Of a Vision, in which the Saint beheld Lord Jesus celebrating Mass, after saying to her “Do you wish, My beloved, that I should say Mass for you?”

478 THE REVELATIONS OF ST. GERTRUDE.

CHAPTER LXI.

Of a marvellous vision, in which the Saint beheld our Lord

celebrating Mass.

ON Gaudete Sunday, as St. Gertrude prepared to communicate

at the first Mass, which commences Rorate, she complained to our

Lord that she could not hear Mass; but our Lord, who compassionates

the afflicted, consoled her, saying:

“Do you wish, My beloved, that I should say Mass for

you?” Then, being suddenly rapt in spirit, she replied :

“I do desire it, O beloved of my soul; and I most ardently

beseech Thee to grant me this favour.”

Our Lord then intoned the Gaudete in Domino semper (Rejoice in the Lord always) ,

with a choir of saints, to incite this soul to praise and rejoice in Him;

and as He sat on His royal throne, St. Gertrude cast herself at

His Feet, and embraced them.

Then He chanted the Kyrie eleison in a clear and loud voice, while two of the princes of the choir of Thrones took her soul and brought it before God the Father, where she remained prostrate.

At the first Kyrie eleison, He granted her the remission

of all the sins which she had contracted through human

frailty; after which, the angels raised her up on her knees.

At the second, He pardoned her sins of ignorance; and she

was raised up by these princes, so that she stood before

God.

Then two angels of the choir of Cherubim led her

to the Son of God, who received her with great tenderness.

At the first Christe eleison, the Saint offered our Lord all

the sweetness of human affection, returning it to Him as to

its Source; and thus there was a wonderful influx of God

into her soul, and of her soul into God, so that by the

descending notes the ineffable delights of the Divine Heart

flowed into her, and by the ascending notes the joys of

her soul flowed back to God.

At the second Christe eleison

she experienced the most ineffable delights, which she offered

to our Lord.

At the third Christe eleison, the Son of God

extended His Hands, and bestowed on her all the fruit of

His most holy life and conversation.

Two angels of the choir of Seraphim then presented her

to the Holy Spirit, who penetrated the three powers of her

soul.

At the first Kyrie eleison, He illuminated her reason

with the glorious light of Divine knowledge, that she might

always know His will perfectly.

At the second Kyrie eleison, He strengthened the irascible" part of her soul to resist all the machinations of her enemies, and to conquer every evil.

At the last Kyrie eleison, He inflamed her love,

that she might love God with her whole heart, with her

whole soul, and with her whole strength.

It was for this reason that the choir of Seraphim, which is the

highest order in the heavenly hosts, presented her to the

Holy Ghost, who is the Third Person of the Most Holy

Trinity,

and that the Thrones presented her to God the

Father, manifesting that the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost

are One God, equal in glory, coeternal in majesty, living and

reigning perfect Trinity through endless ages.

The Son of God then rose from His royal throne, and,

turning towards God the Father, intoned the Gloria in excel

sis in a clear and sonorous voice.

At the word Gloria. He

extolled the immense and incomprehensible omnipotence

of God the Father;

at the words in excelsis He praised

His profound wisdom;

at Deo He honoured: the inestimable and indescribable

sweetness of the Holy Ghost.

The whole celestial court then continued in a most harmonious

voice, Et in terra pax bon? voluntatis.

Our Lord being again seated on His throne, St. Gertrude sat at His feet meditating on her own abjection, when He inclined towards her lovingly.

Then she rose and stood before Him, while

the Divine splendour illuminated her whole being. Two

angels from the choir of Thrones then brought a throne

magnificently adorned, which they placed before our Lord;

two princes from the choir of Seraphim placed Gertrude

thereon, and supported her on each side, while two of the

choir of Cherubim stood before her bearing brilliant

torches; and thus she remained before her Beloved, clothed

in royal purple.

When the heavenly hosts came to the words, Domine Deus Rex coelestis(Lord God, the heavenly King), they paused, and the Son of God continued alone chanting to the honour and glory of His Father.

At the conclusion of the Gloria in excelsis, the Lord

Jesus, who is our true High Priest and Pontiff, turned to

St. Gertrude, saying, Dominus vobiscum, dilecta—“The Lord

be with you, beloved;” and she replied: “Et spiritus

meus tecum, praedilecta—“And may my spirit be with Thee,

O my Beloved.”

After this she inclined towards the Lord,

to return Him thanks for His love in uniting her spirit

to His Divinity, whose delights are with the children of

men.

The Lord then read the Collect, Deus, qui hanc sacra

tissimam noctem,” which He concluded with the words, Per

Jesum Christum filium tuum, as if giving thanks to God

the Father for illuminating the soul of Gertrude, whose un

worthiness was indicated by the word noctem (night),

which was called most holy, because she had become mar

vellously ennobled by the knowledge of her own baseness.

St. John the Evangelist then rose, and stood between God

and her soul. He was adorned with a yellow garment,

which was covered with golden eagles. He commenced

the Epistle, Haec est sponsa, and the celestial court con

cluded, Ipsi gloria in saecula.

Then all chanted the Gradual

Specia tua," adding the Versicle Audi filia et vide. After

this they commenced the Alleluia.

St. Paul, the great doctor of the Church, pointed to St. Gertrude, saying,

AEmulor enim vost—“For I am jealous of you” (2 Cor.

xi. 2); and the heavenly choir sang the prose, Filiae Sion

exultent.

At the words, Dum non consentiret (While he would not agree),

St. Gertrude remembered that she had been a little negligent in

resisting temptations, and she hid her face in shame; but

our Lord, who could not bear to behold the confusion of

His chaste queen, covered her negligence with a collar of

gold, so that she appeared as if she had gained a glorious

victory over all her enemies.

Then another Evangelist commenced the Gospel Ecul

tavit Dominus Jesus , and these words moved the Heart of

Jesus so deeply, that He arose, and, extending His hands,

exclaimed aloud, Confiteor tibi Patre (I confess to you, Father),

manifesting the

same thanksgiving and gratitude to His Father as He had

done when He said the same words on earth, giving special

thanks for the graces bestowed on this soul.

After the Gospel He desired Gertrude to make a public profession of

faith, by reciting the Creed in the name of the whole

* Gradual, Mass of Virgins; Audi filia, Gradual of St. Cecilia.

This Mass appears to have been composed from several Masses.

f Epistle, Common of Virgins. We have not been able to verify

the prose. -“I confess to Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth,

because Thou hast hidden these things from the wise and prudent,

and revealed them to little ones” (Matt. xi.25); Gospel, Com, of

Martyrs.

When she had concluded, the choir chanted the

offertory, Domine Deus in simplicitate(Lord God in simplicity), adding,

Sanctificavit" Moyses (Moses sanctified).

The Heart of Jesus then appeared as a

golden altar, which shone with a marvellous brightness, on

which the angel guardians offered the good works and

prayers of those committed to their care.

The saints then

approached; and each offered his merits to the eternal praise

of God, and for the salvation of St. Gertrude.

The angelic princes, who had charge of the Saint, next approached,

and offered a chalice of gold, which contained all the trials

and afflictions which she had endured either in body or

soul from her infancy; and the Lord blessed the chalice

with the sign of the cross, as the priest blesses it before

Consecration.

He now intoned the words Sursum corda. Then all

the saints were summoned to come forward, and they ap

plied their hearts, in the form of golden pipes, to the golden

altar of the Divine Heart ; and from the overflowings of

this chalice, which our Lord had consecrated by His bene

diction, they received some drops for the increase of their

merit, glory, and eternal beatitude.

The Son of God then chanted the Gratius agimus

to the glory and honour of His Eternal Father. At the

Preface, He remained silent for an hour after the word:

Per Jesum Christum, while the heavenly hosts chanted

the Dominum nostrum with ineffable jubilation, declaring

He was their Creator, Redeemer, and the liberal rewarder of all their

good works; and that He alone was

worthy of honour and glory, praise and exaltation, power

and dominion, from and over all creatures.

At the words

laudant angeli, all the angelic spirits ran hither and thither,

exciting the heavenly inhabitants to sing the Divine praises.

At the words Adorant Dominationes, the choir of Domina

tions knelt to adore our Lord, declaring that to Him alone

every knee should bow, whether in heaven, on earth, or

under the earth.

At the Tremunt Potestatis, the Powers

prostrated before Him to declare that He alone should be

adored; and at the Caeli calorumque, they praised God with

all the angel choirs.

Then all the heavenly hosts sang together in harmonious

concert the Cum quibus et nostras; and the Virgin Mary,

the effulgent Rose of heaven, who is blessed above all crea

tures, chanted the Sanctus, sanctus, sanctus, extolling with

the highest gratitude by these three words the incompre

hensible omnipotence, the inscrutable wisdom, and the in

effable goodness, of the Ever-Blessed Trinity, inciting all the

celestial choirs to praise God for having made her most

powerful after the Father, most wise after the Son, and

most benign after the Holy Ghost.

The saints then continued the Domine Deus Sabaoth.

When this was ended,

Gertrude saw our Lord rise from His royal throne, and

present His blessed Heart to His Father, elevating it with

His own hands, and immolating it in an ineffable manner

for the whole Church.

At this moment the bell rang for

the Elevation of the Host in the church; so that it appeared

as if our Lord did in heaven what the priest did on earth;

but the Saint was entirely ignorant of what was passing in

the church, or what the time was. As she continued in

amazement at so many marvels,

our Lord told her to recite

the Pater noster. When she had finished, He accepted it

from her, and granted to all the saints and angels, for her

sake, that, by this Pater noster, they should accomplish

every thing which had ever been accomplished for the sal

vation of the Church and for the souls in purgatory.

Then

He suggested to her to pray for the Church, which she did,

for all in general and for each in particular, with the great

est fervour; and the Lord united her prayer to those which

He had offered Himself when in the flesh, to be applied to

the Universal Church.

Then she exclaimed: “But, Lord, when shall I com

municate?” And our Lord communicated Himself to her

with a love and tenderness which no human tongue could

describe; so that she received the perfect fruit of His most

precious Body and Blood.

After this He sang a canticle

of love for her, and declared to her, that had this union of

Himself with her been the sole fruit of His labours, sorrows,

and Passion, He would have been fully satisfied.

O inestimable sweetness of the Divine condescension, who so de

lights Himself in human hearts, that He considers His union

with them a sufficient return for all the bitterness of His

Passion' and yet, what should we not owe Him had He

only shed one drop of His precious Blood for us!

Our Lord then chanted Gaudete justi (Rejoice, just), and all the saints

rejoiced with Gertrude.

Then our Lord said, in the name

of the Church Militant, Refecti cibo (Refreshed with food.).

He then saluted

all the saints lovingly, saying, Dominus vobiscum, and

thereby increased the glory and joy of all the blessed.

The saints and angels then sang, for the Missa est, Te decet

laus et honor Domine, to the glory and praise of the efful

gent and ever-peaceful Trinity.

The Son of God extended His royal Hand, and blessed the Saint, saying:

“I bless thee, O daughter of eternal light, with this special

blessing, granting you this favour, that whenever you de

sire to do good to any one from particular affection, they

will be as much benefited above others as Isaac was above

Esau when he received his father's blessing.”

Then the Saint recovered from her rapture, and remained more closely

united than ever to her Beloved.

SOURCE:

https://westminsterabbey.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/St.-Gertrude-Book.pdf