CHAPTER 55
For the Feast of the Eleven Thousand Virgins.

Of the fruits of thanksgiving. That God requires us to fructify His gifts. And of the Response Regnum mundi.

AS THE words, Ecce sponsus venit [Behold, the Bridegroom cometh”], were chanted at the Office of the Eleven Thousand Virgins,148 St. Gertrude was deeply moved, and said to Our Lord: “O most desirable Spouse, as I hear these words so frequently repeated, tell me how Thou wilt come, and what Thou wilt bring149 us?” He replied: “I will now work with you and in you. Where is your lamp?” She replied: “Behold, Lord, I will give Thee my heart for a lamp.” He answered: “I will fill it abundantly with oil—that is, with grace from My Heart.” She replied: “But where is the wick150 to light it?” Our Lord replied: “Your pure intention of doing everything for Me alone will be a wick, the light of which will be most pleasing to Me.”

At the Response Verus pudicitiae, and at the words Spes et corona virginum,151 St. Gertrude returned thanks to God for those virgins whom she beheld standing before His throne: and He cast as many rays of glory on them as she had made thanksgiving for them, which were then reflected upon her; by this she understood that those who return thanks to God for the favors which He has bestowed on any Saint, share in the merits of that Saint. As the Response Regnum mundi152 was chanted, at the words Quem vidi, quem amavi, she remembered a person who was often troubled by an ardent desire to see God, and she said to Our Lord: “When wilt Thou console her, that she may sing this Response with joy?” He replied: “To see Me, to love Me and to believe in Me, is a wish which none can entertain without fruit; therefore, when any soul has this desire, and cannot obtain it because of human frailty, My Humanity at once advances to My Divinity as a sister, undertaking to do this favor as if by right of inheritance, until that person has shaken off her carnal affections, and is of herself able to undertake it, and thereby to attain eternal joys.”

On another occasion, when the words Propter amoram Domini mei were chanted, the Divine Heart of our Brother153 Jesus was so moved by these words, that He exclaimed before His Father and the whole court of Heaven, “I am a debtor to My faithful servants for what they have now done for Me.” At the word Jesus, which signifies Saviour, He acknowledged that He was their debtor for the fulfillment of the promises of salvation which He had made to them from their infancy, the accomplishment of which was deferred by His paternal Providence until the appointed time. At the word Christi, which signifies Anointed, Our Lord declared Himself obliged to recompense their good desires. At the words Quem vidi, quem amavi, He assured His Father and all the Saints that they had rendered testimony to the Catholic Faith by their good works; and at the words In quem credidi, quem dilexi, He declared that they were united to Him by their firm faith and perfect charity.

Then St. Gertrude exclaimed: “Alas, Lord, what wilt Thou do for those who are not in choir?” He replied: “I have infused a devotion into all those who have been delighted with this Responsory, and have beatified all who are in this convent; and those who have a similar devotion will receive a similar benefit.” “But,” she inquired, “if they can gain so much advantage by so little devotion, what harm can their negligence do them, when they can repair it so easily?” Our Lord answered: “When an emperor bestows an estate and costly garments on one of his nobles, however little he may seem to value them, the emperor does not on that account deprive him of his liberality; so, when I give great favors in return for a little devotion, those on whom I bestow them are obliged to profit by them, and if they fail to do so, they will lose the fruit thereof; but the ornament of My gratuitous goodness, in bestowing them, will always appear on them for My praise and glory.” Then she inquired: “But how can they who have never been favored with such revelations exercise themselves in such things?” He answered: “They are bound to practice and to imitate them, according to the extent of the lights they are favored with. I enlighten everyone in such matters to a certain degree, and therefore they are bound to be grateful, and fulfill these obligations.”

On another occasion, when the same Response was chanted, St. Gertrude saw a troop of demons, who surrounded the religious, showing them the pomps and vanities of the world. But at the words, Regnum mundi … contempsi, the demons fled in confusion. By this she understood, that when anyone contemns the world with great fervor, and casts from them all the temptations of the evil one, for the love of the Lord Jesus, that the devil immediately flies away, fearing to tempt them again, when he has met with such vigorous resistance.