Feast of Saint Gertrude the Great, Sunday before Thanksgiving

Saint Gertrude the Great (1256-1302) was one of the first people to pray and devote energy to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.200px-Divine_Mercy_(Adolf_Hyla_painting)2007-08-16  She was a German Cistercian, mystic, and theologian.

Gertrude produced numerous writings, though only some survive today. The longest survival is the The Herald of Divine Love. 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. It is also very possible that Gertrude was the author of a part of the revelations of  Mechthild the Book of Special Grace.

The importance of the Spiritual Exercises extends to the present day because they are grounded in themes and rites of Church liturgy for occasions of Baptism, conversion, commitment, discipleship, union with God, praise of God, and preparation for death. Gertrude’s Spiritual Exercises can still be used by anyone who seeks to deepen spirituality through prayer and meditation.

Prayer to Sacred Heart of Jesus:

Hail! O Sacred Heart of Jesus, living and quickening source of eternal life, infinite treasure of the Divinity, and burning furnace of divine love. Thou art my refuge and my sanctuary, O my amiable Savior. Consume my heart with that burning fire with which Thine is ever inflamed. Pour down on my soul those graces which flow from Thy love, and let my heart be so united with Thine, that our wills may be one, and mine in all things, be conformed to Thine. May Thy divine will be equally the standard and rule of all my desires and of all my actions. Amen.

Here an invocation to the Sacred Heart meant to repeat abundantly daily.

Love to you, my dear cosmic travellers!