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Gertrude the Great

Not to be confused with Gertrude of Nivelles, also known as Saint Gertrude.

Gertrude the Great or Gertrude of Helfta (January 6, 1256 – November 17, 1302) was a German Benedictine nun and mystic who was a member of the Monastery of Helfta. While herself a Benedictine, she also has strong ties to the Cistercian Order; her monastery in Helfta is currently occupied by nuns of the Cistercian Order.

Saint

Gertrude of Helfta, O.S.B.
Saint Gertrude of Helfta in ecstasy
Virgin and Abbess
BornJanuary 6, 1256
Eisleben, Thuringia, Holy Roman Empire
Diedc. 1302 (aged 45-46)
Helfta, County of Mansfeld, Holy Roman Empire
Venerated in
Canonized1677 (equipollent) by Pope Innocent XI
Feast
Attributescross, radiant heart
PatronageWest Indies

Life

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Little is known of the early life of Gertrude who was born on the Feast of the Epiphany, January 6, 1256, in Eisleben, Thuringia (within the Holy Roman Empire). At age five,[1] she entered the monastery school at St. Mary at Helfta (variously described both as Benedictine and as Cistercian),[2] under the direction of its abbess, Gertrude of Hackeborn. It is speculated that her devout parents offered her as a child oblate to the church. However, given that Gertrude implies in the Herald that her parents were long dead at the time of writing,[3] it is possible that she entered the monastery school as an orphan.

Gertrude was entrusted to the care of Mechtilde, younger sister of the Abbess Gertrude, and joined the monastic community in 1266.[1] It is clear from her writings that she received a thorough education in a range of subjects. She, and the nun who authored Books 1 and 3-5 of the Herald, are thoroughly familiar with scripture, the Church Fathers such as Augustine of Hippo and Gregory the Great, and also contemporary spiritual writers such as Richard and Hugh of St. Victor, William of St. Thierry, and Bernard of Clairvaux. Gertrude's writing demonstrates that she was well-versed in rhetoric, and her Latin is very fluent.[4]

 
Saint Gertrude by anonymous artist

In 1281, at age 25, she experienced the first of a series of visions[5] that continued for the rest of her days, and which changed the course of her life. Her priorities shifted away from secular knowledge and toward studying scripture and theology. Gertrude devoted herself strongly to personal prayer and meditation and began writing spiritual treatises for the benefit of her fellow nuns.[1] She received "invisible stigmata."[6] Gertrude became one of the great mystics of the 13th century. Together with her friend and teacher Mechtilde, she practiced a spirituality called "nuptial mysticism," that is, she came to see herself as the Bride of Christ.[7]

Gertrude died at Helfta, near Eisleben, Saxony, around 1302.[1]

Works

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Gertrude produced numerous writings, though only some survive today. The longest survival is the Legatus Memorialis Abundantiae Divinae Pietatis (known in English today as The Herald of Divine Love or The Herald of God's Loving-Kindness, and sometimes previously known as Life and Revelations), partly written by other nuns. There also remains her collection of Spiritual Exercises. A work known as Preces Gertrudianae (Gertrudian Prayers) is a later compilation, made up partly of extracts from the writings of Gertrude and partly of prayers composed in her style.[8] It is also very possible that Gertrude was the author of a part of the revelations of Mechthild of Hackeborn, the Book of Special Grace.[6]

The Herald is composed of five books. Book 2 forms the core of the work, and was written by Gertrude herself; she states that she began the work on Maundy Thursday, 1289. Books 3, 4, and 5 were written by another nun, or possibly by more than one, during Gertrude's lifetime and probably at least in part at her dictation. Book 1 was written shortly before or after Gertrude's death as an introduction to the whole collection; it is possible it was written by Gertrude's confessor, but more probably by another Helfta nun.[9]

Devotion to the Sacred Heart

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She was a notable early devotee of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Her Herald of Divine Love vividly describes Gertrude's visions of Christ's heart.[10] Such veneration was based on the belief that Christ's heart poured forth a redemptive fountain through the wound in his side, an image culminating in a famous articulation by Bernard of Clairvaux in his commentary on the Song of Songs.[11] The women of Helfta—Gertrude foremost, who surely knew Bernard's commentary, and to a somewhat lesser extent the two Mechthilds, Mechthild of Magdeburg and Mechthild of Hackeborn—made this devotion central to their mystical visions.[9]

Later reputation and influence

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After her death, Gertrude's works seem to have vanished almost without trace. Only five manuscripts of the Herald have survived, the earliest one being written in 1412, and only two of these manuscripts are complete. With the invention of printing, Gertrude became far more prominent, with Latin, Italian and German editions being published in the sixteenth century. She was popular in seventeenth-century France, where her trust in and burning love for God were potent antidotes to Jansenism.[12]

Philip Neri and Francis de Sales both used her prayers and recommended them to others.[citation needed] In Spain, Bishop Diego of Tarragona, the confessor to Philip II, read the revelations of Gertrude aloud to the king as he lay dying in the Escorial.[citation needed]

Her works were also popular with the Discalced Carmelites in the sixteenth century. Francisco Ribera, the confessor to Teresa of Ávila, recommended that she take Gertrude as spiritual mistress and guide. At the height of Spanish female mysticism, the Spanish Jesuit Alonso de Andrade published a biography of Gertrude, giving Teresa a clear medieval antecedent.[13] Her influence spread to European colonies in Latin America.[14]

In the 19th century, Dom Prosper Guéranger, the restorer of Benedictine monasticism in France, was influenced by Gertrude. His Congregation of Solesmes was responsible for most of the work done on Gertrude in the nineteenth century.[15]

Veneration

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Saint Gertrude by Miguel Cabrera, 1763

Gertrude was never solemnly canonized, but a liturgical office of prayer, readings, and hymns in her honor was approved by Rome in 1606, considered the equivalent of a canonization. The feastday of Saint Gertrude was extended to the Latin Church by Pope Clement XII and is nowadays celebrated on November 16, her presumed dies natalis, or date of death. Some religious communities, including some Benedictines, celebrate her liturgically on November 17, which had originally been chosen, but was already occupied by Gregory Thaumaturgus. In the event, November 15 became the date for Gertrude,[16] since become November 16. Pope Benedict XIV gave her the title "the Great" to distinguish her from Gertrude of Hackeborn and to recognize the depth of her spiritual and theological insight.[17]

In 2022, The Episcopal Church of the United States added Gertrude, along with Mechtilde, to its calendar of saints with a feast day on November 21.[18]

Gertrude showed "tender sympathy towards the souls in Purgatory" and urged prayers for them.[19]

Iconography

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Saint Getrude by an unknown artist following Cusco School

Images of Gertrude often show her gazing up to heaven, clothed as a nun with the ample sleeves typical of the choir habit. In the Baroque period it became a widespread artistic practice for the habit to be clearly depicted as that of a Benedictine, though this detail is not historically certain. At times she is also shown as an abbess, carrying a copy of the Rule of St Benedict in one hand and often also a crosier in the other hand. This latter detail is certainly mistaken and arose from confusing Gertrude the Great with Gertrude of Hackeborn, the abbess of St Mary at Helfta. Other artistic attributes distinguishing images of Gertrude are commonly a cross held in her hand and on occasion a heart in the other. Sometimes the heart is displayed on her breast, surrounded by golden rays, and containing within it either a cross, or an image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus or a small figure of the Child Jesus.[20]

Patronage

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Numerous authors mention that in compliance with a petition from King Philip IV of Spain she was declared Patroness of the West Indies in 1609.[21] She made patron saint of the American cities Puebla de los Ángeles in New Spain (1747).[citation needed] In Peru her feast is celebrated with great pomp, and in New Mexico the town Santa Gertrudis de lo de Mora was built in her honor and bears her name.[22]

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Legacy

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  • The Monastery of St. Gertrude in Cottonwood, Idaho, is home to a community of some 25 professed Benedictine nuns.[17]
  • Parishes are dedicated to Saint Gertrude in Washington, Missouri;[23] Cincinnati, Ohio;[24] Kingsville, Texas;[25] Woodstock, New Brunswick, Canada; Franklin Park, Illinois; Vandergrift, Pennsylvania; and Chicago, Illinois.
  • St. Gertrude High School is a Catholic college preparatory day school for young women in grades 9–12 in Richmond, Virginia.[26]
  • Saint Gertrude Church in Firies, Killarney, County Kerry, Ireland.[citation needed]
  • Saint Gertrude the Great Catholic School (TK-8th Grade) and Parish in Bell Gardens, California.[27]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ a b c d Doyère, P. (2003). "Gertrude (the Great), St.". In Catholic University of America (ed.). New Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 6 (2nd ed.). Detroit, New York, San Diego, Washington, D.C.: Thompson/Gale; Catholic University of America. ISBN 978-0-7876-4004-0.
  2. ^ This point of contention in Gertrude's studies reflects the lack of clear distinction between the orders in her time. Many monasteries of nuns following the Rule of St Benedict were influenced by Cistercian customs, as was the one at Helfta. Founded in 1258, it could not officially be Cistercian because in 1228 the General Chapter of Citeaux had forbidden acceptance of more monasteries of nuns into their order to relieve the monks already overburdened by the number of nuns under their care. Still, the customs at Helfta seem to have been those of Citeaux, and the works of Bernard of Clairvaux certainly were influential there. Whether the nuns wore a black 'Benedictine' or white 'Cistercian' habit is unclear, though both Gertrude and Mechtilde are almost universally represented in black. The spiritual directors of the monastery were neither Benedictines nor Cistercians, but Dominicans. See Sr Maximilian Marnau, 'Introduction', in Gertrude of Helfta, The Herald of Divine Love, (New York: Paulist Press, 1993), p10; Caroline Bynum Walker, Jesus as Mother, (Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1982), pp174-5.
  3. ^ Herald, Book 2, chapter 16
  4. ^ Sr Maximilian Marnau, 'Introduction', in Gertrude of Helfta, The Herald of Divine Love, (New York: Paulist Press, 1993), p6
  5. ^ This is described in Herald 1.1 and 2.1
  6. ^ a b Lagorio, Valerie M. (1982). "Mysticism, continental". In Strayer, Joseph Reese (ed.). Dictionary of the Middle Ages. New York: C. Scribner's Sons. p. 10. ISBN 978-0-684-19073-0.
  7. ^ Jones, Claire Taylor (2014). "Hostia jubilation: Psalm Citation, Eucharistic Prayer, and Mystical Union in Gertrude of Helfta's Exercitia spiritual". Speculum. 89 (4): 1005–1039. doi:10.1017/S0038713414001663. ISSN 0038-7134.
  8. ^ Gertrude the Great, Saint; Mechthild of Magdeburg, approximately 1212-approximately 1282; Pope, Thomas Alder (1861). Preces Gertrudianae : Prayers of St. Gertrude and St. Mechtilde of the Order of St. Benedict.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  9. ^ a b Graff, H.C. (1945). "St. Gertrude, The Mystic of the Sacred Heart". The Life of the Spirit. 2 (S16): 66–70. doi:10.1111/j.1741-2005.1945.tb05956.x. ISSN 2398-0222.
  10. ^ Barr, Jessica (2017). "Imagined Bodies: Intimate Reading and Divine Union in Gertrude of Helfta's Legatus". The Journal of Medieval Religious Cultures. 43 (2): 186–208. doi:10.5325/jmedirelicult.43.2.0186. ISSN 1947-6566.
  11. ^ Harrison, Anna (2009). ""I Am Wholly Your Own": Liturgical Piety and Community among the Nuns of Helfta". Church History. 78 (3): 549–583. ISSN 0009-6407. JSTOR 20618752.
  12. ^ Pierre Doyère, Gertrude d'Helfta, Dictionnaire de spiritualité, Paris, Beauchesne, 1967, vol. 6, p. 331-339.
  13. ^ de Andrade, Alonso (1663). Vida de la Gloriasa Virgen, y Abadesa S. Getrudis de Eyslevio (in Spanish). Madrid: Por Joseph Fernandez de Buendia.
  14. ^ Vidal, Mercedes PéRez, ed. (2022-03-31). Women Religious Crossing between Cloister and the World: Nunneries in Europe and the Americas, ca. 1200–1700. Arc Humanities Press. doi:10.2307/j.ctv2gmhh4q.9. ISBN 978-1-64189-299-5. JSTOR j.ctv2gmhh4q.
  15. ^ Marnau 1993, p. 43.
  16. ^ [Benedict XIV] (1739). Die XV. Novembris in Festo S. Gertrudis Virginis, et Abbatissæ Ordinis S. Benedicti. Duplex. Rome; Macerata : Giuseppe Francesco Ferri.
  17. ^ a b "Bossert, Sr. Evangela. "St. Gertrude of Helfta", Monastery of St. Gertrude, Cottonwood, Idaho". Archived from the original on 16 May 2013. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  18. ^ "General Convention Virtual Binder". www.vbinder.net. Archived from the original on 2022-09-13. Retrieved 2022-07-22.
  19. ^ Knight, Kevin (January 9, 2009). "St. Gertrude the Great". New Advent.
  20. ^ Caterina Franceschi, ‘Gertrude di Helfta: Iconografia’, in Filippo Caraffa (dir), Bibliotheca Sanctorum, [volume VI], Istituto Giovanni XXIII Città Nuova Editrice, Roma, 1965, col. 285-287.
  21. ^ Catholic University of America. New Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 13. McGraw-Hill, 1967.
  22. ^ "CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: St. Gertrude the Great". www.newadvent.org. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  23. ^ "St. Gertrude Parish, Washington, Missouri". Archived from the original on 6 January 2017. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  24. ^ "Saint Gertrude the Great - St. Gertrude Parish". www.stgertrude.org. Archived from the original on 6 January 2017. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  25. ^ "Welcome!". Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  26. ^ "St. Gertrude High School, Richmond, Virginia". Archived from the original on 2 June 2013. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  27. ^ "Our Parish - St. Gertrude the Great Catholic School". Retrieved 18 August 2017.

References

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  • Gertrude of Helfta (1993). The Herald of Divine Love. Classics of Western Spirituality. translated and edited by Margaret Winkworth, preface by Louis Bouyer. New York: Paulist Press. [This contains a full translation of Books 1 and 2, and a partial translation of Book 3.]

Further reading

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  • Gertrude the Great of Helfta, Spiritual Exercises, Translated, with an Introduction, by Gertrud Jaron Lewis and Jack Lewis. Cistercian Fathers series no. 49, (Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications, 1989)
  • Gertrud the Great of Helfta, The Herald of God's Loving-Kindness, books 1 and 2, translated, with an Introduction, by Alexandra Barratt. Cistercian Fathers series no. 35, (Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian Publications, 1991)
  • Gertrud the Great of Helfta, The Herald of God's Loving-Kindness, book 3, translated, with an Introduction, by Alexandra Barratt. Cistercian Fathers series no. 63, (Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian Publications, 1999)
  • Gertrude, the Great, Saint (2020). Barratt, Alexandra (ed.). The herald of God's loving kindness, book 5. Kalamazoo, Mich.: Liturgical Press. ISBN 978-0-87907-186-8.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  • Gertrude the Great, Saint (1861). Preces Gertrudianae: Prayers of St. Gertrude and St. Mechtilde of the Order of St. Benedict. Translated by Thomas Alder Pope. Burns and Lambert.
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