Chapter 5: For the Feast of the Circumcision

Of the holy name of Jesus ; and the renewal of our good intentions at the commencement of the new year.

ON the Feast of the Circumcision, St. Gertrude offered cer tain salutations of the sweet name of Jesus, which had been compiled by devout persons ; and these salutations appeared before God with the brilliancy of stars, and in the form of white roses ; from each of which hung a little golden bell, which gave forth the sweetest melody, and caused ineffable pleasure to the Divine Heart of Jesus. As she uttered the words, " Hail, Jesus ! most loving, most benign, most desir able ! " &c., she desired very ardently to find other expres sions to add to the name of Jesus, that His Heart might be still more touched thereby ; but the earnest love with which she sought to accomplish this exhausted her strength, and our Lord, moved with pity, and as it were vanquished by her love, inclined towards her, and embraced her with exceeding love, saying : " Behold, I have imprinted My name upon your lips, that you may bear it before the whole world ; and whenever your lips move to utter it, it will resound before me as a most harmonious melody."

After this she found the name of JESUS written on the upper part of her soul in characters of living gold, which appeared like shining stars emitting a soft light. The word JUSTICE was written in the same manner on the lower part. By the inscription "Jesus," which signifies Saviour, she understood that she was to manifest Him to all as the Source of life and salvation ; by the inscription " Justice," she understood that she was to represent all the rigours of Divine justice to those whose minds were hardened, that the fear of God's judgments might serve to deter them from evil, if they would not be won by His mercies.

Then she said to our Lord : " O sweetest love ! I be seech Thee to give our congregation, which always belongs entirely to Thee, a new-year's gift, even as a bridegroom does to his bride." Our Lord replied : " ' Be renewed in the spirit of your mind ' " (Eph. iv. 23). She answered : " O Father of Mercies ! do not forget to circumcise all our imperfections on this blessed festival of Thy holy Circumcision." To this our Lord answered : " Circurnciso yourself by meditating on your Rule." " O loving Lord I " she replied, " why dost Thou reply to me so seriously, since Thou knowest that if Thou dost not assist us with Thy grace, we shall fail in our endeavours ; for Thou hast

Thyself said, that it is not possible for us to do any good without Thee." Then our Lord, as if won and carried away by the words of the Saint, placed her soul in His bosom, and said to her with great sweetness : " Yes, I de sire that you should cooperate with Me in this ; and all those amongst you who, at the commencement of this year, repent with all their hearts, for My love, of the faults which they have committed against their Rule, and resolve to avoid them for the future, shall obtain this favour — that I will be to them as a kind master, who holds the child whom he teaches in his arms, to point out his letters to him, to efface his imperfections, or to supply his defects ; and thus My mercy will amend their defects, and My paternal love will supply their negligences. And if they forget any duty through dissipation of mind, I will supply it to them by the reflections which I will cause them to make on it." He added : " Those who endeavour to turn their minds from all which they know to be displeasing to Me, and who endeavour to please me in all things, shall receive the light of My Divine heart to direct their thoughts ; and I will so dispose their works, that they shall be able each year to offer Me a new gift, which will not be unworthy of My acceptance, and which will be salutary for them.

As the Saint prayed for a person who had asked that she would obtain from God for her, as a new-year's gift, that her heart might always remain faithful to him in prosperity and in adversity, our Lord replied sweetly : " I accept the desire of this person for whom you pray as a most acceptable new-year's gift ; but as it is right that I should give her what she asks in return, I wish that this gift should be shared between us ; that it should be advan- tageous to her, and agreeable to Me ; that it should redound to My glory on the one hand, and that it should continually impart new ornaments of virtue to her on the other. For, as a mother, when she is teaching her child to w.ork, guides her hand by her own knowledge, so also I use My eternal wisdom in teaching this person to prepare these gifts.

Then the Saint understood that the pearls with which these gifts were to be embellished were the holy desires and good sentiments which drew the soul to God ; such as fear, love, hope, joy, and such-like, the least of which is not overlooked by God when He labours for the salvation of our souls.

As she prayed then for many other persons, and especiall} for ons whose soul had lately become troubled, and, as Gertrude believed, through her, our Lord said to her : " I am using her very affliction and trouble to expand her heart and to open her hands, that she may receive more abundantly and suitably the gifts which I have prepared for her." "Alas, Lord!" exclaimed the Saint, "was it necessary that I should be the scourge with which Thou didst purify this soul ?" Our Lord answered : " Why say ' Alas !' when those who thus purify My elect, without any intention of afflicting them, but, on the contrary, compas sionating their sufferings with all their hearts, are as a gentle rod in My hands, and their merit increases in pro portion as the souls are purified 2"