Chapter 24: Exercises in preparation for death — Aud devotion to the Blessed Virgin

The following instructions were written by St. Gertrude as a yearly preparation for death : —

The first day should be employed in considering our state in our last sickness ; the second day, in preparation for our last confession ; the third, in meditating on extreme unction ; the fourth, in preparing for the Holy Viaticum ; the fifth, in reflections on death.

This preparation for death, which the Saint taught others, was used also by herself ; and she communicated on the preceding Sunday, to obtain grace to perform this exercise devoutly, singing the 41st Psalm, Quemadmodum, for this intention, with the Hymn Jesu nostra redemptio, that her soul might be perfectly united to our Lord. Then our Lord said to her : " Unite yourself to Me, as the pro phet Eliseus united himself to the child t whom he raised to life." " But, Lord, how shall I accomplish this ? " inquired the saint. Our Lord replied : " Join your hands to Mine ; that is, recommend to me all the works of your hands : place your eyes on Mine ; that, is unite the movements of your body to the movements of Mine. Thus your mem bers will become one with Mine, and will participate in their innocence and sanctity, so that henceforth they will move only for My glory." And this alliance, which the Saint formed with our Lord, was like a golden zone, which united her soul indissolubly to her Beloved.

When Gertrude approached the Holy Communion, she remembered that she had not been able to confess on the preceding day, though she had ardently desired to do so ; and she besought our Lord to pardon her sins and negli gences. And as she prayed thus, she beheld our Lord uniting her to Himself with chains of gold, so that her soul appeared, as it were, enclosed in His Divinity, as a precious stone would be in a golden casket.

The next day, as she found her illness increasing, she read the Psalm Quemadmodum twice, with the Hymn Jesu nostra redemptio, in honour of the union of the Divinity

*"As the hart panteth after the fountains of water, so my soul panteth after Thee, O God " (Ps. xli.)

f " And Eliseus went up and lay upon the child, and he put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his handr upon his hands " (4 Kings iv. 34).

and Humanity in the person of Christ for our salvation. At the same time, these chains appeared to unite her still more closely to her Lord. The third feria she repeated these devotions three times, in honour of the union of Christ Jesus with the Ever-Blessed Trinity, by which human nature is so glorified. On the fourth feria — the day appointed in her exercises for meditation on death — she beheld her soul fastened to the crucifix, like a jewel incased in gold ; and she perceived that golden vine-leaves came forth from the cross, the beauty of which was reflected on the gold. From this she understood how pleasing the Pas sion of Christ, in union with which she had offered her Bufferings to our Lord, had rendered her soul to the Blessed Trinity. On the fifth feria, as she confessed her sins to her Spouse in the bitterness of her heart, she knew that He pardoned them, for she beheld a number of precious stones in the golden vine-leaves. On the sixth feria (Friday), as she meditated on extreme unction, our Lord appeared to her, and anointed her eyes, ears, and lips with a liquor which came from His inmost Heart ; and this precious liquor also communicated to the different members of her body the merits of the deified Body of Christ.

On Saturday, as she prepared in anticipation for the Holy Viaticum, at the Adorable Sacrifice of the Mass, she saw four angelic princes surrounding the throne of the Divine Majesty. Two of these angels placed themselves at each side of our Divine Lord, and the other two came to the Saint and conducted her to her Spouse. Our Lord re ceived her with the greatest tenderness, and then united her to Himself by the life-giving Sacrament of the Altar. The Saint occupied herself on Sunday by repeating the prayers which she had composed as a preparation for death, offer ing our Lord each member of her body as dead to the world, and desiring henceforth to exist only for His eternal praise and love. After this He blessed her with His own Hand, and marked the sign of the cross upon each member of her body, which appeared to glorify them marvellously, and to free them from every stain.

At the Elevation of the Host she offered her heart to our Lord, that He might make it die to the world ; be seeching Him, by the innocence of His most holy life, to free it from every stain of sin, and, by the incomprehensible love which united God to Man in the Divine Person, that He would prepare her to receive His gifts. Our Lord then ap peared to her, and opened His Heart with both hands, from which so ardent a fire poured forth that the soul of the Saint was completely dissolved thereby. From this union of her heart with the Heart of her Spouse, a tree sprang forth, adorned with gold and silver leaves; and our Lord said to her : " This tree proceeds from My union with you ; My Divinity is figured by the golden leaves, and your soul by the silver leaves, which nre enclosed therein." As the Saint prayed for those who were committed to her care, she saw the tree producing ripe and beautiful fruit; and the branches hung down in such a manner, that these per sons could gather this fruit as they pleased.

After this, feeling much exhausted, she lay back on her pallet, saying : " I offer this rest to Thee as if it were given to Thy sacred Humanity." He replied : " And I will supply by My mercy for all your sins of human frailty."

Then she inquired if her present weakness would be the means of bringing her to eternal rest ; and our Lord replied : " I am leading you nearer to Me by this infirmity. For when a king is about to espouse a princess who lives in a distant land, he sends his officers and courtiers to con- duct her to him with all possible pomp and magnificence ; and they are charged to spare neither pains nor expense to render the journey easy and agreeable to her. When she has arrived at her destination, he places her in one of his royal palaces, and gives her a ring as a pledge of espousals. Here she remains, attended with all honour, until the nuptial day, when the king comes for her himself, and conducts her to his imperial throne.

" Now I, your Lord and your God, am the true and faithful Lover of your soul ; and I share in all the pains of body or soul with which you are afflicted, and send My saints to attend you and congratulate you on this royal road which leads you to Me. The instruments of music and re joicings are your sufferings, which resound in My ears as an harmonious concert, moving Me to compassionate you, and inclining My Heart more and more towards you. Then, when you arrive at your journey's end, I will meet you and espouse you before all My saints with a holy embrace, in the Sacrament of Extreme Unction. The sooner you receive this Sacrament, the greater will be your happiness ; for then I will approach you nearer and nearer, so that your whole being will be enraptured with the blessedness of My embrace ; and I will convey you Myself across the dark river Death, im mersing you in the ocean of My Divinity, where you will become one spirit with Me, and reign with Me for endless ages. Then you will be consoled for all the trials and sufferings you have borne when on earth, with the same harmonious music and the same delights as those which now enrapture My deified Humanity."

Our Lord then continued thus : " If any one desires a similar visit in his last moments, let him endeavour daily to clothe himself with My perfect lite, and to imitate it continually; let him learn to subdue his flesh, and to renounce his own will entirely into My hands ; let him live by the Spirit, and believe that I will seek his good in all things by My paternal providence. Let him offer Me every adversity and contradiction, and for each I will reward him with rich jewels and precious gifts. If, through human frailty, he seeks himself in anything, let him immediately do penance, and once more resign himself to My will, and I will receive him with the right hand of My mercy, and lead him with ineffable honour and glory to the kingdom of eternal light."

On the following Sunday, as Gertrude solemnised the feast of her eternal joy, and the happy moment when she should appear before the Ever-Blessed Trinity released from exile, she was ravished in ecstasy, and beheld all the merits and joys of each choir of angels and of the different saints ; and as her heart overflowed with joy in considering their blessedness, she returned the most fer vent thanks to God for it. She also thanked Him for all the graces, gifts, and glory which He had bestowed on the Blessed Virgin His Mother ; beseeching her, for the love of her Son, to offer her virtues for her to the King of virtues.

Then the Queen of Heaven, moved by her prayers, offered her virginal purity for her, as a white garment ; her peaceful humility, as a green tunic ; and her unfading charity, as a purple mantle. When our Lord had clothed her in these robes, the saints, rejoicing in her beauty, prayed that she might be adorned with their graces and virtues also. And He placed a necklace on her, adorned with pre cious stones, each of which seemed to attract the different graces which had been asked for her. But it must not be understood from this that any one can receive from others what they have failed to obtain for themselves ;

nevertheless, some souls may receive for their gratitude what others fail to obtain.