St Gertrude, Virgin & Abbess

From Fr Alban Butler's Lives of the Saints:

We have a living portraiture of her pure and holy soul in her short book Of Divine Insinuations, or Communications and Sentiments of Love, perhaps the most useful production, next to the writings of St. Teresa, with which any female saint ever enriched the church, for nourishing piety in a contemplative state.* The saint proposes exercises for the renovation of the baptismal vows, by which the soul entirely renounces the world and herself, consecrates herself to the pure love of God, and devotes herself to pursue in all things his holy will. The like exercises she prescribes for the conversion of a soul to God, and for the renovation of her holy spiritual espousals, and the consecration of herself to her Redeemer, by a bond of indissoluble love, praying that she may totally die to herself, and be buried in him, so that he alone, who is her holy love, be acquainted with this her hidden state or sepulchre, and that she may have no other employment but that of love, or what his love directs. These sentiments she repeats with, admirable variety throughout the work, and, in the latter part, dwells chiefly on the most ardent desires of being speedily united to her love in everlasting glory, entreating her divine Redeemer, by all his sufferings and infinite mercies, to cleanse her perfectly from all earthly affections and spots, that she may be admitted to his divine presence. Some of these sighs, by which she expresses her thirst after this happy union with her God in bliss, are so heavenly, that they seem rather to proceed from one who was already an inhabitant of heaven, than a pilgrim in this mortal life; so strongly were the affections of the saint fixed there. This is particularly observable in that exercise, wherein she advises the devout soul sometimes to set apart a day to be devoted without interruption to praise and thanksgiving, in order to supply any defects in this double duty in daily devotions and to endeavor as perfectly as possible to be associated in this function to the heavenly spirits. The like exercises she proposes for supplying all defects in the divine love, by dedicating an entire day to the most fervent acts of pure love. The saint, as a chaste turtle, never interrupted her sweet sighs and moans, admitting no human consolation so long as her desire was delayed; yet rejoicing in hope and love, in perfect resignation to the will of God, in the visits of the Divine Spirit, in suffering with and for her loving Redeemer, and in laboring for his service. Her desires were at length fulfilled, and, having been abbess forty years, she was called to the embraces of her heavenly Spouse in 1292, her sister, Mechtildes, being dead some time before. The last sickness of St. Gertrude seemed rather a languishing of divine love than a natural fever; so abundantly did her soul enjoy in it the sweetest comforts and presence of the Holy Ghost. Miracles attested how precious her death was in the sight of God. She is honored with an office in the Roman Breviary on this day. The Lypsanographia, or catalogue of relics kept in the electoral palace of Brunswick-Lunenbourg, printed at Hanover, in 1713, in folio, mentions, among others, the relics of St. Gertrude in a rich shrine.

The exercises by which St. Gertrude made such sublime advances in the school of divine love, all tended to the closest union of her heart to God by the most inflamed desires and purest affections; and were directed at the same time to remove all obstacles to this union, by cleansing her soul and purifying her affections, by tears of compunction, by the renunciation of sensual delights, and the most perfect denial of herself. Hence she prayed continually that by the grace of the omnipotent divine love she might be strengthened to resign herself to holy love, so that nothing of self should remain in her, but should be totally consumed by the flame of holy love, like dust carried away by the wind, so as not to leave the least grain or trace behind.2 For this exterior action, both of self-denial and of charity, zeal, and all other virtues are necessary; but interior exercises are far more essential, in which the soul must frequently in the day raise herself up to God by the most ardent desires of love, praise, and thanksgiving, and study to die to herself by sincere and repeated sentiments of humility, compunction, meekness, patience, and self-denial.