O God, Who in the most pure heart of blessed Gertrude Thy Virgin did prepare for Thyself a well-pleasing dwelling, mercifully efface all stains from our hearts, so that they may merit worthily to be made the dwelling place of Thy divine majesty.Saint Gertrude was not drawn to the Heart of Jesus as much as through the Heart of Jesus, to the Father, in the Holy Spirit. Her prayer is essentially Trinitarian. Her whole being is oriented ad Patrem, and this because she is united to the Son, because she has entered through the pierced Heart of the Son as through an open door, oriented and carried as it were, by the breath of the Holy Spirit.
Saint Gertrude reminds us that the entire liturgy is Trinitarian: every detail, the smallest word or gesture in the sacred liturgy is a contact with Christ. In the liturgy, nothing is insignificant. Everything is invested with sacramentality, that is, with the potential to unite us to Christ, so that through Him and with Him we might pass into the fiery embrace of the Holy Spirit and the bosom of the Father. Saint Gertrude reminds us that the liturgy -- the Eucharist and other the sacraments, but also the Liturgy of the Hours -- is more than a complex of words and chants, rites and gestures. (courtesy of MDMK)
Saint Gertrude's Prayer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Hail! O Sacred Heart of Jesus, living and quickening source of eternal life, infinite treasure of the Divinity, and burning furnace of divine love. You are my refuge and my sanctuary, O my amiable Savior.
Consume my heart with that burning fire with which Yours is ever inflamed. Pour down on my soul those graces which flow from Your love, and let my heart be so united with Yours, that our wills may be one, and mine in all things, be conformed to Yours. May Your divine will be equally the standard and rule of all my desires and of all my actions. Amen.
Saint Gertrude on friendship
One day between Easter and Ascension I went into the garden before [Office of] Prime, and sitting down beside the pond, I began to consider what a pleasant place it was. I was charmed by the clear water and flowing streams, the fresh green of the surrounding trees, the birds flying so freely about, especially the doves. But most of all, I loved the quiet, hidden peace of this secluded retreat.
I asked myself what more was needed to complete my happiness in a place that seemed to me so perfect, and I reflected that it was the presence of a friend, intimate, affectionate, wise, and companionable, to share my solitude
St. Gertrude has been a favorite of mine since I came across one of her books. I first heard of the Blessed Trinity from a friend who attended Catholic school and I was intrigued. I was 4 years old and and I knew that I wanted to be a Catholic. In reading this article about her love for the Trinity, I am sure that is why her prayers and writings are so special to me. I have her book about how she celebrated the special feasts and the season of Advent which I am going to follow as closely as I am able with her help. I will be at Mass tomorrow to celebrate her feast day.
Thank you so much for this wonderful article on St. Gertrude the Great who was so beloved and honored by Jesus.