Chapter 27: How the Saint supplied for her negligences in the service of the Blessed Virgin Mary

As the Saint occupied herself in making these reparations, she grieved exceedingly for her omissions in devotion to the Blessed Virgin, and she besought our Lord to offer her prayers Himself to His Blessed Mother. Then the King of Glory arose and offered her His deified Heart, saying : " Behold, My beloved Mother, I present you My Heart, which abounds in all beatitude, and I ofier you all the Divine affections by which I predestinated, created, and sanctified you from all eternity to be My Mother ; with a the love and tenderness which I manifested to you on earth, when you carried Me in your bosom and nourished Me with your milk, and the fidelity with which I subjected Myself to you, as a Son to a Mother ; and especially My tenderness towards you in the hour of death, when I pro. vided you with a faithful guardian, forgetting My own sorrows. I offer you the glory and honour to which I elevated you on the day of your Assumption into heaven, when you were exalted above all the choirs of saints and angels, and proclaimed Queen and mistress of heaven and earth. I offer you once more all these tokens of My love, as if I presented them to you anew, in favour of My spouse, that you may overlook her negligences in your regard, and assist her at the hour of her death with all the tenderness of a mother."

Then the Blessed Virgin accepted this charge with the greatest pleasure, saying : " Grant, my beloved Son, when I receive Thy chosen spouse, according to Thy Divine good pleasure, that she may receive some of the overflow- ing delights which I enjoy." The goodness of the Lord towards her moved Gertrude deeply, and she exclaimed : " Alas, my most loving Lord ! I am grieved that I have not satisfied for my negligences in reciting the Canonical Hours in like manner, since Thy inconceivable goodness receives so graciously my poorest efforts." Our Lord re plied : " Do not be grieved, My beloved ; for I have re newed all your desires, in union with that love which prompted My Divine Heart to infuse into you these noble and loving aspirations ; and I have united to this the most devout and pure intention which any human heart could offer Me, presenting it to My Father in satisfaction for all your negligences, so that His paternal goodness inclines towards you with the tenderest affection."