Saint Gertrude the Great

Gertrude the Great or Gertrude of Helfta (January 6, 1256 – November 17, 1302) was a German Benedictine nun and mystic who was a member of the Monastery of Helfta. While herself a Benedictine, she had strong ties to the Cistercian Order; her monastery in Helfta is currently run by Cistercian nuns. Little is known of the early life of Gertrude, who was born on the Feast of the Epiphany, January 6, 1256, allegedly in Thuringia (within the Holy Roman Empire). At age five, she entered the monastery school at St. Mary at Helfta (variously described both as Benedictine and as Cistercian), under the direction of its abbess, Gertrude of Hackeborn. It is speculated that her parents offered her as a child oblate to the church. However, given that Gertrude implies in the Herald that her parents were long dead at the time of writing, it is possible that she entered the monastery school as an orphan. Gertrude was entrusted to the care of Mechtilde, younger sister of Abbess Gertrude, and joined the monastic community in 1266. It is clear from her writings that she received a thorough education in a range of subjects. She, and the nun who authored Books 1 and 3-5 of the Herald, are thoroughly familiar with scripture, the Church Fathers such as Augustine of Hippo and Gregory the Great, and also contemporary spiritual writers such as Richard and Hugh of St. Victor, William of St. Thierry, and Bernard of Clairvaux. Gertrude's writing demonstrates that she was well-versed in rhetoric, and her Latin is very fluent. In 1281, at age 25, she experienced the first of a series of visions which continued for the rest of her days, and which changed the course of her life. Her priorities shifted away from secular knowledge and toward studying scripture and theology. Gertrude devoted herself to personal prayer and meditation and began writing spiritual treatises. She received "invisible stigmata". Gertrude became one of the great mystics of the 13th century.