10 Saint Gertrude Things that Caught My Eye Today (Nov. 16, 2015)

1. A piece I wrote on our need for her motherly love and witness.

2.

Pray this prayer. Our Lord revealed to St. Gertrude that 1,000 souls are released from purgatory when prayed. pic.twitter.com/rtZL2s5OBi

— Catherine Szeltner (@CatSzeltner) November 16, 2015

3. From Pope Benedict XVI:

Looking forward to never-ending communion, she ended her earthly life on 17 November 1301 or 1302, at the age of about 46. In the seventh Exercise, that of preparation for death, St Gertrude wrote: “O Jesus, you who are immensely dear to me, be with me always, so that my heart may stay with you and that your love may endure with me with no possibility of division; and bless my passing, so that my spirit, freed from the bonds of the flesh, may immediately find rest in you. Amen” (Spiritual Exercises, Milan 2006, p. 148).
It seems obvious to me that these are not only things of the past, of history; rather St Gertrude’s life lives on as a lesson of Christian life, of an upright path, and shows us that the heart of a happy life, of a true life, is friendship with the Lord Jesus. And this friendship is learned in love for Sacred Scripture, in love for the Liturgy, in profound faith, in love for Mary, so as to be ever more truly acquainted with God himself and hence with true happiness, which is the goal of our life. Many thanks.

4.

St. Gertrude lived in the heart of Jesus, and Jesus lived in the heart of St. Gertrude https://t.co/ysC6v0Pz6N

— Dominicana (@DominicanaDHS) November 16, 2015

5.

"O my Saviour, Let my will be conformed to Yours in all things. May Your Will be the rule of all my desires + actions" St Gertrude the Great

— Fr Brad Sweet (@BradBradsweet) November 16, 2015

6. From the Office of Readings today in the prayer of the Church, from Gertrude’s Revelations:

May my soul bless you, O Lord God my Creator, may my soul bless you. From the very core of my being may all your merciful gifts sing your praise. Your generous care for your daughter has been rich in mercy; indeed it has been immeasurable, and as far as I am able I give you thanks. I praise and glorify your great patience which bore with me even though, from my infancy and childhood, adolescence and early womanhood, until I was nearly twenty-six, I was always so blindly irresponsible. Looking back I see that but for your protecting hand I would have been quite without conscience in thought, word or deed. But you came to my aid by giving me a natural dislike of evil and a natural delight in what is good, and provided me with necessary correction from those among whom I lived. Otherwise I should now have to admit to doing my own will whenever the opportunity offered itself, living like some pagan in a pagan society, and never understanding that you, my God, reward good deeds while punishing evil. Yet you had chosen me to be specially trained to serve you. I was a child of five when I began to live in a convent surrounded by your most devoted friends.

To make amends for the way I previously lived, I offer you, most loving Father, all the sufferings of your beloved Son, from that first infant cry as he lay on the hay in the manger, until that final moment when, bowing his head, with a mighty voice, Christ gave up his spirit. I think, as I make this offering, of all that he underwent, his needs as a baby, his dependence as a young child, the hardships of youth and the trials of early manhood.

To atone for all my neglect I offer, most loving Father, all that your only-begotten Son did during his life, whether in thought, word or deed. That sacred life was, I know, utterly perfect in all respects, from the moment he descended from your heavenly throne and came into this world, until finally he presented the glory of his victorious human nature to you, his Father.

And now, as an act of thanksgiving, I praise and worship you, Father, in deepest humility for your most loving kindness and mercy. Though I was hurrying to my eternal loss, your thoughts of me were thoughts of peace and not of affliction, and you lifted me up with so many great favors. To these you added the inestimable gift of your intimate friendship, and in various ways allowed me to possess your Son’s own heart, that most noble ark of God united with the Godhead. You refused me no delight that could be mine.

Finally, you drew me to yourself by your faithful promises of the good things you would give me from the hour of my death. So great are these promises that for their sake alone, even if you had given me nothing besides, my heart would sigh for you always and be filled with a lively hope.

7.

God You refused me no delight that could be mine #StGertrude

— Msgr Stanley Deptula (@Msgr_Deptula) November 16, 2015

8.

Feast of St Gertrude the Great, 13th German Benedictine mystic and theologian. pic.twitter.com/zunSXKbRgS

— John Janaro (@JohnJanaro) November 16, 2015

9.

I give You a lifetime of worship, my hands raised in Your Name. Ps.63 #lauds #StGertrude LORD, help me to love You as Gertrude did.

— Sr. Mary Clark, OSB (@SisterMClark) November 16, 2015

10.

"My Saviour,pour down on my soul those graces which flow from Your love. Let my heart be united with Yours" St Gertrude the Great

— Fr Brad Sweet (@BradBradsweet) November 16, 2015

Saint Gertrude, pray for us!