Saint Gertrude the Great, Virgin
S. Gertrudis Virginis
Saint Gertrude the Great, a Benedictine nun of the convent of Helfta in Germany, was a great mystic and an early herald of devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Saint Gertrude was born in the year 1256 in Germany and, while still a child, was given into the care of the Benedictine nuns of Helfta in Saxony. There she was raised, educated, and formed in the love of God, and there she spent her whole life, entering fully into the prayer and discipline of the cloister.
A life hidden in God
As a young woman Gertrude gave herself ardently to learning. In her twenties she experienced a profound turning of her heart toward Christ, after which she set aside every lesser study to seek the one thing necessary, devoting herself to Holy Scripture, the sacred liturgy, and a life of intimate prayer. The Lord favoured her with mystical graces and revelations, which she received with deep humility and which drew her ever more closely into union with him.
From her experience came her writings, chief among them the work known as the Herald of Divine Love, in which she recorded the mercies God had shown her. These writings breathe a tender confidence in the goodness of God and a burning love for the Holy Eucharist and for the wounded Heart of the Saviour. With Saint Mechtilde, her companion at Helfta, she stands among the early heralds of the devotion to the Sacred Heart that the Church would later embrace.
Herald of divine love
Saint Gertrude died at Helfta about the year 1302. She is the only woman saint to bear the title “the Great,” given in honour of her sanctity and of the riches of her spiritual teaching. Her feast on the sixteenth of November invites the faithful to that confident, loving trust in God which marked her whole life. The collect of her Mass recalls that God prepared in her heart a pleasing dwelling-place for himself, and asks that through her merits the darkness of our hearts may be illumined and we may rejoice to feel his presence within us.
The Collect
O God, who didst prepare for thyself a pleasing dwelling-place in the heart of blessed Gertrude the Virgin: grant, through her merits; that the darkness of our hearts being mercifully enlightened, we may joyfully feel thee present and working within us.
Deus, qui in corde beátæ Gertrúdis Vírginis jucundam tibi mansiónem preparásti: ipsíus méritis et intercessióne; cordis nostri máculas clemeénter abstérge, et ejúsdem tríbue gaudére consórtio.
Patronage
She is invoked as a patroness of souls in Purgatory and of those who seek a deeper love of the Sacred Heart, and is honoured among the great mystics of the Church.
Common Questions
When is the feast of Saint Gertrude the Great?
Her feast is kept on 16 November in both the 1962 Roman Missal (Third Class) and the modern calendar (optional memorial).
Who was Saint Gertrude the Great?
She was a thirteenth-century German Benedictine nun of the convent of Helfta, a mystic and spiritual writer whose best-known work is the Herald of Divine Love. She was an early promoter of devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Why is she called ‘the Great’?
She is the only woman saint commonly given this title, in recognition of her outstanding holiness and the depth of her spiritual writings. It distinguishes her from Saint Gertrude of Hackeborn, the abbess of her community.
See where this feast falls in the Church’s year on the liturgical calendar, or find a Traditional Latin Mass near you.
These pages are offered with love for the saints and for all who seek them. If anything here should need correcting, we humbly beg your pardon and ask your help — kindly write to [email protected], and we will mend it as soon as we can.
Receive the coming feasts, Mass times, and reflections from our community — sent with care, never spam.