SAINT GERTRUDE
Virgin

SAINT MECHTILDE

Virgin

[Historical]

DOUBLE/WHITE
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

COLLECTO 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 . . .


SECRET
Accept this gift,O Lord, from a people dedicated to You. We offer it in honor of Your Saints for the help we have received from them when we were in trouble. Through our Lord . . .


POSTCOMMUNION
O Lord, You have feasted Your family with the food of heaven. May we always be refreshed through the intercession of Your Saint whose feast we celebrate this day. Through our Lord . . .

Saint Mechtilde of Helfta

Born to a pious, powerful Thuringian noble family; her older sister was a nun. Convent educated from age seven, Mechtilde became a nun at Rodersdorf, Switzerland. She moved to the Helfta monastery in 1258 where her sister served as abbess. Teacher and choir director at the convent school at Helfta. Visionary and mystic. Novice mistress for Saint Gertrude the Great who wrote The Book of Special Grace about Mechtilde’s teachings; she was initially terrified that the book might cause trouble, but Christ appeared to her in prayer and told her not to worry. She became a much sought spiritual advisor to her sister nuns, laity and learned Dominicans. May have been the inspiration for the character Matelda in Dante’s
Purgatorio
.