirm 
 our words : * 
 
 * Within the last few years, God seems to have 
 awakened in the hearts of men a strong impulse of 
 gratitude, three Associations or Works devoted to 
 Thanksgiving having been recently founded, one 
 in Spain, and two in France. The oldest of these, 
 having St. Gertrude for its especial patroness, we 
 deem it not out of place to give here a hasty glance 
 at them : 
 
 146 
 
The Gratitude of Gertrude's Heart 147 
 
 "May my heart, my soul, my senses, 
 return Thee thanks for Thy infinite mer- 
 cies, O God most tender, Friend most 
 faithful. Powerless to bless and thank 
 Thee, as I should, O my God, I pray Thee 
 to cover with Thy benefits, those who aid 
 me, if only by a sigh, in paying Thee my 
 
 I. Schools of Gratitude (Escuelas de Gratitud). 
 The founder of these is an old officer of high rank 
 in the Spanish army. In these schools, abandoned 
 children are collected. Here they are raised and 
 educated gratuitously, the principal feature of their 
 education being the development in their hearts of 
 gratitude to God. The organization of the work is 
 admirable. Thanks to God's all powerful aid, the 
 noble Spanish soldier's work finds generous pro- 
 moters in France. Spain already counts four 
 Schools of Gratitude. The principal house is in 
 Madrid, and was founded in 1863. 
 
 For more ample information, address Sr. D. 
 Manuel Campoy, Director de los Escuelas de Grati- 
 tud, Bajada de Sta. Cruz, Madrid, Spain. 
 
 II. Association of Thanksgiving. — The centre of 
 this Work is at Mauron, a little village of Morbi- 
 han. Its first Indulgences were accorded by Pius 
 IX, November 19, 1859. 
 
 Feasts of the Association. — The Thirteenth Sun- 
 
148 The Heart of St. Gertrude. 
 
 debt of gratitude. I henceforth offer Thee 
 for them the Passion of Thy Beloved Son, 
 and conjure Thee to keep alive in my heart 
 to the end of ages this offering, that it may 
 obtain full pardon of all their sins and 
 negligences. 
 
 "Be Thou blessed, O my Lord most 
 
 day after Pentecost (this is the principal), Corpus 
 Christi, the Sacred Heart, the Annunciation, the 
 Visitation, the Chair of St. Peter at Koine, on all 
 of which feasts may be gained a Plenary Indul- 
 gence; likewise, on the day of one's enrolment 
 upon the register of the Association. There are 
 also various partial Indulgences. 
 
 Practices of the Association. — A monthly Com- 
 munion of thanksgiving, an offering of two Masses 
 a year in thanksgiving, and daily aspirations of 
 thanksgiving. 
 
 No one is received into the Association, except 
 those who, after reflection, are determined seriously 
 to offer acts of thanksgiving to God both for them- 
 selves and others, striving thus to pay the great 
 debt of gratitude. 
 
 Further information may be obtained from M. 
 Levoyer, Priest, Director of the Association at 
 Mauron, Morbihan. 
 
 III. The Association of Perpetual Thanksgiving. 
 
The Gratitude of Gertrude's Heart 149 
 
 merciful, for the assurance of my hopes 
 Thy bounty has given me by promising 
 that, whoever returns Thee thanks for me, 
 though he be in sin, shall not leave this 
 world until Thou hast converted him, or 
 guided him to greater sanctity, and his 
 heart be worthy of becoming Thy abode." 
 
 — This was founded about the year 1853, although 
 Providence had prepared the way for it several 
 years previously. The principal centres are Koine, 
 Marseilles, Bordeaux, etc. In Rome, the chapel 
 of the Association is the Oratorio del Caravita; 
 in Marseilles and Bordeaux, the chapel of the 
 Jesuits. 
 
 End of the Association, — To offer the Holy Trinity 
 Perpetual Thanksgiving. for all blessings vouchsafed 
 man, especially for the gift of the Holy Eucharist, 
 the new manifestation Jesus has made to the world 
 of the riches of His Divine Heart, for the Blessed 
 Virgin's glorious privileges, and all the graces 
 accorded the Church through the intercession of 
 the Immaculate Mother of God. 
 
 Practices of the Association. — Daily to recite a 
 short formula of thanksgiving. 
 
 Every Month to assist at a pious reunion on the 
 third Thursday, at which reunion, a Mass of 
 Thanksgiving is celebrated before the Blessed 
 
150 The Heart of St. Gertrude. 
 
 For ages, pious souls have responded to 
 Gertrude's prayers, and gathered the fruits 
 of the divine promises, by reciting the 
 folio wins: formula of thanksgiving: 
 
 O Gertrude, blessed Spouse of Jesus 
 Christ, Avith all my heart do I thank Him 
 for the gifts He has lavished upon thee ! 
 
 Sacrament exposed. This is followed by a sermon 
 on Thanksgiving, Benediction of the Blessed Sacra- 
 ment and the singing of the Magnificat. 
 
 Once a year the members are invited to make a 
 week's thanksgiving, offering up with this intention 
 all their works, etc., of that week. 
 
 From Wednesday of Passion Week t > Holy 
 Thursday inclusive, the members make a X ovena 
 of Thanksgiving for the institution of the Blessed 
 Eucharist, in which they also return thanks to 
 God for all the favors and dignities vouchsafed 
 priests, and: solicit His bounty for worthy cele- 
 brants of the Mysteries of the Altar. 
 
 Feasts of the Association. — The feasts of the 
 Epiphany, Pentecost, Corpus Christi, the Sacred 
 Heart, Annunciation, Our Lady of Thanksgiving 
 (April 12), the Seven Dolors (third Sunday in Sep- 
 tember), St. John the Evangelist, St. Gertrude, the 
 principal patroness of the Association, and St. Felix 
 of Cantalicio, secondary patron. 
 
The Gratitude of Gertrudes Heart. 151 
 
 Thanks be to Jesus, that He eternally 
 predestined thee for such favors ! 
 
 Thanks be to Jesus, who didst so amor- 
 ously draw thee to Him ! 
 
 Thanks be to Jesus, who united thy 
 heart to His ! 
 
 Thanks be to Jesus, who prepared 
 
 Plenary Indulgences. — On all the above-men- 
 tioned feasts ; on the third Thursday of each month, 
 on the day of reunion ; on any one day of the Week 
 of Thanksgiving, also, on any one day of the Xovena 
 of Thanksgiving, and on the day of one's enrolment 
 on the register of the Association. 
 
 Children who make the Week of Thanksgiving, 
 but have not yet been admitted to the Holy Table, 
 are entitled to the Plenary Indulgence, upon the 
 performance of certain good works enjoined by 
 their confessor. 
 
 The Association enjoys also several partial Indul- 
 gences. It is recommended to the associates that 
 they frequently make use of this short and beauti- 
 ful aspiration : " Deo gratias ! " 
 
 The directors of this Association published, in 
 1864, a pamphlet of two hundred pages, and en- 
 titled, Be V Action De Grace. Victor Palme, Paris, 
 Eue Saint Sulpice, 22. 
 
 A Religious Community, that of Notre Dame 
 
152 The Heart of St. Gertrude. 
 
 for Himself in thy heart a delightful 
 abode ! 
 
 Thanks be to Jesus, ^vho consummated 
 the work of thy sanctity, crowning thee 
 worthily in Heaven ! 
 
 O happy Spouse of Jesus, I congratulate 
 thee, and beg of thee to obtain for me, 
 
 Auxiliatrice, lauded and blessed by Pius IX, is the 
 centre of this Association. 
 
 The principal work of this Community, combin- 
 ing both the active and contemplative life, is the 
 preservation in the paths of virtue and piety of 
 young workingmen, apprentices, those who stand 
 in city stores, etc., and the most salient feature of 
 their Institute is the cultivation among themselves 
 and those under their charge, of the spirit of grati- 
 tude and thanksgiving. Their houses could justly 
 be called Houses of Our Lady of Thanksgiving, for 
 they are indeed both asylums of preservation and 
 schools of thanksgiving. 
 
 The Heart of Jesus in the Eucharist, is the prin- 
 cipal object of their worship of thanksgiving, these 
 Religious of Notre Dame Auxiliatrice, day and 
 night, in the name of their brethren, responding, 
 by uninterrupted thanksgivings, to this plaint of 
 Jesus: "Instead of gratitude, they have for Me 
 only ingratitude." 
 
The Gratitude of Gertrude's Heart 153 
 
 through the gentle Heart of thy Spouse, 
 a heart pure, humble, gentle, full of con- 
 fidence, burning with love for the Heart 
 of Jesus and filial devotion to His glorious 
 Mother — a heart, in fine, devoured with 
 zeal for God's glory and the salvation of 
 souls. Amen. 
 
 These two aims, so beautiful and opportune, of 
 this Institute, and the efficacious means employed 
 to attain them, have greatly rejoiced the Holy 
 Father, and his benedictions have rapidly produced 
 abundant fruits, so that it already has four houses 
 in France : 
 
 At Toulouse, Rue des Buchers, 4 ; 
 
 At Castelnauday, Faubourg Montleon ; 
 
 At Amiens, Rue des Coiroyers, 105 ; 
 
 At Lyons, Rue Francois Dauphin, 7. 
 
CHAPTEE XII. 
 
 TT^ORTY years and eleven days had Ger- 
 -*- trude filled the office of Abbess,* 
 when she was struck by paralysis, which 
 affected almost her whole body, leaving 
 her in this helpless condition twenty-two 
 weeks. During all this time she could say 
 but these two words : " Spiritus metis, my 
 spirit." The Sisters who waited on her, 
 most frequently were unable to understand 
 her desires, for in spite of all her repeated 
 efforts, she could not interpret them by 
 
 -According to several authors, Gertrude first 
 entered the monastery of Eodersdorff, of which 
 she was elected Abbess, at the age of thirty. 
 Thence she went to Heldelfs, which she governed 
 until her death. Heldelfs is about half a mile 
 distant from Eisleben, Gertrude's native place. 
 
 154 
 
Gertrude's Blessed Death. 155 
 
 anything more intelligible, murmuring 
 again and again, " Spiritus mens" When, 
 as often happened, after continued repeti- 
 tions of them, her attendants could not 
 make out what she desired, our amiable 
 Saint would smile so sweetly and graciously 
 that they smiled too, and she would relapse 
 into silence, and this without the slightest 
 sign of impatience, her countenance retain- 
 ing even to the last such unruffled serenity, 
 her eyes such untroubled peace, that it was 
 truly remarked of her, " Gertrude's eyes 
 are those of a dove." 
 
 When the Sisters or others came into 
 her cell, Gertrude would greet them with 
 a look and a slight movement of the hand 
 paralysis had spared. Then she remained 
 motionless in an unbroken peace, which 
 was communicated to her visitors, and filled 
 them with so vivid an impression of joy 
 that no one ever grew w 7 eary of watching 
 beside her. 
 
 On learning that one of her Religious 
 was seriously ill, she made known her 
 
156 The Heart of St. Gertrude. 
 
 desire of being taken to the sick one's 
 bedside by such expressive and earnest 
 gestures that no one could resist them. 
 Reaching the spot, she testified her com- 
 passion by tender maternal caresses, and 
 left her spiritual daughter consoled. 
 
 When the hour of Gertrude's summons 
 to life eternal had come, one of the Sisters 
 (she to whom Gertrude had dictated the 
 Book of the Insinuations) saw Jesus draw 
 nigh his Spouse. Joy irradiated His Face. 
 On His right, was the Blessed Virgin, on 
 the left, the beloved Disciple, St. John, 
 w T hilst surrounding them was a multitude 
 of Angels, Virgins and other Saints. The 
 Virgins especially were most numerous, and 
 the monastery seemed filled with them. 
 
 The Sisters were reading beside her bed 
 the account of the Passion. When they 
 came to these words: "And bowing His 
 Head, He gave up the ghost," Jesus leaned 
 over Gertrude, and with His two hands, 
 opening His own Heart, He transfused the 
 flames into her soul. 
 
Gertrude's Blessed Death. 157 
 
 The Community continuing the prayers, 
 said to Him : " Console her, Lord, as Thou 
 didst Thy Blessed Mother at the hour of 
 her holy death." Then Jesus, turning to 
 His Mother, addressed her thus : " O My 
 Sovereign, My 'Mother, tell Me the conso- 
 lation I then gave thee, that I may com- 
 municate it to My Beloved." " My sweet- 
 est consolation was the assured refuge of 
 Thine arms." And Jesus now promised 
 that this consolation should also be Ger- 
 trude's. 
 
 Her agony lasted the whole day; all 
 which time our Lord never left her side, 
 whilst the Angels came and w 7 ent, singing 
 around her in ravishing accents of melody, 
 " Come, come, come, O Queen, the delights 
 of Paradise aw 7 ait thee. Alleluia! Alle- 
 luia!" 
 
 The moment which was to cut asunder 
 the bonds of the flesh approached. Jesus 
 said to her : " At last, I may give thy soul 
 the kiss of peace, which is to unite it to 
 
158 The Heart of St Gertrude. 
 
 Me; at last, My Heart may present thee to 
 My Heavenly Father." 
 
 And, at that instant, Gertrude's blessed 
 soul, escaping from its earthly tabernacle, 
 rose towards Jesus, and penetrated the 
 sanctuary of His Sacred Heart * 
 
 Her holy remains were exposed in the 
 monastery chapel. Next day, at the hour 
 of their sepulture, our Saint's confidante 
 saw a multitude of souls, delivered from the 
 flames of Purgatory, through Gertrude's 
 intercession, join her in Heaven. 
 
 The Religious of the monastery of Hel- 
 delfs were inconsolable at Gertrude's depar- 
 ture. "Never," says her biographer, "was 
 any one more loved than she. The young 
 girls who had been educated at the abbey, 
 even children, some of whom were scarcely 
 seven years of age — all seemed to cling 
 more closely to her than to their own 
 
 * Father Laurent Clement fixes the date of Ger- 
 trude's death on the 17th of November, 1292. 
 Gertrude was then seventy years of age. 
 
Gertrude's Blessed Death. 159 
 
 mothers, and long days after she was laid 
 in the tomb, their tears were still undried." 
 
 God consoled her weeping friends by 
 several celestial communications : a Sister 
 saw her standing before God's throne. "O 
 Sovereign Benefactor/' murmured Ger- 
 trude, "I ask a favor of Thy bounty — 
 every time my daughters visit my grave, 
 assuage their grief and allay their tempta- 
 tions, that it may be to them a sign by 
 which they will recognize that I am indeed 
 their mother." 
 
 Another day, one saw her prostrate 
 before God's throne praying for her daugh- 
 ters. Jesus answered her: "The eyes 
 of My mercy shall be ever fixed upon 
 them." 
 
 Deign, O glorious and amiable Saint, to 
 adopt as thy children, all who, having read 
 this brief sketch of thy life, shall thank the 
 Heart of Jesus for having so loved thee ; 
 guide their souls, and direct towards them 
 the merciful glances of the Blessed Virgin 
 
160 The Heart of St Gertrude. 
 
 Mary; and obtain through her powerful 
 intercession that the Heart of Jesus in 
 these our days, deluge the world with such 
 waves of grace as will purify it of its 
 crimes, and renew its youth to the greater 
 glory of God! Arnen, 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Introductory, 5 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 I.— Gertrude's Childhood, 17 
 
 II. — Gertrude's Conversion, 21 
 
 III. — Gertrude's Sanctification, .... 29 
 IV. — The Share the Blessed Virgin had 
 
 in Gertrude's Conversion, ... 43 
 
 V. — The Humility of Gertrude's Heart, . 59 
 
 VI. — The Benignity of Gertrude's Heart, 73 
 
 VII.— The Purity of Gertrude's Heart, . . 83 
 
 VIII. — The Confiding Love of Gertrude's 
 
 Heart, 95 
 
 IX. — The Abandonment of Gertrude's 
 Heart to the Good Pleasure of 
 
 Jesus, 119 
 
 X.— The Zeal of Gertrude's Heart, . . 139 
 
 XI.— The Gratitude of Gertrude's Heart, 146 
 
 XII.— Gertrude's Blessed Death, .... 154 
 
 11 161 
 
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