Chapter 25: How our Lord Jesus and all the Saints console the souls of the just in their last moments — And with what love our Lord communi cates Himself to His elect in the Sacrament of the Altar

As Gertrude reflected on death, she exclaimed to our Lord : " How happy and how honoured are they who merit to be consoled and strengthened by Thy saints in their last mo ments ! I am unworthy of this consolation, for I have never honoured Thy saints worthily ; therefore I cannot expect consolation from any saint, save from Thee alone, the Sanctifier of all the saints." Our Lord replied : " You will not be deprived of this consolation because you expect all from Me ; on the contrary, My saints will love and minister to you all the more for it, and at the moment when men usually feel most fear and anxiety, I will send My Saints to assist you, and I will come to you Myself in all the glory and beauty of My Divinity and Humanity." She replied : " And when wilt thou accomplish Thy promise, and bring me from this land of exile to the land of rest ? " Our Lord nnswered : " Will a royal bride complain of the applause of the populace if it only increases the love of her bridegroom for her ? " " But, Lord," continued the Saint, " how can this apply to me, who am the vilest of Thy creatures 1 " He replied : " Know that I communicate Myself to you entirely in the Sacrament of the Altar, which after this life cannot be ; and in this union there is more blessedness and delight than in any human love, for that is often vile and transitory ; but the sweetness of this union ennobles and dignifies the soul."

Our Lord had often incited the Saint to desire her deliverance from the flesh ; and now she became seriously ill, so that the physicians had no hope of her recovery. This intelligence filled her with joy, and she said to our Lord : " Although I desire, above all things, to be de livered from the prison of the flesh, and united to Thee, nevertheless, if it pleases Thee, I would willingly remain oa earth and endure the severest suffering, even until the day of judgment." Our Lord replied : " Your good-will so moves My Divine benignity, that I accept it as if you had accomplished what you offer." As He said this, a marvel lous joy appeared in His Divine countenance, which im parted a new and ineffable gladness and consolation to all the saints. Then He continued : " In that hour when I draw you entirely to Myself, the mountains — that is, the saints — shall drop sweetness ; the heavens shall pour forth honey on the earth, from the abundance of your beatitude ; the hills shall flow with milk and honey — that is, I will at tract carnal and earthly souls by My grace, for your sake."

Then she began to make fervent thanksgiving for these favours, and to excite her gratitude further by reflecting on many graces which our Divine Lord had promised her. And these favours were : first, a promise that she should die of Divine love, and that her death should be caused thereby, even as love caused the Death of the Son of God on the cross ; second, that in the adorable counsels of the Ever-Blessed Trinity the Holy Spirit had prepared to pre side at her death, and order all that passed within her ; third, that all who assisted her in her last illness, or even

Item.' desired to do so, should themselves be assisted and protected by Divine love in their last moments ; fourth, that our Lord would bestow as many graces on them as it was possible for men to receive ; fifth, that in the hour of her happy de parture an immense number of sinners should be converted to true penance by the infinite and gratuitous mercy of God ; sixth, that an infinite number of souls should be de livered from suffering, and obtain an increase of merit and beatitude, and enter with her into the celestial kingdom ; seventh, that whoever besought our Lord to bestow any grace on her should be rewarded by receiving the same grace themselves ; eighth, that whoever returned thanks to God for the graces bestowed on her should receive, sooner or later, according to the decrees of His providence, all they desired for their salvation, if they observed the following conditions — (1) to praise the eternal love of God, who chose her from all eternity; (2) to thank Him for having drawn her so sweetly to Himself; (3) for having united her to Him self so intimately and familiarly ; (4) for having blessedly consummated His work in her, and for having granted all her petitions ; — ninth, that our Lord had sworn to Gertrude by the truth of His Passion, and confirmed His promise by the seal of His Death, that whoever prayed for her duringher life, at her death, or after her death, should receive the most abundant graces and favours, if they had also the intention of including in this prayer all for whom God wished them to pray, if they commenced their petition by offering it through the merit of the infinite love which drew Him down from heaven to earth to accomplish the work of our salvation, and concluded it by offering it in union with His Death, and the glory and triumph with which He presented His adorable Humanity to the Father on the day of His glorious Ascension. Father, He promised that those who prayed thus for her should receive all the graces which they had asked for her, as if they had made themselves worthy of obtaining them.