CHAPTER 14
Instruction for the First Sunday in Lent.

How the soul is purified and embellished by the merits of Jesus Christ.

ON THE Sunday Invocabit,44 as Gertrude felt unable to receive the Body of Our Lord, she besought Him with her whole heart to supply, by His forty days’ fast, for the dispensations which her infirmity obliged her to accept. Then the Son of God rose up and knelt before His Father, with a joyful countenance, saying: “I, who am Thy only Son, co-eternal and consubstantial with Thee, know, by My inscrutable wisdom, the defects of human weakness as man could not know; therefore do I abundantly compassionate this weakness, and, desiring to supply for it perfectly, I offer Thee, O holy Father, the restraints of My blessed Mouth, in atonement for all sins of omission and commission of which the tongues of men are guilty; I offer Thee, O just Father, the restraints of My Ears for all their sins of hearing; I offer Thee the restraints of My Eyes for all their sins committed by seeing; I offer Thee the restraints of My Hands and Feet for all the sins of those members. Lastly, I offer to Thy Majesty, O most loving Father, My Divine Heart for all their sins of thought, desire or will.”

Then the Saint stood before God the Father, clothed in a red and white garment, and adorned with many ornaments. The white robe indicated the innocence conferred on her soul by the mortifications of Christ; the red signified the merits of His fasts; and the diversity of ornaments, the many ways and exercises by which Our Lord labored for our eternal salvation. Then the Eternal Father took this soul thus adorned, and placed it at a banquet between Himself and His only Son. On the one side, the splendor of the Divine omnipotence overshadowed her, to enhance her apparel and her dignity; on the other side, she was illuminated by the light of the inscrutable wisdom of God the Son, which had adorned and embellished her with the treasures and perfections of His life. Between these two lights there was an opening,45 through which might be seen the humble sentiments which this soul had of her baseness and defects; and her humility pleased God so much, that it won for her the tenderest affection of this Almighty King.

Then Our Lord placed before St. Gertrude the three victories,46 which are mentioned in the Gospel of the day, under the form of different kinds of food,47 that they might serve her as an antidote against the three vices to which men are most subject—namely, delectation, consent and concupiscence.48 First, He manifested to her the signal victory which He had gained over the devil, who tempted Him to the pleasure of eating, when he asked Him to change the stones into bread, and Our Lord wisely answered him, that man doth not live by bread alone; and He desired her to offer it to God, in satisfaction for all the sins which she might have committed through love of pleasure, and to obtain strength to resist such temptations for the time to come. For the more we yield to temptations, the less capable we are of resisting them; and each may thus offer Our Lord’s victory for their own needs. Our Lord then gave her His second victory for the remission of all the sins which she might have committed by consent, and to obtain grace for the future to resist these temptations efficaciously; and each may also offer this victory, for the same end, and with the same advantage, to obtain from God the pardon of all sins of thought, word or act, and grace to avoid falling for the time to come. Lastly, Our Lord gave her His third victory as a remedy against avarice, which desires the goods and advantages of earth, and to obtain strength to resist this temptation.

During the Epistle at Mass, the Saint applied herself to noting the virtues mentioned therein, which she thought might be most useful to practice or to teach others; and as she felt she needed the gift of understanding, she said to the Lord: “Teach me, O Beloved, which of these virtues will please Thee best; for, alas, I am not specially earnest in any!” Our Lord replied: “Observe that the words In Spiritu Sancto (‘in the Holy Ghost’) occur in the middle of these victories. As, therefore, the Holy Spirit is a good will,49 study above all things to have this good will, for you will gain more by it than by any other virtue, and it will obtain for you the perfection of all virtue. For whoever has a perfect will to praise Me, if he could, more than all the world, or to love Me, thank Me, suffer with Me, or exercise himself in the most perfect manner in all kinds of virtue, will certainly be recompensed by My Divine liberality more advantageously than one who has actually performed many other things.” Then the Holy Spirit appeared before Gertrude, enlightening in a marvelous manner that place where the depravity and imperfection of her soul could be seen; so that, the virtue of this Divine light having entirely removed her defects, she found herself happily immersed in the Source of eternal light.