Pyhä Mechtilde ja pyhä Gertrude palvovat Jeesuksen Pyhää Sydäntä.
Pyhä Mechtilde
Pyhä Mechtilde (1241/1242-1298) oli saksalainen benediktiininunna ja mystikko. Mechtilde oli Gertrude Suuren ohjaaja samassa luostarissa. Gertrude kirjoitti Mechtildesta: “Ikinä ei ole hänen kaltaistaan tullut luostaristamme, ja pelkään, ei enää tule toista samanlaista . “. Pyhä Mechtilde oli omistautunut Jeesuksen Pyhän Sydämen palvomiseen, ja suuri osa hänen näyistään liittyy Pyhään Sydämeen. Mechtilde näki useita ilmestyksiä, joissa Jeesus, Maria ja enkelit neuvoivat häntä. Hän pyysi Marialta apua kuolemansa hetkelle. Maria lupasi auttaa häntä, jos hän sanoisi joka päivä Terve Maria-rukouksen kolme kertaa mietiskellen ensimmäisen rukouksen aikana taivaallisen Isän voimaa, toisen aikana Pojan viisautta ja kolmannen aikana Pyhän Hengen rakkautta. Jeesus kehotti Mechtildea ilmestyksessä kirjoittamaan kirjan näyistään. Luostarin nunnat kokosivat Mechtilden näyt kirjaan, jota he eivät näyttäneet hänelle itselleen, jotta hänen vaatimattomuutensa ei saisi häntä salaamaan näkyjään. Mechtilden kuoleman jälkeen julkaistusta Liber Specialis Gratiae-teoksesta, Erityisen Armon Kirjasta, tuli hyvin suosittu. Kirjan italiankielistä käännöstä “La Laude di donna Matelda” luettiin innokkaasti Firenzessä. Mechtilden kirja on mahdollisesti vaikuttanut Danten Jumalainen Näytelmä- eli Divina Commedia-teoksen Purgatorio-osan kuvaukseen kiirastulesta. Beatrice neuvoo Dantea seuraamaan Matildan opastusta. Danten kuvaus kiirastulen seitsenportaisesta vuoresta sekä mystisestä purosta ovat samanlaiset kuin Mechtilden kirjassa. Pyhä Mechtilde sai näyn Jeesuksen Pyhän Sydämen neljästä lyönnistä jouluyönä.
Pyhän Sydämen neljä lyöntiä
“Sikiämisensä ensimmäisesta hetkestä Hänen kuolemaansa asti Rakkaus vallitsi Kuninkaana Jumalan Poikaa, ihmiseksi tullutta. Tällä rakkaudella oli vastakappaleensa Pyhässä Sydämessä. Eräänä Joulupäivänä Mechtilden annettiin mietiskellä tätä salaisuutta. Ottaen Jeesus-lapsen käsivarsilleen hän puristi Lapsen syliinsä, ja tunsi Pyhän Sydämen lyönnit. Hän kuuli kolme voimakasta, nopeaa lyöntiä, ja sitten yhden kevyemmän. Mechtilde ihmetteli. Jumalallinen Lapsi sanoi hänelle:”Sydämeni ei lyönyt kuten muiden ihmisten, vaan aina kuten olet kuullut, syntymästäni kuolemaani, ja tämän takia kuolin niin nopeasti ristillä. Ensimmäinen sydämenlyönti tulee rakkauteni kaikkivaltaisesta voimasta, joka oli minussa niin voimakas, että hellyydellä ja kärsivällisyydellä se voitti maailman vastustuksen ja juutalaisten julmuuden. Toinen sydämenlyönti tulee viisautta täynnä olevasta rakkaudesta ; se johti minut ohjaamaan Itseäni ja kaikkea omaani niin ihailtavasti, ja säätelemään kaikkea mikä on taivaissa tai maanpäällä niin viisaasti. Kolmas sydämenlyönti tulee lempeyden rakkaudesta - olin niin sen läpäisemä, että se muutti minulle tämän maailman katkeruuden makeudeksi, ja sai Minut pitämään pehmeänä kovaa kuolemaa, jonka kärsin ihmisten pelastukseksi. Viimeinen sydämenlyönti, heikompi, ilmaisee hyvyyden, jota osoitin ihmisenä, ja joka teki Minusta mieluisan kaikille, ja jopa jäljiteltävän. Ja niin Pyhä Sydän suojelee sisällään kaikkivoimaisen, mitä viisaimman ja loputtoman hellän rakkauden Jumalaa kohtaan sekä kaikkiin kohdistuvan ja inhimillisen rakkauden.” Saint Mechtilde : The Love of the Sacred Heart, käännös englannista.
Neitsyt Maria ja Jeesus-lapsi.
Prayers of Saint Mechtilde and Saint Gertrude
The four beatings of the Sacred Heart “From the first instant of His conception until His death Love reigned as King over the Son of God made man. This Love had its counterpart in the Sacred Heart. One Christmas day Mechtilde was allowed to fathom this secret. Taking the Infant God in her arms she pressed Him to her breast, and felt the beatings of the Sacred Heart. She heard three loud, quick beats, then one lighter. Mechtilde was astonished. The divine Infant said to her:”My heart did not beat like those of other men, but always as you have heard it, from My infancy until My death, and this was why I died so quickly o the Cross. The first beat comes from the Almighty power of My love which was so strong in me that by sweetness and patience it conquered the opposition of the world and the cruelty of the Jews. The second beat comes from a love full of wisdom; it led Me to conduct Myself and all that was Mine so admirably, and to regulate all that is in heaven or on earth so wisely. The third comes from a love of mildness - I was so entirely penetrated with it, that for Me it changed this world’s bitterness into sweetness, and caused Me even to find sweet the hard death I bore for the salvation of men. The last beat, more faint, expresses the kindness I showed as man, which rendered Me agreeable to all, and even imitable.” And so the Sacred Heart enshrines an almighty, a most wise, and an infinitely sweet love of God as well as an agreeable and human love.”
The kindling of fervour
One day when Mechtilde was honouring the divine wounds, she saw they were surrounded by precious stones, and as she was astonished at this our Lord said to her: ” Precious stones possess great qualities and may sometimes chase away great sickness ; in the same way My wounds are so efficacious that they drive away all languor from men’s souls. Some men have such weak, trembling hearts that they never dare to trust in My tenderness and they try to fly from Me. One would say they had the palsy. If they would take refuge in My Passion, honouring tenderly My wounds, I would soon deliver them from all fear. Others have restless, fickle hearts ; they never stop to think; at the smallest word they give way to impatience or anger. If they would recall My Passion, if they penetrated their minds with the remembrance of My wounds, they would acquire stability and find patience. There are others who have a sleeping paralysis. I mean all those who do all lazily or carelessly. They, too, at the remembrance of My Passion and the consideration of the depth and pain in My wounds would be aroused from their tepidity.” But of all our Saviour’s wounds we must have special recourse to that of His Heart. Praying for a person under this spiritual torpor, Mechtilde saw her soul in the divine Heart under the appearance of a little child. She tried to hold this divine Heart in her hands, Our Lord said :” May she always come to Me so in her sorrows, and may she cling to My divine Heart, seeking there consolation, and I will never abandon her.”
Consecrated souls : their vocation In the heaven those who are virgins are specially loved by the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
From this Heart flow endless joys which first rest in the loving heart of its Virgin Mother and from her flow into the hearts of all virgins. Feeling and seeing all the love and tenderness of the Sacred Heart for virgins, Mechtilde was filled with admiration and gratitude for the marvellous godness of God, and our Lord said to her:” I have honoured virgins above all other Saint, granting them three privileges. “The first is My love which surpasses that of all other creatures. Therefore as soon as the first virgin had taken her vow of chastity I was so filled with love that not being able to restrain Myself, I came down from heaven to enter entirely into her. “The second is the wealth which I shower on them. All that I possess , all that I have suffered, I give them for their own. “The third is the glory which surpasses all other glory. At their approach I rise, I speak to them in sweet mysterious words, and they only can enjoy when they will My holy embrace.” Then Mechtilde said:”Most loving Lord, what must these fortunate virgins, chosen by Thee, be to enjoy such privileges?” Jesus answered:”Noble, beautiful, and rich. The virgin worthy of the name, chosen for My spouse, must be noble in humility, she must believe herself of no account, thinking of herself as beneath every other creature and deserving merely contempt and abjection. The more humble she is the more noble she shall be in the glory of heaven. As for Me, I will add My humility to hers, and this will be for her the highest nobility. I wish her also to be beautiful- that is patient; the more patient she is the more beautiful she shall be, for to her sufferings I will add those of My Passion. To complete her beauty I will clothe her with reflections of the divine beauty, which I received from My Father before the creation of the world. “She must also be rich in virtue. She must heap up riches of all virtues, and she will then receive from Me the incomparable treasure of My virtues, and so she will have an abundance to overflowing of eternal joys.” Humility as title-deed to nobility; Patience for ornament; Virtues for riches. These are the three conditions exacted by the Sacred Heart from a soul that is to be His spouse.”
The Sacred Heart and the purgatory
On All Souls’ Day our Lord appeared to Mechtilde in all the brightness of His beauty, bearing three precious jewels on His breast. The first signified the eternal desire with which God is always filled for souls. The second, the insatiable love of His divine Heart for man, for even though man remain cold and insensible, the love of the divine Heart is unchangeable, and burns for him. The third jewel signified the joys of the divine Heart of which the Scripture speaks :”My delights are to be with the children of men.” He then allowed her to see the souls of the dead on this day consecrated to their remembrance. Approaching He deigned to serve them Himself. Every word said in choir, in the lessons, all that the whole Church does for these souls seemed different kinds of food and drink which He gave them Himself. The souls were filled with great joy, but on their hearts there was a cruel executioner, the sting of conscience. Hic erat proproa conscientia. And this worm tore and tormented them ceaselessly. This worm never dies in purgatory, and the soul is only liberated from it when it enters into the joy of its Lord and is united with God eternally. Then the soul hears this loving invitation:” From the depths of My Heart drink joy, and that because of those who pray for thee.” (Bibe medulla Cordis mei gaudium ex parte omnium pro te orantium). May we induce Jesus to say these sweet words to our dear dead, and may we hear them ourselves very soon after our lasts sigh.”
The Sacred Heart and those who suffer
Since original sin appeared in the world sorrow has become man’s daily bread, but he has never been able to get used to such a hard fate. God has therefore treated him as mothers treat their little children. The Incarnate Word came to taste the bitterness of our sorrows, and He then offers them to us, sweetened by His grace and enriched by His merits. Then, also, the Sacred Heart is come to add by the charm of its tenderness to all the other motives for accepting suffering in a Christian spirit. Its condescension for those who weep is a mystery of love. Adam’s sin is the source of all our sorrows, and from the root of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil a river of tears sprang up which constantly inundates the earth. But as all possible sufferings met in Jesus at the time of the Passion, dolores nostros ipse portavit, so it is from His Sacred Heart with homage of our submission and gratitude. “O Love! I offer them to Thee for the same intentions as Thou didst bring them to me from the Sacred Heart of God, and when they have been perfected, I pray Thee to return them there.” Such is the lesson our Lord deigned to give to His wellbeloved spouse. She saw herself one day in a most beautiful mansion, and recognized that she was in the Heart of Christ. She prostrated herself on a large cross that lay on the ground. And from the cross sprang a sharp golden arrow which pierced her heart. She then heard our Lord say:”All the goods of earth could not fill one soul with joy, but it is in suffering and sorrow that it will find salvation and glory.” And our Lord added:”A silken garment is soft and pleasant, so every suffering is sweet to a soul that really loves God.” Mechtilde replied:”That is true in the beginning of pain when a soul is inflamed with love, but if the pain increases it becomes hard to bear.” Our Lord answered:”No doubt; but if a silken garment is adorned with gold and precious stones it is not thrown away nor despised because of its weight; rather, on account of its adornment, it is considered more valuable and distinguished. And so a faithful soul will not refuse suffering because it is too painful; for by it the soul’s virtues will become more perfect and its merits infinitely increased.” Who would not submit to pain offered in this way by the Sacred Heart? Mechtilde accepted the trial of sickness, signified by the cross and sharp golden arrow. And why did our Lord once clasp Mechtilde with his left arm, so that she rested on the wound of his Sacred Heart? He tells us Himself :"When thou art ill I hold thee with My left arm, and when thou art well with My right arm; but, remember that when thou art held by My left arm thou art much nearer My Heart.
Prayers to Jesus : Christ Wreath of Gems
Composed of three beads of gold and fifteen beads of silver. While St. Gertrude was offering this wreath of salutations in honour of the name of Jesus, she seemed to see them under the form of roses hung around with golden bells, the fragrance and tuneful harmony of which touched the Sacred Heart with ineffable delight. Those which had been recited with devout intention gave forth a most ravishing melody, while those which had been said carelessly uttered a low and wailing sound. And the Lord said to her: Whenever any one prays to me, Hail, sweetest Jesus, &c., the depth of the sweetness of my Godhead is stirred within me, and there spreads itself before me an odour of wondrous fragrance, which I shed down on him who repeats these words. First Golden Bead Hail, most loving Jesus, life-giving Germ of the divine Honour, unfading flower of human dignity, my consummate and my only salvation. Thou art my Creator and my Redeemer, and thou hast so loved me as to leave all thy bliss and thy glory, and to purchase me for thyself with the anguish of thy death.
Five silver beads 1. Hail, sweetest Jesus, most precious pearl of the most holy Trinity, with whose price the world has been redeemed. 2. Hail, most tender Jesus, refulgent splendour of thy Father’s glory, who with the light of thy countenance dost enlighten and quicken thine elect in the heavenly country. 3. Hail, most amiable Jesus, flashing effulgence from the sun of Justice, who dost inflame the hearts of angels and saints with the fire of thy love. 4. Hail, most noble Jesus, living Image of my Father’s substance, who dost make all those cleave to thee partakers of thy divine nature. 5. Hail, most renowned Jesus, Morning Star of thy Curch, who enlightenest the darkness of the world, and scatterest all the thick darkness of sin. Second Golden Bead Hail, Jesus, Bridegroom most beautous in the charm of thy Divinity, I salute thee and embrace thee with the affection of all thy creatures, and kiss thee with my mouth, thou Wound of love.
Five silver beads 1.Hail, Jesus, fairer than the sons of men, Orient pearl born in the ocean of the Godhead of the Father, whose generation no created intelligence can declare. 2. Hail, Jesus, sweeter than honey and the honeycomb, heavenly manna of wondrous sweetness, who dost refresh and satisfy every hungry soul. 3. Hail, Jesus, most resplendent, glowing Fire of uncreated love, who dost lighten and bear the burden of human toil and misery. 4. Hail, Jesus most gentle, sweet channel of heavenly steams, who dost take away the bitterness of every soul in anguish. 5. Hail, priceless Jesus, treasure-house of the divine Essence, who dost enrich the poverty of our nature. Amen. Third golden bead Hail, Jesus, full of grace, mercy is with thee, and thou art blessed among the sons of mens ; and blessed be thy most Holy Name, thy Life and thy Passion. O sweet Jesus, Son of God, have mercy on us sinners now and in the hour of our death. Amen.
Five silver beads 1. Hail, Jesus, Spouse and Crown of Virgins, we praise thee for ever, whose love made thee Son of the Virgin. 2. Hail, Jesus, Ruler of all things, fairer in thy beauty than the sons of men, we acknowledge and worship thee as our most clement Lord. 3. Hail, Jesus, wondrous splendour of the Godhead, wonder of wonders, who dost blot out all sins of the world. 4. Hail, Jesus, our consolation, who dost lay open to us the treasury of the riches of God, thou true refuge of the poor, and comfort of the afflicted. 5. Hail, Jesus, glory of angels, living Fountain, light of all minds, who dost transcend all joy and all desire. Amen.
Oblation O Good Jesus, my love, my joy, and my sweetness, my soul loves thee alone; for thee alone doth my longing spirit pine. For thou art more glorious than the sun, fairer than the moon, more radiant than the dawn, more brilliant than the stars. Thou art whiter than the lily, more ruddy than the rose, more vigorous than the hyacinth, and more fragrant then earth’s most fragrant flowers. Thou art sweeter than all sweetness, more tender than all affection, more exquisite than all dainties, beloved above all love. Thou alone art great and to be praised, thou alone art sweet and to be loved, thou alone art fair and pleasant, thou alone beautous and full of delight, thou alone hast no counterpart or equal in heaven or in earth. Wherefore, in token of my love, I offer thee this wreath of gems, and present it to thee on the golden altar of thy divine Heart, in union with that unceasing melody of praise wherewith the whole company of heaven worship thee. And since this my meagre, barren praise is altogether unworthy of thee, O true Love of my heart, do thou thyself perform the stately solemnity of thy praise; and together with thee let all the ranks of heaven rejoice and sing aloud for that greatest, sweetest blessing, that thou art my God, and that thou dost condescend to be acknowledged, and loved, and praised by me, the refuse and offscouring of thy creatures. Amen.
Prayers for daily use : Morning prayers
Our Divine Lord said to St Mechtilde : When you awake in the morning, let your first act be to salute my Heart, and to offer me your own. I adore, praise, and salute thee, O most sweet Heart of Jesus Christ, fresh and gladdening as the breath of spring, from which, as from a fountain of graces, sweeter than the honeycomb, floweth evermore all good and all delight. I thank thee with all the powers of my heart for having preserved me throughout this night, and for having rendered to God the Father praises and thanksgivings in my behalf. And now, O my sweet Love, I offer thee my wretched and worthiless heart as a morning sacrifice ; I place it in thy most tender Heart, and entrust it to thy keeping ; beseeching thee that thou wouldst deign to pour into it thy divine inspirations, and to enkindle it with thy holy love. Amen.
Recommendation to Jesus
It was revealed to St. Gertrude that if any one commends himself to God, praying to be kept from all sin, God will never forsake him; and even though he be permitted to fall into some grievous fault, the grace of God will sustain him like a staff, and enable him to return more easily to repentance. O Jesus, full of compassion, I commend to thee my spirit and my soul, in union with that love wherewith thou didst commend thine own to the Father on the cross; and I place them in the most sacred wound of thy tender Heart, that they may be therein protected from all snares of the enemy. Thou knowest, O good Jesus, and I know by my own sad experience, how weak and frail I am, so that I could not of myself persevere in good, or resist temptation even for one single hour. Wherefore I pray thee, by the reverence due to that union wherein thy manhood is united to the adorable Trinity in order to our glorification, that thou wouldst deign to unite my will to thine, and so to strenghten and secure it, that it may be unable to rebel against thee. In union with thy most sinless limbs, I commend to thee all the members of my body, with all their movements, that they may throughout this day move for thy glory alone, for thy praise and thy love. Amen.
Aspiration to Jesus
Jesus said to St. Mechtilde: Whoever shall breathe a sigh towards me from the bottom of his heart when he awakes in the morning, and shall ask me to work all his works in him throughout the day, he will draw me to him; so that his soul shall have life from me even as his body has life from his soul, and he shall do all things through me and by me. For never does a man breathe a sigh of longing aspiration towards me without drawing me nearer to him than I was before. O most loving Jesus, I breathe towards thee this sigh, drawn from the depth of my heart, beseeching thee with all my might that thou wouldst deign thyself to work in me all my works, whether of body or of soul, to cleanse them all in thy sweetest Heart, and to offer them, in union with thine own most perfect works, to God the Father as an eternal thanksgiving. Amen.
Intention to be formed in the morning
Our Lord revealed to St. Gertrude, that he records with letters of gold in the book of life all those actions which are done purely for the love of God, in union with the Passion of Christ, and for the salvation of all mankind, without thought of own merit. And although all good works receive from God an abundant reward, those which are done simply and purely for his glory are of far higher merit, and obtain for us far greater increase of glory. O Lord, my God, for thy sake I resolve to perform all my actions, whether outward or inward, purely for thy glory, and for the salvation of the whole world; with such intention and in such manner as thou dost desire and enjoin, and in union with that love whereby thy Son came down from heaven, and wrought out the whole work of our salvation, especially during his Passion. Wherefore I entirely disclaim all merit, all reward and grace which I might otherwise hope to obtain by these actions, that I may offer to thee, my God, a pure sacrifice of praise, and give thee a proof of thy love. Covenant with God O, almighty God, I sanctify, dedicate, and consecrate to thee every beating of my heart, and every pulsation of my blood; and I desire to make this compact with Thee: Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Sabaoth; and I beseech thee to impute this meaning to them, so that they may be before thy Divine Majesty as the unceasing echo of that heavenly canticle, which seraphims sing without ceasing unto thee. Amen.
A more extended covenant, to be renewed every week
The great efficacy of this covenant may be shown thus: Were a person to resolve that by every movement he made he wished to be understood to ratify and approve all the sins that are committed all over the earth, and to be held partaker of them, it is easy to see what guilt he would thus contract. And if such an intention would have so great influence for evil, why should it not have immense force and merit for good? O Lord God, my Creator, all my desire is before thee, but inasmuch as the necessities if this life prevent the constant application of my mind to thy praise, I make with thee this covenant, earnestly desiring that it may remain in force all this week. Whenever I look up towards heaven, I desire and intend to rejoice with thee in thine infinite perfections, that thou art what thou art, supremely strong and wise and loving and just. As often as I close or open my eyes, I desire and intend to approve and concur in all the holy actions which thine only-begotten Son, and all the saints in heaven and just on earth, have ever done, or shall ever hereafter do, to thy glory, and desire to be held a partaker in them all. As often as I draw my breath, I offer thee the Life and Passion and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ and the merits and sufferings of all the saints, to thine eternal glory, for the welfare and peace of all the whole world, and in satisfaction for the sins of all men. Whenever I sigh, I intend to detest and abhor every sin, as well my own sins as those which ever have been committed from the beginning of the world against the honour of thy Name. Would that the slight and worthless offering of my blood might be accepted in satisfaction for them! Lastly, as often as I move my hand or my foot, so often do I cast myself with entire resignation upon thy most holy will, desiring that thou wouldst dispose of me in time and in eternity, according to thine adorable good pleasure. And, lest this fivefold covenant should be in any way made void, I seal it with the seals of thy five most Sacred Wounds, earnestly desiring that it may have its full force with thee, even though in any one of these actions it be not actually present to my mind.
Aspiration before prayer
Our Lord directed St. Mechtilde to say the following prayer whenever she went into choir, or said the divine office or other prayer; assuring her that she might securely rely on the mercy of God that no prayer thus begun should fail to its effect. O most Holy Father, in union with the love of thy well-beloved Son, I commend my spirit to thee. Prayer before the divine office or other prayer O almighty, everlasting God, I, thy most unworthy creature, appear here before the throne of thy grace, desiring to pour out my heart before thee, and to worship thee, my God, as well and as perfectly as I can. Wherefore I begin and will faithfully continue this divine office (or, this prayer) in union with the love wherewith thy Son worshipped thee, and wrought all the whole work of our redemption; beseeching thee that I maybe enabled to pay thee a tribute of honour and praise like that of which the most precious Humanity of Jesus and the most holy Virgin Mary rendered thee unceasingly. And to this end I offer these my prayers to thee, in the virtue and merit of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, in his Name and in that of all thy holy angels and saints, to thy eternal praise and glory. I humbly implore thee to preserve me from all distraction and dryness of spirit, and to enable me duly to bring thee this my appointed tribute of prayer and praise. Amen.
Aspiration before the divine office
Our Lord recommended St. Mechtilde to say the following brief prayer before reciting her office, promising her that the prayer of those who habitually did so should be united with his own most perfect and availing prayers, and so have an infinite worth before God. O Lord Jesus, in union with the intention and love with which thou didst give praise to God the Father, I offer and will recite this holy office. Remedy against distractions When you are distracted in prayer, commend it to the Heart of Jesus, to be perfected by him, as our Lord himself taught St. Gertrude. One day, when she was much distracted in prayer, he appeared to her, and held forth to her his Heart with his own sacred hands, saying : Behold, I set my Heart before the eyes of thy soul, that thou mayest commend to it all thine actions, confidently trusting that all that thou canst not of thyself supply to them will be therein supplied, so that they may appear perfect and spotless in my sight. Remember always to say the Gloria Patri with great devotion. The hermit Honorius relates that a certain monk who had been accustomed to say his office negligently appeared to another after his death and being asked what sufferings he had to undergo in punishment for his carelessness, he said that all had been satisfied for and effaced by the reverent devotion with which he had always said the Gloria Patri.
To certain saints
Instruction of the manner in which the saints are to be honored When St. Gertrude wished to honour any particular saint, she was accustomed to give God thanks for all the graces he has bestowed on that saint, by repeating several times the psalm: Laudate Dominum, omnes gentes. She found by experience that when we thus thank God on behalf of any saint, he increases grace in our souls through the merit of that saint. On one occasion she seemed to see many persons clothed adorned with the merits of St. Bernard, and was much astonished as those persons had not done works like his. What, then, said St. Bernard to her, is she less beautiful who is adorned with the ornaments of another, than she who is adorned with her own? Assuredly not; thus it is in reward of the merits of the saints, obtained by those who praise God on their behalf; they are conferred on them with so great love that they will be to them matter of everlasting joy. Remember this, therefore, and if you say the Divine Office, bow your head at the Gloria Patri, with the intention of thanking God for the graces he has bestowed on the saint whose feast you are celebrating. On another occasion St. Gertrude offered to the blessed Virgin 150 Ave Maria’s, which she said in her honour, and it seemed to her as though every word thus presented were a piece of golden coin. And she felt within herself that whenever we commit the end of our life to any saint by special prayers, those prayers are borne up before the throne of the Judge; and the saint to whom they were addressed is appointed by God the advocate of those who have offered them, to provide them all manner of good according to their need. In like manner St. Mechtilde, having asked one of her sisters departed, who had appeared to her in radiant glory after her death: Tell me, my beloved Sister, of what avail to you are the prayers we offer for you? received this answer: I receive every word of them from your mouth as so many blooming roses, which I offer with joy to my Beloved. And having spoken thus, she showed under her glorious mantle roses of exquisite bloom, having a leaf of gold in the midst. And being asked what was signified by that golden leaf, she answered : It signifies those prayers which are offered of devotion, without obligation. And she added, moreover: Whenever any one addresses his prayer to any saint, that saint receives all the words of his mouth as though they were fresh blooming roses of spring. And if you say an Our Father to all saints, with the intention, were it possible, of saying for each of the saints, your intention is accepted by them as though you had really done so. It is likewise most pleasing to the saints to salute them in and through the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and especially if you offer them that Divine Heart; because through it and from it they receive the most consummate and ecstatic delights.
To the St. Michael Archangel
Hail, most glorious prince, Michael the Archangel! Hail, honour and glory of the hierarchies of heaven! O most august prince, under what obligation dost thou lie to thy Creator, who, without any merit of thine own, hath endowed thee with such excellent might and adorned thee with such peerless virtues? O thou renowned warrior, thou ornament of Paradise, thou lustrous gem of the court of heaven, thou art the seal of likeness to God, full of wisdom and consummate in beauty. Every precious stone is thine adornment, and all the working of thy finished comeliness is of gold, in the delights of Paradise of our God. Thou hast been appointed prince and captain to receive the souls of the elect, and to lead them into the Paradise of rejoicing. I recall to thy mind now, O most blessed prince, these and all other graces wherewith the boundless liberality of God hath enriched thee above all orders of angels, beseeching thee, by that mutual love which binds thy heart to the Divine Heart of Jesus, that thou wouldst deign to receive my soul at the moment of my departure, and to render the Judge propitious to me through thy intercession.
To our guardian angel
O most holy angel of God, appointed by him to be my guardian, I give thee thanks for all the benefits which thou hast ever bestowed on me in body and in soul. I praise and glorify thee that thou dost condescend to assist me, all miserable and worthless as I am, with such patient fidelity, and to defend me against all the assaults of my enemies. Blessed be the hour in which thou wast assigned me for my guardian, my defender, and my patron. Blessed be all thy love to me, and all thy care for me, wherewith thou dost unwearingly further my salvation. In acknowledgment and return of all thy loving ministries to me from my youth up I offer thee the infinitely precious and noble Heart of Jesus, full and overflowing with all blessedness; beseeching thee to forgive me for having so often striven against thy holy inspirations, and saddened thee my nearest, dearest friend; and firmly purposing to obey thee henceworth, and most faithfully to serve my God. Amen.
To St. John Evangelist
St. John was the special patron of St, Gertrude. Our Lord had assigned her to him, instructing her to say every day a Pater noster in his honour, with the following prayer: O blessed John the Evangelist, I recall to thy mind now that most sweet and most affectionate fidelity thou didst feel in thy heart when our Lord taught thee, together with the other Apostles, this his own availing prayer; beseeching thee to obtain for me the grace to cleave faithfully to him, and to persevere to the end of my life. Amen.
To St. Benedict
St. Benedict said to St. Gertrude: Whoever shall delight in recalling to my mind the grace which was vouchsafed me, of dying while I was standing and in prayer, I will assuredly be with him on the hour of his death, and will stand between him and his enemies, wherever their assault is most deadly and furious. O most glorious patriarch, holy father Benedict, I recall to thy mind now that great and glorious grace bestowed on thee by our Lord, of breathing out thy last breath as thou stoodest praying, on which account thy lips now exhale a fragrance which ravishes all the saints with delight; beseeching thee to be with me in the hour of my death with loving fidelity, and to place thyself between me and the enemies round about me, wheresoever thou seest them rage most furiously against me, so that, protected by thy presence, I may escape all their snares, and reach the joys of heaven safe and blessed for ever. Amen.
To St. Anne
Pope St. Alexander VI, granted an indulgence of twenty years to all who should devoutly repeat this prayer three times before an image of St. Anne. Hail, thou full of grace, the Lord is with thee, let thy grace be with me! Blessed art thou among women, and blessed be thy mother Anne, who brought thee forth, O Virgin all immaculate; and of thee was born Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God. Amen.
To St. Mary Magdalen
St. Mary Magdalen said to St. Mechtilde: Whosoever shall give God thanks for all the tears I shed upon the feet of Jesus, , &c., our most merciful God will grant him through my intercession remission of all his sins before his death, and a great increase of love to God. O most merciful Jesus, I give thee thanks for that work of piety which the blessed Mary Magdalen wrought on thee when she washed thy feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head, and kissed them and anointed them with fragrant ointment; whereby she obtained from thee such signal grace that thou didst pour into her heart and soul so great love of thee that she could love nothing apart from thee; beseeching thee that by her merits and intercessions thou wouldest vouchsafe to me tears of true repentance, and pour into my heart thy divine love. Amen.
Prayer to Jesus
Through the merits of St. Gertrude Our Lord obtained St. Gertrude that if anyone should praise God for her, and give him thanks for the love wherewith he had chosen her from eternity, &c., he would assuredly grant him whatever he asked, provided that it tended to his salvation. O most compassionate Jesus, Giver of all good and all grace, may all that are in the round world and the depth of the sea and the compass of heaven give thanks to thee and praise thee with that infinite, everlasting and unchanging praise which floweth forth from thee and floweth back unceasingly upon thee again, for the exceeding love wherewith thou didst shed into the heart and soul of thy beloved spouse Gertrude so great a flood of graces and of loving-kindness, and didst reveal to the world the mysteries of thy tender compassion through her, thine own chosen and peculiar instrument. Wherefore from my inmost heart I render thee utmost thanks; and I beseech thee, on behalf of all in heaven, on earth, or in purgatory, through that ineffable divine love wherewith thou didst from all eternity elect to special grace thy loving and most faithful servant, and didst in thine own appointed time draw her so sweetly to thee, and unite her so intimately to thyself, and dwell with such delight in her heart, and crown her life with an end so blessed; that thou wouldst condescend graciously to hear and to answer my petition. I recall to thy mind now, O most compassionate Jesus, the promise thou madest to thy beloved spouse in thy great and superabounding goodness, that thou wouldst most assuredly grant the prayers to all who come to thee through her merits and intercession, in all matters concerning their salvation; binding thyself, moreover, if thou didst not at once grant their petition, to bestow on them three-fold in thine own good time, from the omnipotence, the wisdom, and the tender kindness of the adorable Trinity. Calling thus to thy mind this thy faithful promise, I beseech thee, leave me not desolate, but bestow on me the salutary effect of my petition. Amen.
An efficacious prayer to St. Gertrude
I praise and greet thee, O most blessed Virgin Gertrude, through the sweetest Heart of Jesus thy Spouse; and through that Heart I magnify the goodness and condescension of the ever-adorable Trinity for all the grace which has ever flowed forth from that unfathomable abyss for thy salvation; beseeching thee, by that mutual love that united thy pure heart to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, that thou wouldst look on me as commended to thy care in life and in death, and be my faithful advocate with God. Amen.
Golden Ave Maria
Hail,Mary, in union with the reverence wherewith God the Father greeted thee with Ave, and by his omnipotence delivered thee from every woe and Voe of sin. Hail, Mary, in union with that love wherewith the Son of God enlightened thee with his wisdom and made thee a softly shining star, lighting up heaven and earth. Hail, Mary, in union with that sweet unction of the Holy Ghost, wherewith he so pervaded thee and made thee so full of grace, that every one who through thee seekest grace doth find it. Call to mind now that unspeakable operation wherewith the whole most Blessed Trinity wrought in thee, when human flesh taken from thy substance was so united to the Divine Nature that God was made man and man became God, and thy whole soul was suffused with a sweetness and gladness which the heart of man cannot conceive. And therefore every creature in rapturous admiration both acknowledge and confess that thou art blessed and incomparably exalted above all creatures in heaven or on earth, and blessed the Fruit of thy womb, even Jesus, who quickens, sanctifies, and blesses all things for ever. Amen.
Heavenly Ave Maria
Which Our Lord himself put in the mouth of St. Mechtilde. Hail, thou peerless offspring of the omnipotence of the Father, of the wisdom of the Son, and of the enrapturing goodness of the Holy Ghost, Mary, who dost fill heaven and earth with thy gentle light. Thou that art full of grace, the Lord is with thee, even the only-begotten Son of the Father, and the one only Son of the love of thy virgin heart, thy sweetest Spouse and thy Beloved. Blessed art thou amongst women, for thou hast annulled the curse of Eve, and brought back the everlasting blessing. And blessed is the Fruit of women, Jesus Christ, the Lord and Creator of all things, who doth evermore bless and sanctify, enrich and quicken all things. Amen.
The five joys of the blessed Virgin
On one occasion, while St. Mechtilde was reflecting in sadness that she had never been duly devoted to the Blessed Virgin, and was beseeching our Lord to teach her how to supply her defect, it seemed to her that our Lord bade her apply her lips to the wound on the side, saying: Draw hence that which thou dost wish to offer to my Mother. And she felt the five following salutations, which she had never heard or conceived before, trickle down upon her lips as so many drops of water. I salute thee, O Virgin most resplendent in glory, in that sweetest stream which flowed forth upon thee from the Heart of the most Holy Trinity, by reason by thy most blessed predestination from eternity. I salute thee, O Virgin most radiant in holiness, in that sweetest stream which went forth upon thee from the Heart of the most Holy Trinity, by reason of thy most holy conversation and life. I salute thee, O Virgin, most noble, in that sweetest stream which shed itself forth upon thee from the Heart of the most Holy Trinity, through the teaching and preaching of thy Son. I salute thee, O Virgin most full of love, in that sweetest stream which gushed forth upon thee from the Heart of the most Holy Trinity, through the bitter Passion and Death of thy Son. I salute thee, O Virgin most worshipful, in that sweetest stream which burst upon thee from the Heart of the most Holy Trinity, and filled thee with all the glory, all the dazzling magnificence and ecstatic joy in which thou dost now exult, as beseemeth thee, the elect above and over all creatures before the world was formed. Amen.
At the Ecce ancilla domini
Our Blessed Lady said to St. Gertrude : Whoever shall devoutly recall to my mind the joy which I felt in uttering the words Behold the handmaid of the Lord, I will most truly show him that I am his Mother, and will unfailingly succour him. O Mother of blessedness and most august Sanctuary of the Holy Ghost, I praise and greet thee, and with most devout intention of mind recall to thee that unspeakable joy which thou didst feel when with calmest trustfulness thou didst commend to the divine Will thy whole unreserved self, and all that was to be done to thee and in thee, saying: Behold the handmaid of the Lord: beseeching thee that thou wouldst show thyself my Mother, and evermore succour me with the saving help of thy compassionate heart. Amen.
Loving affections to Jesus blasphemed in his Passion
When St. Gertrude heard, in the Gospel of the Mass the words: Thou hast a devil; she was unutterably distressed at so blasphemous a reproach, and addressed to our Lord the following prayer. While she was repeating it most tender affection, our Lord appeared to draw near to her and to greet her, saying: Whoever shall salute me with the like affection in reparation for the blasphemies heaped upon me, in the dreadful day of judgement I will show him such tender affection in return, that all his adversaries shall be amazed and fly away. Hail, life-giving Germ of divine Majesty! Hail, unfading Flower of human dignity! O most loving Jesus, for all the blasphemies and contumely with which thou wast assailed on earth, I salute and bless thee with all the affection and love of the whole creation. For every drop of thy Precious Blood shed in thy Passion, for every Wound thy didst bear in thy sacred Body, for every blow and stripe and bruise, I salute and bless thee ten thousand fold. For every tear thou didst shed, for every sigh thou didst breathe forth, for every sorrow thou didst feel, I bless and salute thee, O my sweetest Jesus, ten thousand fold. For every act of virtue thou didst do, for every thirsting desire with which thou didst yearn for our salvation, for every look of love thou didst bend on thy Mother and thy friends, I bless and salute thee ten thousand fold. For every fall along thy way of sorrows, for every shrinking and sinking of thy Human Flesh, for every movement of thy sacred Hands and Feet, I salute and bless thee ten thousand fold. I bless and salute thee ten thousand times, O meekest Jesus, for every drop of Blood that fell to the ground in thy sweat of agony, for every painful step of thy weary Feet, for every strong cry and tear wherewith thou didst offer thy prayers and thy supplication to thy Father. I salute and bless thee ten thousand times, O most gentle Jesus, for every gash with which thy sacred Body was torn in thy scourging, for every thorn of thy cruel crown which entered into thy Flesh, for all the loathsome spitting with which thou wast defiled. I salute and bless thee ten thousand timed for every cord with which thou wast bound, for every reproach and outrage wherewith thy soul was saturated, for every impious greeting of scorn with which thou wast insulted. For every false charge brought against thee, O sinless Jesus, for every foul and impious lie uttered in disparagement of thee, and for every unjust sentence pronounced upon thee, I bless and salute thee ten thousand fold. Would, O most gracious Jesus, thar I could multiply these my salutations and praises ten thousand times ten thousand fold, and offer them to thee every hour of my life, that so I might efface and make amends for all the insults, the contumely, and the blasphemy hurled against thee, my sweetest Redeemer! I pray thee, despise not the desire nor the sighing of thy poor, but, according to thine own essential goodness, deign to ratify and accept them. Amen.
Sources: Prayers of St. Gertrude and St. Mechtilde Of The Order of Saint Benedict Saint Mechtilde : The Love of the Sacred Heart
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