CHAPTER 24
For Wednesday in Holy Week.

ON WEDNESDAY in Holy Week, at the words In nomine Jesu,77 St. Gertrude bent her knees in honor of this most worthy Name, to repair all the negligence which she had committed in this matter; and, perceiving that Our Lord was pleased with this, she knelt a second time at the word caelestium, to supply for the negligence of the Saints when in this life, in regard to the honor which they owed to God. When she had done this, the whole celestial court rose up with great sentiments of gratitude, thanking God for having given this grace to her, and praying for her. At the word terrestrium, she made another genuflection, in satisfaction for the negligence of the faithful in praising God; and then the Son of God imparted to her with singular joy the fruit of all the devotions which had been offered to Him throughout the whole Church. At the word infernorum, she also knelt to atone for the negligences of the damned. Then the Son of God arose, and stood before His Father, saying: “It is My right to condemn, since Thou hast given Me all power; and by an equitable judgment I have consigned them to eternal flames. Therefore, I receive with such satisfaction the reparation which Gertrude has made for them, that the reward which I reserve until she is capable of the enjoyment of beatitude could not be comprehended by any mortal.”

While the Passion was read, at the words, Pater, ignosce illis [“Father, forgive them”], St. Gertrude besought Our Lord earnestly, by the love which made Him pray for those who crucified Him, that He would be pleased to pardon all those who had ever offended Him in anything. At this petition all the Saints rose up in admiration, beseeching God to pardon her all the faults which she might have committed on their solemnities or festivals. Then the Son of God presented Himself also before His Father, offering the merit of His holy Life, in satisfaction for all the faults which the Saint had committed in thought, word or deed.

As they read the words, “Today shalt thou be with Me in paradise,” she knew in spirit that no one could obtain the grace of penitence in his last hour, if he had not rendered himself worthy of it by performing some good action during his life; and that the good thief had obtained the favor of entering into glory the same day as Our Lord, because, by the grace of God, he had seen and reprehended the injustice of his companion in crime, and could not bear to hear him pouring forth reproaches on One whom he knew to be innocent, and had acknowledged himself deserving of the punishment which he suffered. Therefore God showed him mercy.