Chapter 23: For Palm Sunday

Of Spiritxial Communion, and other exercises for thig holy day.

ON the Feast of Palms, as Gertrude was rilled with the delights of Divine consolation, she said to our Lord: "Teach me, I beseech Thee, O Beloved, how I can go forth to meet Thee to-day, who art approaching Thy

Passion for my salvation." Our Lord replied : " Give Me an ass to ride; a troop of people to precede Me with acclamations ; another troop to follow Me with praises ; and another to minister to Me.

" You will give Me an ass to ride, if you acknowledge •with a contrite heart that you have failed to be guided by reason, and have had no more understanding than a beast of all that I have done for your salvation. This negligence has caused you to lose My sweet tranquillity ; so that when I thought to find some consolation in you, it was necessary for Me to purify you by some exterior or interior suffering. And thus I was obliged to suffer in you ; for My love, which could not restrain itself, obliged My goodness to compassionate you in all your adversities. But when you give Me the conveyance which I desire, I shall be satisfied.

" You will give Me a troop of people who will make acclamations before Me, when you receive Me with full affection in the name of all men, in union with the love which made Me, your Lord and Creator, enter Jerusalem for the salvation of the world, and in satisfaction for all those who have failed to thank Me worthily, and with perfect affection, for this great grace.

"You will give Me another troop to follow Me with praises, when you avow sincerely that you have never imi tated the example of My perfect life as you should ; and if you offer Me such a fervent will, that if you could you would urge all men to imitate what is most perfect in My Life and Passion, and this for My honour and glory ; and pray that you may obtain the grace to imitate Me in true humility, patience, and charity (the virtues which I exer- cised most during My Passion), desiring with the utmost ardour to follow My example.

" You will give me those who will attend Me, if you confess that you have never defended My truth and justice as you ought, resolving firmly to defend them for the future, both by your words and actions." He added : " Whoever presents himself to me in these four ways will not fail to obtain life eternal as the reward of his piety."

Then, as she was about to communicate, and offered her whole heart to God with great fervour, she beheld it opening in its charity, as Jerusalem opened to receive our Lord. 1/e entered therein under the form of a young man bearing a scourge with three cords, which signified the work of our redemption : the first cord indicated the labours of His sacred body ; the second, the devout inten tions of His most holy Soul ; the third, the excellent and incomparable virtue of His Divinity, which always co operated together in Jesus Christ. Our Lord then touched her gently with the scourge, to remove from her all the stains and dust of human frailty and negligence. After this, He placed the scourge in the centre of her heart. The three cords appeared to form a throne for our Lord to rest upon ; and as He seated Himself thereon, each of these little cords produced a green branch, which was covered with flowers. The first of these — that is, the virtue of His Divinity— grew up behind Him, and served as a shade for His Head ; the others were on the right and left, and emitted a most agreeable fragrance.

As she chanted the words, 0 Crux, ave, spes unica at

Terce, St. Gertrude offered our Lord the devotions of all those who would salute Him that day while reciting it at the Canonical Hours. Then our Lord presented her devo tion and zeal, in the form of a flower, to all those for whom she had made the offering ; and this flower gave them great spiritual joy and beauty. " If this can be so advantageous to my sisters," said the Saint, " what wilt Thou give to those who apply themselves after the procession yet more fervently to serve Thee and adore Thee ? " Our Lord re plied : " As your sisters present Me with three different kinds of devotion, I will place these three flowers before them. Some of them desire to have devotion which they find they have not, and they offer me their exterior labours and exercises : to these I will present the flower that springs forth from the labours and exercises of My Body. Others abound in sweet devotion, and offer Me their fervent de sires ; and I will refresh them with the flower which pro ceeds from the pure intentions of My Divine Soul. Others, again, whose will is so united to Mine that they are one spirit with Me, offer themselves entirely to me, that I may do with them what I will • and to these I will present the noble flower of My Divinity."

After the procession, as the community made an incli nation at the Gloria, laus and prostrated at the Fulgentibus palmis, our Lord presented them with the flower of Hia bodily exercise, to console, fortify, and preserve them in His service, giving them to understand by this that He would ennoble their labours by the merit of His own. One

• "Glory and praise to Thee, Redeemer blest ; Hymn after the procession on Palm Sunday. This Hymn was composed by Theodolphus, Bishop of Orleans. The words fulgentibus palmis do D<^ occur in it.

of the sisters then came to St. Gertrude to implore her to take some food, on account of her extreme weakness ; but as she could not bear to take anything until she had heard the Passion, according to her usual custom, she besought our Lord to tell her what she ought to do. He replied : " Refresh yourself, My beloved, in union with the love with which I refused the wine mingled with myrrh and gall when I had tasted it." As she returned thanks for the favour, our Lord presented His Heart to her, saying : " I present you therein with the desire which made Me refuse to drink, that I might give you to drink. Drink, then, freely what I, a skilful Physician, have prepared for you. This wine, mingled with gall and myrrh, was offered to Me that I might die more speedily ; but the desire of suffering yet more for men prevented Me from drinking it. You, on the contrary, must take the food which is necessary for you, with the same love, that your life may be prolonged for My service. This wine and myrrh was mixed with gall ; there fore you must also do three things in memory thereof. First: you must perform all your actions cheerfully for My glory ; this is indicated by the wine. Secondly : you must use the conveniences of life, to enable you to suffer for My love ; and this is indicated by the myrrh, which preserves from corruption. Thirdly: you must be very willing, for My love, to be deprived of the joys of heaven, and to remain in this valley of misery; and this is indicated by the gall. Each time that you use the necessaries of life with these intentions, I will regard you as you would a friend who had taken a bitter potion in order to leave you one which was sweet and palatable."

St. Gertrude, when eating, was always accustomed to repeat these words : " May the virtue of Thy Divine love incorporate me wholly into Thee, O most loving Jesus ! " And when drinking, she said : " O most amiable Jesus, pour forth and preserve j" rny inmost being that Divine charity which reigns so powerfully in Thee, that it may penetrate me entirely, distilling itself into all the powers of my body and soul."

The Saint having inquired of our Lord how He would accept the same offering from others, He replied : " Tho?e who use the same words as I have taught you will receive the same testimonies of affection from Me as I have shown to you." As the words of the Passion, Emisit spiritum, were read, St. Gertrude prostrated on the ground, saying : "Behold me, 0 Lord, prostrate on the earth in honour of Thy precious Death, beseeching Thee, by the excessive love which caused Thee to die, who art the life of all, that Thou wouldst destroy in me all that displeases Thee." Our Lord replied : " Cast from you all the vices which you desire should die in you, and draw into you, by the virtue of My spirit, those perfections of Mine which you desire to pos sess ; and be assured that your sins will be pardoned, and that you shall feel the salutary effects of what you have thus drawn from Me into yourself ; and each time that you endeavour to combat the vices which you have cast out, or to obtain the virtues with which I have inspired you, you will gain the double advantage — of obtaining the victory, and of feeling the fruit of My Passion."

After the mid-day meal, St. Gertrude retired to rest in a state of extreme lassitude and weakness — not to sleep, but rather to avoid the importunate visits with which she was overwhelmed, saying to our Lord : "I withdraw myself from the conversation of creatures, in memory of the salutary instruction which Thou didst give to-day, and to occupy myself with Thee, my Love arid my all, beseeching Thee to speak to my soul." Our Lord replied : " As My Divinity reposed in My Humanity, so does My Divinity repose in your weariness." As the Saint perceived that those who came to her feared to interrupt her, thinking she slept, she asked our Lord if she should tell them that she was not sleeping, that they might do as they wished ; but He replied : " No ; let them merit by their exercises of charity the rewards which I desire and rejoice so much to give for it • for there is nothing more useful to men than such exercises." Then He added : " I will propose two subjects on which you may meditate ; for there ia nothing more useful in this life than for men to weary themselves in these labours, in which I take repose and delight, and to perform works of charity towards their neighbour."

On the evening of the day on which our Lord went to Martha and Mary in Bethania, as St. Gertrude ardently desired to entertain our Lord, she addressed herself to a crucifix, and, having kissed the Wound of our Lord's Side with the tenderest affection, she besought Him that He would vouchsafe to accept the hospitality of her heart, not withstanding her unworthiness. The Lord, who hears those who cry to Him, presented Himself to her, and said to her caressingly : " Behold, here I am ; what will you give Me ? " The Saint replied : " My only Salvation, my true and only Good, alas ! I have nothing to present to Thy Divine magni ficence, but I offer my whole being to Thy goodness, beseech ing Thee to prepare within me all that Thou knowest to be pleasing to Thee." Our Lord replied : " If you desire that I should act as I will with you, give me the key of your heart, that I may leave or take away whatever I please." " And what is this key 1 " inquired the Saint. He answered : " It is your own will."

She understood by these words, that those who desire to entertain our Lord should give Him the key of their own will, abandoning themselves entirely to His good pleasure, with perfect confidence that His goodness will order all things for their salvation. Then our Lord entered into her heart, and enjoyed therein all the Divine delights which He desired.

After this, St. Gertrude, being inspired by God, saluted the precious body of our Lord by repeating these words three hundred and sixty-five times : Non mea, sed tua voluntas fiat, amantissime Jesu; and she knew that He accepted this with great satisfaction. She then inquired if our Lord would be pleased if certain persons, who desired to celebrate this Feast with devotion, should be guided by what she had written, taking Esther for her subject, and commencing with the words : Egredimini, jilice Jerusalem. He replied : "I have this Feast so much at heart, that if any one takes pains to celebrate it with devotion, he shall have this honour — that, in the life eternal, besides the recompense of his other good works, I will prepare a feast for him which shall be worthy of the magnificence of My royal liberality."