Chapter 7: Her death — Of her eternal joys — Our Lord consoles her religioUB — Revelations of her sanctity — Prays that her religious may b* comforted at her tomb— Her obsequies— Our Lord blesses her tomb

The moment of release came at last, and Gertrude passed to the eternal embraces of her Spouse. The religious, whose revelations seemed scarcely less wonderful than those of her saintly Superior, heard our Divine Lord address her thus : " Behold, now, you are to be united to Me, and to become My own for ever, by the sweet embrace which I will give to your soul, and in which I will present you to My eternal Father by the close embrace of My Heart : " as if our Lord would say, that though His almighty power had detained her until that moment on earth in order that she might amass a greater fund of merit, His extreme goodness, and the impatience of His love, if we maybe per mitted so to speak, could no longer defer her happiness, or leave His treasure in the mire of earth ; but that He de sired to transport her without delay to Paradise, and to

46 THE LIFE OF ST. GKRThi/DE.

have the satisfaction of seeing her enjoy eternal blessed ness.

" And now this happy and a thousand times blessed soul took her flight to heaven, and retired into the sanc tuary of the Divinity — I mean, into the sweetest Heart of Jesus, the faithful and magnificent Spouse who had opened it to her by so great an excess of His bounty. Who can imagine the feelings which so extraordinary a favour excited in this holy soul, the wonders which she dis covered, the glories with which she was enlightened, and the avidity with which she drank in the pure and holy delights which flowed upon her from the Divinity as from a fountain. We will not undertake to speak here of the welcome or of the caresses which she received from her Divine Spouse, which the excellence of His bounty and His infinite perfections rendered so amiable, nor of the joy and the thanksgivings with which the Angels and Saints at tended her triumph, nor of the praise which they gave to her eminent virtue ; for our mind is too weak and our pen too poor in eloquence to relate such things ; and it is both more safe and more agreeable to our duty to content our selves with sharing in the common joy of the blessed who assisted at her entrance into glory, and to sing canticles of thanksgiving to God, who, by His mercy, has raised her to such a high honour.

"This sun of the religious life, which had shed abroad so far the light of good example, shining no more on earth, and this soul, which was but as a little drop of water in comparison with God, having entered happily into the infinite ocean of the Divinity, from whence she had come forth by creation, the daughters of her monastery were at first quite cast down, and plunged into the obscurity of a dark sadness. They endeavoured, nevertheless, to rise from this depression, looking with the eyes of faith, as it were across little openings, at the sublime land of glory in which they believed their mother had been placed. But, on the other hand, as they considered the greatness of their loss, and that they had been deprived of so excellent an Abbess, whose like had never been nor could ever hope to be seen by them, they fell again into deep grief, and poured forth torrents of tears. But in the end, the hope of their mother's happiness increasing more and more in their souls, they began to rejoice with her, and to beseech her to console them herself with her maternal tenderness and affection ; and then they began to manifest their joy by singing the responsory Surge, Virgo, et nostras, which was commenced by that religious who had the greatest share in the confidence of St. Gertrude and in the favours with which heaven had honoured her, and who was there fore the more obliged to interest herself in her triumph.

" Thus this virginal body, which had been the temple of Jesus Christ, was borne by the hands of these virgins into the chapel, and placed before the altar. Then, all the community being prostrated in prayer round the corpse, they beheld the soul of the Saint, radiant with glory, standing before the throne of the most Holy Trinity, and praying for the salvation of all those who had been formerly under her guidance."

While the Mass was being said for the repose of her soul, the religious who had been so dear to her poured forth her heart to God, and represented the excess of her affliction to Him. Our Lord deigned to console her by this reply : " Why are you so afflicted for the death of Gertrude ? If I have taken her from you, am I not able to supply what is wanting to you ? If, after the decease of a gentleman, the lord to whom his lands belong takea possession of them, and unites them to his own domains by a just right, and if this lord has a high reputation for equity, there may well be confidence in him that he will not abandon the children of the deceased, and that he will give them what will be necessary for their subsistence, — how much more just is it, then, that you should confide in Me, who am goodness itself, and that you should hope firmly, if you turn to Me with your whole heart, that I will be to you all which she has been, and that I will give to each of you that which you think you have lost in her?"

On the following day, when they were preparing to inter the body, before the first Mass, this servant of God offered the Heart of Jesus, with all its marvellous gifts and graces, for the repose of the soul so dear to her. Ou Lord received this offering as a vase in the form of a human heart, filled with the most precious wines. Having placed it in His bosom, He called the Saint to Him thus : u Corne to Me, My little one, and dispose of the goods which your children have sent you." Then the Saint turned to her Beloved, and found in His Heart treasures of all virtues and of all good ; she took several, as it were with her hand, and, moved by the tenderness and good ness with which God had filled her, she said : " O my beloved Lord, this grace would be most suitable for the Prioress, and this for another religious, and this for another ;" even as when on earth she had known the need of each, which now she desired to supply from the inex haustible treasures of His Divine Heart.

Then our Lord, looking at her sweetly, said : " Come yet nearer to Me, My beloved." The Saint rose joyfully, and placed herself at the left side of our Lord, who made her look into His Heart, saying : " Behold Me now, as I

WHY OUR IMPERFECTIONS \RE PERMITTED. 49 behold you." * By this she learned that, in her desire to obtain graces and gifts for others, there had been formerly some natural affection ; but this intimate communication with God changed her first desire into a perfect conformity to His will, for, though He loves men far more than they can possibly conceive, He nevertheless, in infinite wisdom, permits that many should continue in certain defects and imperfections, from which He could easily deliver them by His grace.

At the elevation of the Host, the same religious, in offering the Host conjointly with the priest, offered also for the deceased all the movements of filial affection which the Heart of Jesus Christ had for His holy Mother ; then our Lord said lovingly to the soul : " Approach, O daughter, that I may manifest to you the filial affection of My most loving Heart." The Blessed Virgin then took this soul in her arms and brought her to her Son, who inclined towards her, and testified a filial affection for her with the tenderest charity. The religious renewed the offering at other Masses ; but as there were more than twenty celebrated, she desired to offer something still more precious, to increase the merit of her beloved mother. She therefore offered the filial affection which our Lord had for His Father in His Divinity, and for His Mother in His Humanity. When she made this offering, the Son of God arose, stood before His Father, and called the soul of the deceased to Him, saying : " Come hither, lady and queen ; for now a greater offering is sent to thee." Then the Mother of God led her to a more sublime degree of glory, and the religious said to her : " 0 my venerable mother, I can no longer see you, nor can I know anything of the rank to which your merits have raised you." The Saint replied : " You can still ask me whatever you de sire." The religious then said : " My good mother, why do you not pray to God that we may be able to restrain our tears, when you know that many of us have suffered in consequence of our grief, and you could never bear to see us afflicted when on earth ? " The Saint replied : " My Lord has so tender and condescending an affection for me, that He makes even those things tend to my advantage and glory which would avail but little for others • and in recompense for the vigilance and discretion with which I formerly guided you, He permits me to present your tears to Him in a chalice of gold, . and in exchange He gives me to drink of the living waters of His Divine sweetness. Therefore it is that, having tasted so agreeable a beverage, I sing to My Beloved a canticle of thanksgiving for my daughters and myself."

The religious then inquired if this favour was granted only for the tears they shed purely for God, and from their apprehension that regular observance should suffer by her decease. She replied : " For all tears, even when caused by human love and tenderness ; but when these tears are shed for the glory of God, the Son of God Himself sings thanksgivings with me ; and this affords me a joy as great as the difference between the creature and the Creator." Then, calling the religious by name, she said to her : " My daughter. I have received a particular recompense from God for the fidelity and zeal with which I led you to act for the glory of God in the matter you know of. For my beloved Lord Jesus sings continually in my heart a song of love, for which I am glorified by the whole court of heaven. My ears are entertained with a ravishing melody • my eyes behold a most glorious light ; I inhale and taste a most sweet fragrance ; but there are other pleasures which I could have enjoyed, and of which I am deprived because I had been a little negligent in this affair, although I did all with a good intention and to promote peace."

When the bell was rung at the elevation of the Host, the religious offered It to supply the deficiencies of the deceased ; when she had done so, It appeared to the soul of the deceased in the form of a radiant sceptre, which seemed to move before her in a marvellous manner. But when she desired to touch it, she was unable, because what is neglected in this life cannot be repaired or supplied perfectly in the other. Nevertheless, as the Saint, by a special gift of God, excelled in gratitude and thankfulness, she prayed for all who had come to assist at her obsequies ; and she obtained for many the pardon of their sins, and an increase of grace to regulate their lives better and to perform good works.

When the priest was giving the Benediction at the end of Mass, the religious beheld her blessed mother standing before the throne of the most Holy Trinity, where she prayed thus : " Giver of gifts ! grant, I beseech Thee, that whenever any of my daughters shall go to my tomb to make known their griefs to me, or their imperfections and defects, that they may receive such consolation and support as to know that I am still their mother." This prayer was heard ; for God, by His almighty power, His wisdom, and His goodness, granted special favours there to each religious. When the body of the Saint was placed in the tomb, our Lord, to confirm His promise, was seen to make the sign of the cross on the body each time that earth was cast on it ; and after it was entirely covered, the Blessed Mother of our Lord also made the sign of the

52 THR LIFE OF ST. GERTBtrDB.

cross on the fcomb, as a further assurance that her Son hsui granted this favour to the Saint.