Saint Gertrude the Great or Saint Gertrude of Helfta () (January 6, 1256 ? November 17, 1302) was a German Benedictine and mystic writer.

She is recognized as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church, and is inscribed as "Saint Gertrude" in the General Roman Calendar, not as "Saint Gertrude the Great", for celebration throughout the Latin-Rite Catholic Church on November 16.^[1]

Gertrude was born January 6, 1256, in Eisleben, Thuringia (within the Holy Roman Empire). Nothing is known of her parents, so she was probably an orphan. As a young girl, she joined the Benedictine monastery in Helfta, under the direction of its abbess, Gertrude of Hackeborn (in later years the monastery was mislabeled as a Cistercian monastery). She dedicated herself to her studies, becoming an expert in literature and philosophy. She later experienced a conversion to God and began to strive for perfection in her religious life. She had various mystical experiences, including a vision of Jesus, who invited her to rest her head on his breast to hear the beating of his heart.

St Gertrude died at Helfta, near Eisleben, Saxony, November 17, 1302.

Though St Gertrude was never formally canonized, nevertheless she received equipotent canonization, and a universal feast day was declared in the year 1677 by Pope Clement XII.^[2]

The Prayer of Saint Gertrude

St Gertrude showed "tender sympathy towards the souls in purgatory" and urged prayers for them. She is therefore invoked for souls in purgatory.

Perhaps for that reason, to her name has been attached a prayer that, according to a legend of uncertain origin and date (neither are found in the Revelations of Saint Gertrude the Great), Our Lord promised to release a thousand souls from purgatory each time it was said. The prayer was extended to include living sinners as well.

Eternal Father, I offer Thee the most Precious Blood of Thy Divine Son, Jesus Christ, in union with the Masses said throughout the world today, for all the Holy Souls in Purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the Universal Church, for those in my own home and within my family. Amen.

See also

• Christian mystics
• St. Mechtilde
• Mary, White Lily of The Trinity and Vermilon Rose of Heaven

Notes

1. ↑ Like other early saints, including figures such as Saint Peter, Saint Gertude was never formally canonized.
2. ↑ Patron Saints Index: "Saint Gertrude the Great"

External links

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqqKcRAm0Z0 youtube video on Gertrude the Great

• Kloster Helfta - Official website of Helfta Monastery
• ''The Life and Revelations of Saint Gertrude the Great'' - the full text online.
• Matrologia Latina - Latin text of Sanctae Gertrudis Legatus divinae pietatis (Books 1 and 2)
• Patron Saints Index: ''Saint Gertrude the Great''
• A biographical note on St Gertrude and an excerpt from her book, ''The Herald of Divine Love'', from the website of her recently refounded monastery at Helfta.
• Mission To Empty Purgatory - Pledge to say St Gertrude's prayer.
• St. Benedict's Abbey - Benedictine Brothers and Fathers in America's Heartland
• The Holy Rule of St. Benedict - Online translation by Rev. Boniface Verheyen, OSB, of St. Benedict's Abbey
• Benedictine College - Dynamically Catholic, Benedictine, Liberal Arts, and Residential
• Bibliography

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