“…you have led me to
know and consider the interior of my heart, which until then I had heeded as
little as, if I may put it thus, the interior of my feet.” (Herald of Divine
Love, Book 2, Chapter 2).
This lovely quote is
from the mystic Gertrude the Great talking about her relationship with Christ. It is one
of my favorite quotes from Gertrude because it so honest and real.
Gertrude was born
January 6, 1257 in Helfta, Germany. Her birth was on the feast of the Epiphany
which is telling because all of Gertrude’s visions were centered
on the liturgical year. When she was five years she was admitted to the
Benedictine monastery school of Helfta. Ten or eleven years later she joined
the Benedictine community at Helfta.
The abbess of Helfta
was another Gertrude, Gertrude of Hackborn. She fostered the intellectual life
of Helfta and the monastery became famous for several important nuns/mystics
who lived here. The community gave sanctuary and solace to Mechtild of
Magdeburg, a former Beguine whose criticism of the church dignitaries and
theological writings led to her oppression by the church. The abbess’ younger
sister, Mechtild of Hackeborn was also a
visionary. Between the three (Mechthild of Magdeburg, St. Gertrud, and Mechtild
of Hackeborn), they produced over 1200 pages of mystical writing.
 |
Mechtild of Hackeborn &
Gertrude the Great
(Watercolor by Sr. Emmanuel
Pieper, OSB)
The love of Christ represented by
his Heart was central to the spiritual
life and understanding of both. |
In Advent of 1280
Gertrude entered a period of emotional and spiritual distress. On January 27 of
1281 she experienced what she called her conversion in an encounter with the
Risen Christ. She writes “And suddenly you appeared unexpectedly, imprinting a
wound in my heart with these words, ‘May all your affections be centered here:
all sweetness, hope, joy, sorrow, fear and all other feelings be fixed in my
heart.”
She began writing about
her visions and spiritual experiences in 1289.These experiences were recounted
in the second book of the Herald of Divine Love. (The first book of the Herald of Divine Love was written after Gertrude's death by sisters at Helfta who knew her.) Some time after, she wrote her
Spiritual Exercises. She died in 1302 and was never officially canonized although
a Liturgical Office of prayer, readings and hymns in her honor was approved by
Rome in 1606.
The Feast of St.
Gertrude was extended to the Universal Church by Pope Clement XII in 1738 and
today is celebrated on November 16, the date of her death.)
Gertrude’s writings are
enthusiastic and almost breathless, at first glance appearing a little
childish. When I try to imagine her, I picture a very young sister full of
energy and idealism. Her theme is always the goodness, mercy and generosity of
God. She always tries to convey her experience of God and her relationship of a
God who is infinite and she who is a finite creature. “You
are inebriated, if I may say so, to madness, that you join to yourself one so
unlike you. But it would be more apt to say that the total goodness of your
nature flows naturally toward the salvation of the human race.” (Herald of
Divine Love, Book 2, Chapter 8.)
This is just a short
introduction to Gertrude the Great. She and her sisters at Helfta are important
contributors to the history of Christian mysticism and spirituality.
Sr. Deborah Harmeling, OSB
This is not to say that I had mostly difficult times. In fact,
my life has been “a piece of cake” for the most part. But I recognize that I
learned some painful lessons about myself as I listened to critics,
supervisors, kindly and otherwise correction, etc. And I deepened my spiritual
life and developed compassion for others when I suffered through what could not
be changed about life circumstances.
