Chapter 4: She asks St. Mechtilde to pray for her— Our Lord is pleased with hei patience and mildness— He declares that He dwells in her ; and hides her imperfections

ON one occasion St. Gertrude implored St. Mechtilde to obtain by her prayers two graces, of which she believed herself to stand greatly in need. These graces were, patience and mildness. As St. Mechtilde prayed, our Lord spoke thus to her : " The sweetness, which fills Ger trude with a perfect tranquillity, and which pleases Me infinitely, results from My making My abode in the peace of her heart ; * and because I dwell constantly in her, she of necessity must dwell in Me ; or if she is obliged sometimes to go out, let her do what the loving bride does when in the company of her spouse — if she is called away from him, she takes him by the hand and brings him with her : thus, if she judges it necessary to leave the sweet repose of contemplation, in order to labour for the salvation of her neighbour, let her make the saving sign of the Cross upon her heart ; let her utter My name once before she speaks ; and after that, let her say all that My grace in spires her with. In like manner, the patience of this Saint, to be agreeable to Me, must proceed from the peace and science of her heart ; that is to say, she must be equally tranquil and enlightened ; and must have, on the one hand, such a care of possessing her peace, that no adversity may be able to deprive her of it ; and, on the other hand, let the motive for which she suffers be always present to her mind, and let her have no other motive in suffering but love alone, that she may give Me a proof of her perfect fidelity."

A person to whom the Saint was entirely unknown, but who had been asked to pray for her, received the following communication from our Lord : " I delight so much in her that I have chosen her as My abode. All that others see and love in her is My work \ and whoever loves My work in her, loves Me ; it is for this reason that those who are not capable of perceiving the interior gifts of her mind, admire her address, her eloquence, and all the other ex terior qualities with which I have endowed her. And I desire that they should know that I have withdrawn her from her parents and all her friends, that none may love her from ties of consanguinity, but that I Myself may be the only cause of the love and esteem which they have for her."

When St. Gertrude was informed of these and other revelations which had been made concerning her, she ex claimed : " 0 my Beloved I how is it that Thy mercy bears with my iniquity, for the sole reason that Thy pro vidences and infinitely perfect and adorable works are always agreeable to me ? — since this does not result from my virtue, but from the attractions of Thy perfections and Thy adorable goodness, which does nothing unjust, nothing which is not perfectly good and perfectly adorable." The Lord made use of this simile in reply : " When a person cannot read some small writing, she uses glasses, in order to make the characters appear larger ; this is accom plished, not by any alteration in the writing, but by the quality of the glasses. In like manner, My daughter, if I find any imperfections or defects in you, I efface them and repair them by the abundant liberality of My mercy."

As the Saint was deprived for some time of the accus tomed visits of her Spouse, she ventured to inquire why the favour was withheld, though she neither fell into discourage ment nor depression in consequence. " When a person looks at any one who is close to them," replied our Lord, " the too great proximity often prevents them from seeing dis tinctly ; as, for example, when a friend meets his friend and embraces him, this close union deprives him of the pleasure of looking at him. " St. Gertrude understood by these words, that we often merit more when deprived of sensible grace, provided that we do not become less fervent in the practice of good works.

In the early years of the Saint's spiritual life, our Lord often spoke to her in an audible voice ; but later these communications assumed a different character. The Saint inquired the reason, and received this reply : " In former years I oftener instructed you by giving you various answers that you might know, and that you might make known, the designs of My will to others ; but now I only make Myself known to you in spirit, and I give you inspirations by lights which would be difficult to express in words. For

I have chosen you for this purpose that I may use you as the repository of My treasures, wherein I may repose the riches of My grace, providing that every one should find whatever he needs in you, as in the spouse who knows all the secrets of her Bridegroom, and, on account of her Divine union with Him, acknowledges His wishes and His will in all things." And it was even so. For when the Saint prayed for anything, even if she received no reply from our Lord, as she had done formerly, she nevertheless felt equal consolation, and a certain assurance that her prayer was heard. Also, when any one came to ask counsel or con solation of her, she at once felt her heart filled with the necessary light, and inspired what to say, without a mo ment's reflection ; and this with so much assurance and certainty, that she would have given her life for the truth of the inspiration.