Chapter 27: for Easter Sunday

How the souls are freed from their pains— Of a good-will — How to praise God in the Alleluia.

As St. Gertrude prayed fervently before Matins on the blessed night of the Resurrection, the Lord Jesus appeared to her, full of majesty and glory. Then she cast herself at His feet, to adore Him devoutly and humbly, saying : " O glorious Spouse, joy of the angels, Thou who hast shown me the favour of choosing me to be Thy Spouse, who am the least of Thy creatures ! I ardently desire Thy glory, and my only friends are those who love Thee ; therefore I beseech Thee to pardon the souls of Thy special friends * by the virtue of Thy most glorious Resurrection. And to obtain this grace from Thy goodness, I offer Thee, in union with Thy Passion, all the sufferings which my continual infirmities have caused me." Then our Lord, having favoured her with many caresses, showed her a great multitude of souls who were freed from their pains, saying : " Behold, I have given them to you as a recompense for your rare affection ; and through all eternity they will acknowledge that they have been delivered through your prayers, and you will be honoured and glorified for it." She replied : " How many are they?" He answered: "This knowledge belongs to God alone." As she feared that these souls, though freed from their pains, were not yet admitted to glory, she offered to endure whatever God might please, either in body or soul, to obtain their entrance into that beatitude ; and our Lord, won by her fervour, granted her request immediately.

Some time after, as the Saint suffered most acute pain in her side, she made an inclination before a crucifix ; and our Lord freed her from the pain, and granted the merit of it to these souls, recommending them to make her a return by their prayers.

After this, the Saint, impelled by the fervour of her love, presented herself before her Spouse, and said to Him : " O my only Love ! as I have nothing which can render me worthy to appear before the King of kings, and as I cannot correspond in any degree to Thy love, all I can do is to give Thee all the life and strength of my body and soul as long as I live, to honour Thy glorious Resur rection." Our Lord replied : " I regard this offering of your love for Me as a royal sceptre, which I will bear glo riously before the Most Holy Trinity, and in the sight of all the saints." To this Gertrude answered : "Although Thy grace has prompted me to make this offering, never theless I fear, on account of my own instability, lest I should forget what I have promised Thee." But our Lord replied : " And what will it matter if you do ? for I will not allow what you have once given Me to escape from My hand ; but I will always preserve it, as a proof of your love for Me ; and whenever you renew your intention, this sceptre will be adorned with flowers and precious stones." When the Alleluia was chanted at the Invitatory, the Saint animated all the powers of her body and soul to recite the Matins of the Resurrection with devotion, say ing to our Lord : " Teach me, I beseech Thee, 0 Master full of sweetness, in what manner I can best praise Thee by the ALLELUIA which is so often repeated on this Feast." Our Lord replied : u You can praise Me by the Alleluia, by uniting it to the praises which the saints and angels con stantly offer Me in heaven. You will observe that all the vowels, except the o, which signifies grief, are found in this word ; and that instead of this o, the a is repeated twice. At the first a, you will praise Me with the saints for the glorious immortality by which the sufferings of My Hu manity and the bitterness of My Passion were rewarded ; at the e, praise Me for the sweet and ineffable joys which gladden My eyes in gazing upon the Most Holy Trinity ; at the «, unite yourself with the delight which I find in hearing the concerts of praises in honour of the Blessed Trinity which are sung by the saints and angels ; at the t, enjoy the sweet perfumes and odours which I find in the presence of the Most Holy Trinity ; at the second a, which is put in place of the o, rejoice that My Humanity, which was formerly passible and mortal, is now filled with the Divine immortality."

After this, as she continued to recite Matins, she was taught at each Psalm, each Response, and each Lesson, the sense which best corresponded with the solemnity of so great a day, and which best expressed the inconceivable pleasures which a soul enjoys when it is united to God.