Chapter 2: Instructions for celebrating the Feast of the Nativity

The next day, the Saint watched for some time before Matins, and occupied herself with reflecting, in the bitter- ness of her heart, on some impatience to which she had given way on the preceding evening, in consequence of a negligence of those who attended her. As she heard the first signal for Matins, she was filled with joy, praising God for the announcement that the Feast of the most sweet Nativity of her Lord was so near at hand. Then the Eternal Father addressed Himself lovingly to her, saying : " Behold, I am going to send into your soul the affection which I sent before the face of My only Son to purify the world from its sins, and I will enkindle it in your soul, that you also may be purified from all the sinful stains of your past negligences, and thus you may be prepared to celebrate the approaching feast worthily." After this favour, she reflected bitterly on the faults which she had committed, and considered herself as a creature altogether unworthy of the graces of God, since a trifling negligence in one of His servants had caused her to give way to such great impatience.

But the Divine mercy instructed her that all the reflec tions which men make with sorrow for their faults, after they have done penance for them, will serve to prepare them for receiving the grace of God, as Scripture teaches : "If the wicked do penance for all his sins, he shall live, and not die" (Ez. xviii.)

At the second bell for Matins, the Saint again began to praise God ; and God the Father spoke thus to her : " Behold, I will again place in your soul that which I sent before My Son to correct the defects and weaknesses of man, that those defects may be amended which are not for your perfection ; for there are certain faults in men, the knowledge of which serves to humble them, and causes a holy compunction, and these faults further their salvation ; and I permit these defects even in those whom I love most, in order to exercise their virtue. But there are other faults of which they think little, and, what is still worse, they de fend them as if they were virtues, and will not be corrected for them. These faults place the soul in great peril of eternal damnation ; but from these your soul is now puri fied."

At the third toll of the bell, as she continued to praise God, the Eternal Father filled her soul with all the virtues which had been found in the souls of the Patriarchs, Pro phets, and the Faithful before the advent of His Son — such as humility, desire, knowledge, love, hope, &c. — that she might celebrate so great a feast worthily. The Lord then adorned her with these virtues as so many brilliant stars, and stood before her, saying : " My daughter, which would you prefer — that I should serve you, or that you should serve Me ? " For she enjoyed God in two ways — first, by a rapture which absorbed her entirely in God, so that she could not explain much of what she learned therein for the edification of others ; and secondly, by a grace which God conferred on her of instructing her in Holy Scripture, of which He imparted to her the spirit and meaning, so that it seemed to her as if she conversed with God familiarly, as a friend would with his friend ; and this enabled her to be extremely useful to others. God then asked her which she preferred — that He should serve her in the first man ner, or that she should serve Him in the second 1 But as she sought not her own things, but those of the Lord Jesus, she preferred having the labour of instructing her neighbour for the glory of God, to seeking her own satisfaction by tasting His sweetness ; and God appeared well pleased with her choice.

As matins commenced, she implored the Divine as sistance by the words Deus in adjutorium; by the Do mine labia mea aperiis, which is repeated three times, she saluted and adored, with her whole heart, her whole soul, and all her strength, the infinite power of the Father, the impenetrable wisdom of the Son, and the ineffable good ness of the Holy Ghost — adoring the Trinity in Unity, and the Unity in Trinity; then, at the first five verses of the Psalm Domine quid multiplicati sunt she approached in spirit to the holy Wounds of Jesus Christ, and embraced them lovingly ; at the sixth verse of this Psalm, she pro strated at the Feet of our Lord, to adore and thank Him for the remission of all her sins ; at the seventh, she approached His sacred Hands, and thanked Him for all the favours which she had received during her whole life from His goodness ; at the eighth, she inclined profoundly before the loving Wound of His sacred Side ; at the ninth (the Gloria Patri), she united with all creatures in adoring the effulgent and ever-peaceful Trinity, and, approaching the Heart of Jesus, she saluted it with the deepest affection, extolling it for having hidden within it all the incomprehensible riches of the Divinity.

At the first verse of the Psalm Veniterf having pro strated once more to adore the Wound of the Lord's Left Foot, she obtained through it a full remission of all the

'Psalm, iii., proper to Benedictines, who say it at the com mencement of Matins. See Rule of St. Benedict, ch. ix. It will be remembered that the Domine labia is repeated three times by Benedictines.

t Psalm, xciv., said at the commencement of Mating. It is di vided into five parts. An Antiphon called the Invitatory is said after each, and before and after the Gloria Patri, with which it concludes. The Invitatory varies with the festival or feria, but is always an invitation to sing the Divine praises. The Hodie scietis—" To-day ye shall know that the Lord will come, and to morrow ye shall see His glory "—is the Invitatory for the Vigil of Christmas, as above.

DEVOTIONS AT THE " \EN1TE EXULTEMUS." 301

Bins which she had committed by thoughts or words. Then she adored the Eight Foot at the second verse, and obtained pardon of all the sins of omission by which she had failed in the perfection of her thoughts and words ; at the third verse, she turned to the Blessed Wound of the Left Hand, and received the remission of all the sins she had committed by act ; at the fourth, she received from the Right Hand of the Lord what supplied for all the omissions in her good works ; lastly, at the fifth verse she approached the most holy Wound of the Side of her Beloved (which abounds and superabounds in all good), and, having kissed it very devoutly in the place from whence the precious water sprang forth at the touch of the soldier's lance, she was purged from every stain, made whiter than snow, and adorned with every virtue by the precious Blood ; then, chanting the Gloria Patri, and honouring the adorable Trinity as at the preceding Psalm, when singing the Sicut erat, she concluded all in the heart of Jesus, which contains all that is Divine and satisfying. During the Invitatory Hodie scietis, which is repeated five times in the Venite and twice after it, God purified seven affections in her, which became marvellously ennobled by being united with the affections of Jesus Christ.

While they sang the other Psalms, she remained in the presence of the Lord clothed with virtues, as with so many brilliant stars. At this moment, as all her desires tended towards God, she prayed that all which she might do, whether exteriorly or spiritually, on the day of the Nativity of her sweet Jesus, might be done to the honour and glory of the most holy and adorable Trinity. When the bell rang for Lauds, our Lord said to her : " As the sound of these bells announce the Feast of My Nativity, I will grant lhat all which you do o» this festival — whether by chant- ing, reading, praying, meditating, or even by exterior ex ercises, such as eating and sleeping — shall resound to the praises of the Most Holy Trinity, by union with My desires and love, which were ever in harmony with the will of God the Father."

When they lit the seven candles, she received from God the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, as far as she was capable, and in proportion even as Jesus Christ was filled with them Himself. As she besought our Lord, by the condescension with which He willed to be born in a stable,t to prepare her heart for His birth, this most clement Lord complied with her desire, and made a stable in her heart, giving her His omnipotence, wisdom, and benignity for a roof -and walls.

She now beheld with great joy and admiration all the good works which God enables men to perform by His goodness and power, and in which He allowed her to share as a preparation for this feast, attached to these walls like little bells. Then she beheld the Lord Jesus, who imparted new joys and gifts to her, while he was attended by the princes of heaven.

After this, as the Saint repeated, two hundred and twenty times, " I adore Thee, I love Thee," &c., it seemed to her that at each prayer His members were presented to her to use as instruments of Divine praise ; and that after wards Jesus Christ purified, in a marvellous manner, all her senses", exterior and interior, and renewed them in puri fying them, so that they became sanctified by union with t " Diversorio."

His. As the bell rang for Chapter, she again praised God for His goodness in assisting thereat in person, as had been revealed to Mechtilde, her sister ; and she knew that He was present by the devotion which she observed in the sis ters who assisted at Chapter, and who burned with ardour to see this revelation accomplished, because it seemed as if our Lord waited with extreme joy until all the community were assembled, being seated in the place of the Lady Ab bess, in whose person He appeared to preside, but with a marvellous glory, and accompanied by a great number of blessed spirits, who surrounded the throne of His Ma jesty.

When the religious were seated, our Lord said, as if in a transport of joy : "Behold My friends who have assembled here ! " One of the religious then having said the Jube, Domne and another replying, In viam mandalorum suorum, our Lord extended His venerable Hand, and blessed the convent, saying : " I consent to all which shall be done or enacted, reposing on the omnipotence of My Father." Then, as the religious commenced the words, " JESUS CHRISTUS, FILIUS DKI vivi, IN BETHELEHEM JUDA NASCITUR," all the choirs of angels, hearing the announcement of the birth of their Lord and King, were filled with ineffable joy, and fell prostrate on the ground to adore Him. The sisters then commenced the Miserere, according to custom. The angel guardian of each religious presented her heart with joy to God ; and it seemed as if our Lord received from each a certain knot * or twisted cord, which He placed in His bosom. When those who loved God with the greatest fervour offered Him their hearts, the angels of the choir of Seraphim, who attended our Lord and supported Him, disposed those religious for their offering. When the hearts of those who were most enlightened in the know ledge of God were offered, the angels of the choir of Che rubim came to present their homage. When the hearts of those who exercised themselves most in virtue were offered, the angels of the choir of Virtues came to their assistance ; and thus also the other angels exercised their ministry, according as those whose virtues corresponded to their nature came to offer their hearts to our Lord. But as for those in whom this revelation excited no more devotion than usual, they were offered to God by the angels ; bii« th«ir bodies appeared at the same time as if prostrate on the ground.

Then Gertrude approached her Spouse, and offered Him the first Miserere, which was said for her, exclaiming : " O my loving Spouse, I renounce my own interest in this, and I offer it to Thee for Thy eternal praise, that it may please Thee to grant some grace to Thy special friends or mine, as it shall please Thy mercy." Our Lord then re ceived this Miserere as a brilliant and beautiful pearl, placing it in a ring which He had before Him, which was marvellously embellished with precious stones and flowers of gold, saying : " Behold, I have placed this pearl which you have offered Me in the centre of this ring, that all those who recommend themselves to your prayers, or who merely implore your assistance by a look, may derive the same advantage from it as the Jews drew from looking at tue brazen serpent, which I caused to be lifted up in the wilderness by Moses."

When the Psalms were finished, and the sisters had accused themselves of their faults, two princes appeared, who bore a tablet of gold, which they held before our Lord. He then opened the knots, which had been hidden in His bosom ; and all the words of the Psalms and prayers which had been said were seen under the form of brilliant and beautiful pearls, each of which shone marvellously, and gave forth a sweet and melodious sound. This brilliancy was an indication of the zeal and love with which these souls endeavoured to please our Lord, and the melodious sound a prediction that the fruit which the whole Church would gather from their prayers would be rendered to them twofold.

Gertrude perceived that the Lord effected all these marvels in consequence of the particular devotion which the community had, expecting that He would preside that day at the Chapter. While the names were read from the tablet * of those who were to chant or read at Matins, our Lord looked at them with pleasure, and inclined His Head to those who listened attentively to what was prescribed them with such sensible marks of tenderness, that the tongue of man would fail to describe it ; and He consoled those who were grieved that nothing was given them to chant in

U an ineffable manner. Gertrude, who beheld all this in spirit, said to our Lord : " O Lord, if this community only knew what extreme tenderness Thou hast for them, how those sisters would be grieved whose names were not read out." Our Lord replied : " All those who have the desire of singing or reading, although they do not do so, will be treated by Me with the same goodness as if they did ; for their will pleases Me as much as their action, and it will be equally rewarded. And all those who listened to what w«s prescribed them, and received it with an inclination of the head, desiring to accomplish it for My glory, and beseech ing Me to aid them to perform it worthily, will so draw down the sweetness of My love upon them, that I will not defer bestowing new graces on them as a mark of My approbation."

When the Prioress, according to the rules of the Order, accused herself of negligence, in the name of theCommunity^ before the Lady Abbess, our Lord spoke thus : "I absolve you, by the power of My Divinity, from all the negligences of which you have accused yourself before Me ; and when- ever you fall again through human frailty, I will pardon you and show you mercy.''

As they read the seven Penitential Psalms as a penance for their sins of negligence and inattention, each word ap peared on the same tablet in the form of pearls • but they were of a dark colour, and arranged near the brilliant ones of which we have already spoken ; because these Psalms were repeated through custom, not from special devotion : from whence we may learn, that what is done through cus tom contributes in some degree to our merit, though God regards as infinitely more excellent and agreeable what is done through devotion.

As the verse Gloria tibi, Dominc was chanted at Ves pers, the Saint beheld a multitude of angels flying round the convent, and singing the same words in loud and joyful accents. She then inquired of our Lord what advantage men gained when the angels joined thus in their Psalmody. As He did not reply, and she continued to desire this in formation, she was interiorly told, by Divine inspiration, that when angels are present at our solemnities, they pray to God that those who imitate them in their devotion may imitate them in purity of body and soul.

Then she began to be doubtful, as often happens, whether this thought had come from God, or whether it proceeded merely from her own imagination. But our Lord consoled her by this reply : " Do not fear ; for your will is so perfectly united to Mine, that you can only will what I do, and consequently you desire only My glory. Be assured the holy angels are so submissive to your good de sires, that if until now they have not prayed for you as you wish, they will henceforth do so with the greatest fervour. And because I, as their King, have made you in some sort a queen, they are so disposed to obey you, that if you require anything from them, they will endeavour to accomplish it the moment you desire it."

After Vespers, as the relics of the convent and the image of the Blessed Virgin were carried in procession as usual, the Saint felt grieved that her illness had prevented her from reciting a number of prayers, and performing some acts of devotion which she wished to offer to the Mother of God on this solemn Feast; but she found herself at the same time filled with an unction of the Holy Spirit, so that she offered her the sweetest and most noble Heart of Jesus Christ to supply for all her negligences. The Blessed Virgin received this offering with great satisfaction and pleasure, because she considered this Heart as the most honourable gift which could be offered her, as it contained every good.