Chapter 55: For the Feast of the Eleven Thousand Virgins

Of the fruits of thanksgiving— That God requires us to fructify His gifts— And of the Kesponse Regnum mundi.

As the words, Ecce sponsus venit, were chanted at the Office of the Eleven Thousand Virgins, St. Gertrude was deeply moved, and said to our Lord : " O most desirable Spouse ! as I hear these words so frequently repeated, tell me how Thou wilt come, and what Thou wilt bring t us?" He replied : " I will now work with yon and in you. Where is your lamp ? " She replied : " Behold, Lord, I will give Thee my heart for a lamp." Pie answered : " I will fill it abundantly with oil — that is, with grace from My Heart." She replied : " But where is the wick J to light it ] " Our Lord replied : " Your pure intention of doing everything for Me alone will be a wick, the light of which will be most pleasing to Me."

t " Allaturus."

J " Papyrus." Wicks for lamps were made of this formerly.

OP THE RESPONSE " REGNUM MUNDI." 465

At the Response Verus pudicitice, and at the words Spes et corona virginum St. Gertrude returned thanks to God for those virgins whom she beheld standing before His throne : and He cast as many rays of glory on them as she had made thanksgivings for them, which were then reflected upon her ; by this she understood that those who return thanks to God for the favours which He has bestowed on any saint, share in the merits of that saint. As the Response Recjnum mundi\ was chanted, at the words Quern vidi, quern amavi, she remembered a person who was often troubled by an ardent desire to see God, and she said to our Lord : " When wilt Thou console her, that she may sing this Response with joy ? " He replied : " To see Me, to love Me, and to believe in Me, is a wish which none can entertain without fruit ; therefore, when any soul has this desire, and cannot obtain it because of human frailty, My Humanity at once advances to My Divinity as a sister, undertaking to do this favour as if by right of inheritance, until that person has shaken off her carnal affections, and is of herself able to undertake it, and thereby to attain eternal joys."

On another occasion, when the words Propter amoram Domini mei were chanted, the Divine Heart of our Brother! Jesus was so moved by these words, that He exclaimed before His Father and the whole court of heaven, " I am a debtor to My faithful servants for what they have now done for Me." At the word Jesus, which signifies Saviour, He acknowledged that He was their debtor for the fulfil- f The Reynum mundi is from the x. Response, iii. Nocturn, Com mon of Widows : " The kingdoms of this world, and all their pomp, I have despised for the love of my Lord Jesus Christ, whom I have seen, whom I have loved, in whom I have believed."

J " Frater noster."

2o ment of the promises of salvation which He had made to them from their infancy, the accomplishment of which was deferred by His paternal providence until the appointed time. At the word Christi, which signifies Anointed, our Lord declared Himself obliged to recompense their good desires. At the words Quern vidi, quern amavi, He assured His Father and all the saints that they had rendered testi mony to the Catholic faith by their good works ; and at the words In quern credidi, quern dilexi, He declared that they were united to Him by their firm faith and perfect charity.

Then St. Gertrude exclaimed : " Alas, Lord ! what wilt Thou do for those who are not in choir ? " He replied : " I have infused a devotion into all those who have been de lighted with this Responsory, and have beatified all who are in this convent ; and those who have a similar devotion will receive a similar benefit." " But," she inquired, " if they can gain so much advantage by so little devotion, what harm can their negligence do them, when they can repair it so easily ? " Our Lord answered : " When an emperor bestows an estate and costly garments on one of his nobles, however little he may seem to value them, the emperor does not on that ac count deprive him of his liberality ; so, when I give great favours in return for a little devotion, those on whom I be stow them are obliged to profit by them, and if they fail to do so, they will lose the fruit thereof; but the ornament of My gratuitous goodness, in bestowing them, will always ap pear on them for My praise and glory." Then she inquired : "But how can they who have never been favoured with such revelations exercise themselves in such things ? " He answered : " They are bound to practise and to imitate them, according to the extent of the lights they are favoured with. I enlighten every one in such matters to a certain degree, and therefore they are bound to be grateful, and fulfil these obligations."

On another occasion, when the same Response was chanted, St. Gertrude saw a troop of demons, who sur rounded the religious, showing them the pomps and vani ties of the world. But at the words, Regnum mundi .... contempsi, the demons fled in confusion. By this she under stood, that when any one contemns the world with great fervour, and casts from them all the temptations of the evil one, for the love of the Lord Jesus, that the devil im mediately flies away, fearing to tempt them again, when he lias met with such vigorous resistance.