SAINT GERTRUDE
Virgin

Gertrude was a 13th-century Cistercian mystic of Helfta, near Eisleben in Saxony. The book of her life and revelations, which she was asked to write in a vision of God, has been praised by scholars and saints alike. A very intelligent woman, Gertrude was early attracted to secular learning, but after the first of her numerous visions she restricted her reading to the Holy Scriptures and the Fathers of the Church. Her whole life was centered on the Sacrifice of the Mass and the Divine Office. She was one of the first to whom our Lord revealed the mystery of His Sacred Heart; He also asked her to develop a deep love for the cross and to pray for the conversion of souls.

Mass of a VIRGIN except:

PRAYER
O God, the heart of the holy virgin Gertrude was a happy abode that You prepared as Your own. Cleanse our hearts from the stains of sin and let us share in her eternal happiness through the merits and prayers of this saint. Through Our Lord . . .

'Mediator Dei'

EXPIATION:

The third end is that of expiation, propitiation, and reconciliation. No one was more fitted to make satisfaction to God for all the sins of men than was Christ. So He desired to be immolated on the Cross for our sins and the sins of the whole world. He continues to offer Himself on our altars for our redemption. In fact He does this not only for the living but for the dead.

[Excerpted from 'Mediator Dei', Pius XII]