Saint Gertrude the Great – Her Powerful Prayer to Release 1,000 Souls from Purgatory

Catholic Pilgrimage | Saint Gertrude the Great – Her Powerful Prayer to Release 1,000 Souls from Purgatory | On November 16, the Catholic Church celebrates the feast of St. Gertrude the good, a Benedictine nun whose great love for the Holy Souls in Purgatory and devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus has helped earn her the title of “the Great.”

Gertrude was born within the same town as Martin Luther, in Eisleben, Germany on the Feast of the Epiphany on Epiphany, 1256, two centuries before Luther. However, she lived during an equivalent time as many of the good saints including St. Aquinas, St. Francis of Assisi, and St. Dominic.

Not much is understood about her parentage. Historians believe that she may are a toddler oblate to the church, even as Hannah offered Samuel to the temple.

She eventually chose to follow the Lord by pursuing a vocation as a Benedictine nun. Gertrude was considered as an excellent theologian and was hailed as a mystic.

She entered a monastery school in Saxony when she was five years old where she earned a powerful education and ultimately discerned to become a spiritual sister herself.

Earning an education unlike any woman of her time, she was considered as incredibly smart. In fact, she even admitted in her autobiography that always times, she allowed Christ to require a backseat as she harnessed her skills in philosophy, literature, singing, and painting.

Eventually feeling lonely and depressed, Gertrude called her intellectual pursuits as a “tower of vanity and curiosity.” She then refocused her priorities after a mystical encounter with Christ and commenced to specialize in studying Scripture and theological works.

As a mystic, she had many mystical experiences that she recorded in her journals. One was a series of visions of St. John on the night of the Last Supper. She laid her head on the breast of Christ and heard his most Sacred Heart beating and asked John why he didn’t record the experience within the Gospel. He answered saying that this detail had to be reserved for subsequent ages when the planet, having grown cold, would wish to rekindle its love for Christ’s Sacred Heart.

She went on to become one of the great mystics of the 13th century. Gertrude, along with St. Mechtilde, practiced so called nuptial mysticism — which meant seeing herself as the bride of Christ.

Her heart went to both the rich and poor as she was in deep solidarity with those still being purified in the state of repose known as purgatory.

Throughout her life, Gertrude produced numerous writings, although only a couple of still exists today. one among her longest surviving works is Legatus Memorialis Abundantiae Divinae Pietatis (The Herald of Divine Love). Her other works include her collection of Spiritual Exercises and Preces Gertrudianae (Gertrudian Prayers).

The Herald of Divine Love consists of 5 different books. Book two is that the core of the work, and was written solely by Gertrude. it’s a notable piece of writing because it includes detailed descriptions of Gertrude’s visions and a veneration of Christ’s heart. the opposite four books are believed to possess been composed by other nuns.

Gertrude wrote extensively about the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Her writings helped spread the devotion throughout the Western world.

Her heart went to both the rich and poor as she was in deep solidarity with those still being purified in the state of repose known as purgatory.

She wrote a prayer that when said, releases 1,000 souls from Purgatory. Gertrude had an excellent devotion to the Holy Souls in Purgatory, whom she frequently wrote about and therefore the need for the living to wish for them. She wrote this prayer, which is particularly fitting for the month of November:

Eternal Father, I offer Thee the foremost Precious Blood of Thy Divine Son, Jesus, in union with the Masses said throughout the planet today, for all the holy souls in purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners within the universal church, those in my very own home and within my family. Amen.

Gertrude was never formally canonized. Surprisingly, this famous saint was never officially canonized intrinsically. However, in 1606, over 300 years after her death, Pope Paul V approved a liturgical office of prayer, readings, and hymns in her honor. Pope Clement XII in 1738, set the Feast of St. Gertrude to the Universal Catholic Church.

Regardless, she remains recognized as a saint who is praying for us among the communion of saints.

She is the patron of the West Indies. She was declared Patroness of the West Indies after a petition from the Holy See was sent to King Philip IV of Spain. Her intercession is additionally often looked for the souls in purgatory.

Gertrude is that the only female Saint to be called “the Great” as Pope Benedict XIV gave her the title to differentiate her from Abbess Gertrude of Hackeborn and to acknowledge the depth of her writings and theological insight.

There are no formal criteria to work out a saint as “great” like there’s for determining doctors of the Church. it’s often to differentiate them from a saint with an equivalent name, like St. James the good who was St. John’s brother and St. James the Lesser, the primary bishop of Jerusalem.

Other saints receive the title of “great” due to their lasting influence on the planet and therefore the Church. St. Gregory the good was named “the Great” as a result of his leadership, profound writings, and contributions to the liturgy, including plainsong.

St. Gertrude died on November 16, 1302 and remains one among the foremost well-known saints within the West.

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

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Prayer to St. Gertrude the Great 

St. Gertrude, you were born in Thuringia which is now in modern-day Germany. At the age of four, you were enrolled in the nearby convent- either because you were an orphan or because your parents offered you to the Church at an early age. Your mentor was St. Mechtilde, the younger sister of the Abbess. You had a first-rate education- well versed in rhetoric, Latin, the Church Fathers, and scripture. In fact, you were much more interested in your intellectual pursuits than you were in the spiritual ones. At the age of twenty-five, you had your first vision of Jesus, who sorrowfully reproached you for your lack of fervor in the life He had chose for you.

You became the author of a number of spiritual works; chief among them being ‘The Revelations of St. Gertrude’. You were the first to revere the Sacred Heart and wrote prayers for each of the liturgical feasts. You also had a great love for the souls in Purgatory. Your close union with God made you zealous for the salvation of souls. You died after a long illness at the age of forty-six.

St. Gertrude, you were endowed with both natural gifts and supernatural graces which fed your charity for others. Pray that we may use our talents to further the kingdom of God. St. Gertrude, you knew the power of God’s mercy because of the mercy He had shown you while in a state of spiritual torpor. Pray for the conversion of souls, especially those we commend to you this day. St. Gertrude, you were a prolific writer; however many of your writings have not survived. The ones we have testify to the love of God and the favors bestowed on us through the sacraments. Pray that we may become more involved in the life of the Church, storing up spiritual treasures that will last. Amen.

St. Gertrude the Great, pray for us!

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Resources:
https://www.catholic.org/
http://warriorofgod.net/
https://www.coraevans.com/