St. Gertrude the Great

“ Thou art sweeter than all sweetness, more tender than all affection, more exquisite than all dainties, beloved above all love. Thou alone art great and to be praised, thou alone art sweet and to be loved, thou alone art fair and pleasant, thou alone beauteous and full of delight, thou alone hast no counterpart or equal in heaven or in earth. Wherefore, in token of my love, I offer thee this wreath of gems, and present it to thee on the golden altar of thy divine Heart, in union with that unceasing melody of praise wherewith the whole company of heaven worships thee. ”

“ O Most compassionate Jesus, Giver of all good and all grace, may all within the round world and the depth of the sea and the compass of heaven give thanks to thee and praise thee with that infinite, everlasting, and unchanging praise which floweth forth from thee and floweth back unceasingly upon thee again, for the exceeding love wherewith thou didst shed into the heart and soul of thy beloved spouse Gertrude so great a flood of graces and of loving-kindnesses, and didst reveal to the world the mysteries of thy tender compassion through her, thine own chosen and peculiar instrument. ”

“ O most loving Jesus, Jesus most ardently longed for, Jesus most gentle and meek, O Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, receive me into the number of thy chosen. O Jesus, the salvation of those who believe in thee; O Jesus, the trust of those who flee for refuge unto thee; O Jesus, the sweetness of those who love thee; grant that I may love thee, and cleave faithfully to thee, and after this most miserable life come to thee in peace. Amen.
PETITION TO JESUS.
That by his most holy life and conversation he would make satisfaction for our transgressions. ”

“ Hail, most precious Blood, flowing so lavishly from the wounds of Jesus. Hail, adorable Wounds of my Saviour, tokens of his love and price of our redemption, inflicted on Jesus in his Passion, and now radiant as stars in the highest heaven. Oh, write my name in these thy Wounds, good Jesus, and hide me therein from the face of the tempter. And by the many wounds and merits of all thy sacred Limbs, vouchsafe to my soul at its departure hence that innocence which thou hast acquired for thy Church by their several anguish and passion. Amen. ”

“ And when they thrust the crown of thorns on thy most sacred Head, thou didst weave into their crowns as many gems as there were thorns in thine own. O most gentle Jesus, who can think without an ardent love of thee on the amazing love thou didst manifest to us most ungrateful sinners, when thy sinless hands and feet were so inhumanly nailed to the cross, and all thy limbs so painfully stretched and dragged asunder that all thy bones might be numbered; and thou, the while, wast drawing towards thee, with all the might of thy Divinity, the souls of as many as were ordained to life everlasting. ”

“ And to express to thee my congratulations and my gratitude that thou art so great and so ineffable a God, I offer thee, in union with the sweetest Heart of Jesus and in my own name and that of all thy creatures, thy divine and infinite Essence with all the perfections, attributes, and qualities contained therein, in such manner and with such love as thou hast enabled us through thy love in the Holy Ghost. I desire and long that all creatures in heaven and in earth may acknowledge thee and love thee, and rejoice in thine infinite glory and blessedness ”

“ Remember thine ineffable anguish when thou didst see him fail and sink beneath his impetuous love and sorrow, his lips grow pale, his limbs quiver, his eyes glazed and dim; until at length his heart broke with a mighty pang, and with a loud cry he gave up the ghost. By these thy surpassing sorrows, O Mother most desolate, and by all thy groanings and tears, I beseech thee, be with me with the same love when I draw my last breath, when my heart shall break in the agony of death; and deign to receive my soul into thy hands as it goes forth from the body. ”

“ O Lord Jesus Christ, Crown of thy saints,do thou have mercy on thy people, who are called by thy Name, and by the merits of all thy saints be merciful to our iniquities. Remember all the faithfulness and the love which they kept always to thee even unto death. Behold, their innocent blood so ruthlessly shed crieth unto thee from the ground, beseeching thy mercy. Be thou appeased, O our Lord, by their merits which we now offer thee, and grant us to enjoy their society in heaven, on whose merits and patronage we rely on earth. ”

“ O Most merciful Father, in union with that unimaginable love wherewith thy only Son offered to thee the whole influx of the Godhead into his Humanity, and thus with ineffable gratitude referred it back to its immeasurable, unfathomable source, I offer thee whatever gifts and graces thou hast ever bestowed on me of thy sovereign and unutterable goodness; and I lay them on thine altar, together with the merits and graces of the same thy Son, as a sacrifice of everlasting praise, and a pledge and expression of my boundless gratitude to thee. ”

“ O boundless breadth of much - desired love! None but thyself can worthily praise thee, for thou alone knowest thine infinite magnificence, and thou knowest how thou oughtest to be praised. Wherefore, O Lord my God, may thine eternal Godhead, thy uncircumscribed Majesty, and thine infinite goodness, praise thee for me. O Lord my God, may thy loftiest wisdom, thy widest and most ample mercy, and thy most profound justice, praise thee for me. May thy greatness without limits, thy exquisite and penetrating sweetness, and thy most compassionate kindness, praise thee for me. ”

“ O Most gracious Jesus, Redeemer and Saviour of the whole human race, I recall to thy mind with gratitude and love all the sorrow and anxiety which thou, my Creator and my God, didst feel in thine Agony, when thou didst pray yet longer, and didst bedew the earth with the sweat of Blood, wrung from thee by thine exceeding anguish, desire, and love; beseeching thee by all and each of those most sacred drops, all which I here offer thee with devout affection, that thou wouldest wash away all the stains of my sins. ”

“ May all the gratuitous gifts of grace which thou hast ever conferred on me give thee thanks and praise; may all my powers of body and soul, my nerves and veins, my bones and my flesh, all my desire and all my groaning, my understanding, my memory and my will, my inmost heart with its wondrous beatings and throbs; may all unite to shout for joy to thee. I offer and resign to thee all these, beseeching thee that thou wouldest make me show forth thy praise and glory in time and in eternity. ”

“ No union is so intimate, so beatific, as thine, O thou transporting,soothing Lover of souls, most tender and chaste Spouse of thy chosen. Thou art the spring Flower of noble grace fulness, O my brother most fair, ruddy, and comely in thy youth, most winning companion, Host most munificent in thy provision; I choose thee in preference to all creatures, for thy sake I renounce all pleasure, for thee I run with joy to meet all adversity, and in all I do I seek no other praise than thine. I acknowledge with heart and mouth that thou art the root from which these and all good things spring. ”

“ For such is the trust I have in thee, that I shall never believe that I can perish, as long as I love thee and serve thee. O most holy Mother of God and of man, thou joy of all saints, thou solace of the wretched and refuge of the poor, I beseech thee, by that ineffable joy and sweetness thou didst feel when the incomprehensible Divinity took flesh of thee, and thus deigned to unite human nature to himself for ever in thy virginal womb, vouchsafe to undertake my cause, and to render me well-pleasing to the same thy well-beloved Son. ”

“ Grant that I and all men may ever do thy holy will. Make us well-pleasing to thee, and one with thee, so that thy delight may be to dwell in us. It is my bounden duty to praise thee, O Lord, and it is my most eager longing desire; but, inasmuch as I can never praise thee worthily, I implore thee that thou wouldst deign, to offer to thyself most perfect praise within my heart, so that thou mayest sanctify for thyself, and accept as most grateful praise and adoration, every breath I draw, whether I wake or whether I sleep. ”

“ O JESUS, heavenly Physician, remember now the languor and the pain thou didst endure when lifted upon the cross, when all thy bones were out of joint, so that no sorrow was like to thy sorrow, because, from the sole of thy foot to the top of thy head, there was no soundness in thee. And nevertheless thou didst put away the feeling of all thine own griefs, and pray to thy Father for thine enemies, saying: Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. By this thy charity and thy mercy, grant that the dignity and worth of thy Passion may be the entire remission of all my sins. ”

“ Let the princely splendour of thine eternal glory bless thee: and the glowing beauty of thy peerless honour praise thee.
Let the great deep of thy just judgment bless thee: and the unsearchable range of thine eternal wisdom praise thee.
Let the infinite number of thy manifold compassions bless thee: and the immeasurable weight of thy tender mercies praise thee.
Let the bowels of thine infinite pity bless thee: and the overflowing abundance of thine unimaginable love praise thee. ”

“ O my sweetest Jesus, beloved pledge of my redemption, do thou come with me to my judgment. Be thou thyself my Judge and my Advocate. Tell forth all that thou hast done for me, all thy thoughts of love towards me, at what a price thou hast made me thine. Thou hast lived for me, that I might not perish; thou hast borne my sins, that I might not be crushed by their weight; and thou hast died for me, that I might not die; and thou hast bestowed all thou hast on me, that in thy merits I might be rich. ”

“ O LORD Jesus, compassionate Pelican, who hast cleansed us unclean in thine own Blood, I give thee thanks for the sweet and adorable Wound of love which thou didst receive on the cross, when thine all conquering love opened thy sweet-flowing Side, and wounded thy most sacred Heart with an arrow of love. Blessed for ever be that life-giving stroke and that most hallowed Wound; and blessed be the adorable Blood, and the water of salvation which gushed forth from it, to wash away all our sins! ”

“ For never does a man breathe a sigh of longing aspiration towards me without drawing me nearer to him than I was before.
O MOST loving Jesus, I breathe towards thee this sigh, drawn from the depth of my heart, beseeching thee, with all my might, that thou wouldst deign thyself to work in me all my works, whether of body or of soul, to cleanse them all in thy sweetest Heart, and to offer them, in union with thine own most perfect works, to God the Father as an eternal thanksgiving. ”

“ My soul is sorrowful, even unto death. I offer thee that sweat of blood which impetuous love and thrilling anguish wrung from his sacred Body, and that thrice-repeated prayer which he poured forth to thee from the midst of his Agony. I offer thee his ignominious bondage, his stripes and bruises, his insults and blasphemies, his blows and buffetings, the plucking out of his hair, and the spitting on his adorable face, which he endured in the houses of Annas and of Caiaphas in that same night ”

“ BEHOLD, O Heavenly Father, our holy Mother the Church has sent up before thee from thine altar that Victim of transcendent worth whom thou didst send to be immolated for us. Vouchsafe, therefore, to accept it with that ineffable love with which thou didst receive thy Son when he came back from this our far country into thy kingdom, and set forth before thee all the fruit of his sacred Humanity and the glorious wounds of his Flesh. ”

“ Holy Mary, Mother of God, as God the Son in the excellence of his unsearchable wisdom hath endued thee with so great knowledge, and filled thee with so great light that thou knowest the most Holy Trinity more truly and intimately than all saints, do thou so enlighten my soul in the hour of my death with the knowledge of the faith, that no error or ignorance may lead it astray. ”

“ LOOK down, O pitiful Father, from the throne of thy Majesty and the lofty habitation of thy heavens, and behold thy beloved Son hanging so piteously and so ignominiously on the cross, his sacred Body all stretched, and racked, and torn with cruel wounds. Look down upon that spotless Lamb, who opened not his mouth when in the jaws of the wolves, to speak one word of deprecation or complaint. See thy most beloved Son, thy sweet Jesus, shedding his Blood with such profuse liberality for the sin of his brethren. ”

“ For one loving soul obtains more from God for all the faithful living and departed than ten thousand who are cold and unloving.
O My God, most worthy object of my love, my supreme and infinite Good, I love thee and will love thee for ever and ever; I embrace thee with all the affections of my heart, with the strong embrace of love, for thou art my sweetest and much-desired Good, thou my perennial peace and sweetness, thou the sufficing portion of my soul. ”

“ I confess to thee, O almighty God, and to the Blessed Mary ever Virgin, and to all the Saints, my own sins and those of all the world; and I lay them on thy sacred Altar, that they may be entirely blotted out by the virtue of this sacrifice. Do thou deign to grant us this grace, by that love which held back thy hand from smiting when thy most beloved Son, thy only Son, was immolated by the hands of ungodly men. ”