Walking with the Saints l St. Gertrude the Great, Patron Saint of the West Indies, Peru and Mexico l November 16
Do you pray for the souls in Purgatory? We must pray for them so that they can enter Heaven at once. The holy souls are also praying for us even if we do no ask them. St. Gertrude, our Saint for today loved to pray for the holy souls. Gertrude was born on January 6, 1256 in Eisleben, Thuringia of the Roman Empire.
Orphaned at the age of four she was admitted at the school of the nuns as a student. Gertrude was confided to the care of Mechtilde, younger sister of the Abbess, also named Gertrude. The young Gertrude later joined the monastic community in 1266. She received a thorough education, knowing in fact the Scripture, the Fathers of the Church and the writings of some saints like St.
Gregory the Great and St. Bernard of Clairvaux. She was fluent in Latin and well-versed in rhetoric.
In 1281, at the age of 25, she experienced the first of a series of visions that continued throughout her life. Gertrude devoted herself strongly to personal prayer and meditation, and began writing spiritual treatises though only some survive today. The longest survival is the The Herald of Divine Love or The Herald of God's Loving-Kindness, and her collection of Spiritual
Exercises. A work known as Gertrudian Prayers is a later compilation, made up partly of extracts from the writings of Gertrude and partly of prayers composed in her style. It is also
very possible that Gertrude was the author of a part of the revelations of Mechtilde of Hackeborn, the Book of Special Grace. Gertrude became one of the great mystics of the 13th century. She practiced together with her friend and teacher Mechtilde a spirituality called “nuptial mysticism,” seing
herself as the Bride of Christ.
She also wrote Spiritual Exercises. The importance of the Spiritual Exercises extends to the present day because they are grounded in the themes and rites of Catholic liturgy for occasions of baptism, conversion, commitment, discipleship, union with God, praise of God, and preparation for death. Gertrude's Spiritual
Exercises can still be used by anyone who seeks to deepen spirituality through prayer and meditation. Gertrude was an early devotee of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Book 2 of the Herald of Divine Love is notable within the history of Christian devotion because its vivid descriptions of Gertrude's visions show a
considerable elaboration on the long-standing veneration of Christ's heart. This veneration was present in the belief that Christ's heart poured forth a redemptive fountain through the wound in his side, an image culminating in its most famous articulation by St. Bernard of Clairvaux in his commentary on the
·Gertrude reported a vision on the Feast of John the Evangelist. She was resting her head near the wound in the Christ's
side and hearing the beating of his heart. Afterwards, she asked John if on the night of the Last Supper he had felt these pulsations, why he had never spoken about it. Gertrude died at Helfta, near Eisleben, Saxony on November 17, 1302. Her feast day is November 16. She is patron of the West Indies, Peru and Mexico. Gertrude showed "tender sympathy towards the souls in purgatory" and urged prayers for them. She is therefore invoked for suffering souls in purgatory. The following prayer is attributed to St. Gertrude, and is often depicted on her prayer card: “Eternal Father, I offer Thee the Most Precious Blood of Thy Divine Son, Jesus, in union with the Masses said throughout the world today, for all the Holy Souls in Purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the universal Church, for those in my own home and
Virtues: piety, humility, obedience, charity, honesty, temperance, fortitude
Prayer: “St. Gertrude, help us remember to pray always for the souls in Purgatory.”
