St Gertrude the Great and the Spiritual Exercises
I just finished my master’s degree in Religion and Literature last week, and I’ve been reflecting on this past year and what I’ve learned. I took several classes I really enjoyed, one of which was a class on the writings of women mystics and martyrs from the early and medieval Church. My favourite writer we studied was St Gertrude the Great of Helfta, a medieval German mystic from the 13th century. Only a couple of her writings still survive, with the Spiritual Exercises being the only one penned by her alone.
We don’t know very much about St Gertrude biographically; we do know she was born in 1256 and died in either 1301 or 1302, and that she was a cloistered Benedictine nun at a convent in Helfta, Germany. In addition to Gertrude, Helfta was home to a couple other notable mystics, Mechthild of Magdeburg and Mechthild of Hackeborn. Their abbess was Gertrude of Hackeborn, a notably adept leader of the monastery. Based on Gertrude’s writings, in addition to the works of the other mystics in the Helfta community, we can infer that liturgical life flourished at Helfta. Because of Helfta’s remote location away from the distractions of the world and through Gertrude of Hackeborn’s guidance, the nuns who formed this monastic community experienced abundant spiritual and sacramental lives. St Gertrude the Great became a spiritual director for the nuns at Helfta through her writings and treatises. While Gertrude mainly aimed her writing to women in religious life, many of her spiritual insights can be helpful to anyone desiring closer union with God.
Another aspect of Getrude’s life that we can deduce from her writings is her high level of education. She undoubtedly had a deep knowledge of the Bible, the early Church Fathers, and theological works closer to her contemporary time, such as St Bernard of Clairvaux whom she references frequently in her Spiritual Exercises. Gertude’s writings also reveal a high level of rhetorical training and language learning since she demonstrates fluency in both her vernacular German and in Latin.
It is not surprising that Gertrude received such a comprehensive and intense education; monasteries and convents in the medieval period were centres of knowledge and culture. When not in prayer, cloistered communities such as the Benedictine nuns in Helfta spent their time reading, writing, and studying. The Benedictines in particular were also known for their skill at gardening, both for food and self-sufficiency, but also to cultivate natural beauty. It is likely that the nuns at Helfta were skilled gardeners, which is perhaps one reason why Gertrude includes many references to flowers, fruitfulness, and fertility in her writings. I actually wrote an essay for my class on the floral references in Gertrude’s Spiritual Exercises.
Despite Gertrude’s education, the Mass and the Divine Office were her greatest influences. As a Benedictine nun, St Gertrude would have prayed the psalms in the Divine Office and attended Mass every single day. Her life, therefore, revolved around the rhythms of these prayers and the sacraments of the Church. The psalms are cited very frequently in Gertrude’s Spiritual Exercises, displaying her deep knowledge of the psalms through the Divine Office and through her education in Scripture. Gertrude also frequently references the Song of Songs, which places her firmly in a mystical tradition that emphasises union with God based on this powerful book of the Bible. As a mystic, Gertrude saw her relationship with God as a true marriage, and her Spiritual Exercises read as a love letter to Jesus her Spouse in places. Her writing exudes love for her Lord, and she frequently describes Jesus as ‘most dulcet Jesus’, [1] ‘most loving Jesus’, [2] and ‘O true love’. [3]
St Gertrude’s Spiritual Exercises is written for nuns and those in religious life, and it provides instructions and guidance on preparing for mystical union with Jesus. The text is split into seven sections, called exercises, each revolving around a different topic regarding one’s relationship with God. The first section focuses on rebirth in Jesus, which is reminiscent of baptism. Gertrude walks her reader through praying to Jesus for mercy, forgiveness, and new life in Him. The second exercise is about spiritual conversion, and Gertrude asks her reader to pray for the grace to dedicate oneself entirely to God. She uses an interesting image in this section; she writes, ‘Cement me to you, O true love’. [4] Gertrude wants to be so close to Jesus that she cannot remove herself from Him, which is a profound and beautiful way to think of relationship with God. The next section, on the dedication of the self, is a matrimonial reflection on one’s relationship with the Lord. Gertrude uses many floral references in this section, representing the potential for spiritual fruitfulness. After the dedication of the self, Gertrude writes about following Christ more closely after this spiritual marriage occurs. Gertrude asks the Lord for the fulfilment of her spiritual fruitfulness, writing, ‘Then, growing altogether strong in you, I may again become green and, sanctified in truth, again begin to flower’. [5] The following exercise is about mystical union with Christ and the spiritual bond between the reader and the Lord, and the section after this expresses the joy of this union. In her last exercise, Gertrude then reflects on death and feeling at peace at the end of one’s life because of the Lord’s mercy and forgiveness.
These exercises are extremely beautiful and well-written pieces of spiritual insight, in which Gertrude uses many powerful images to describe union with Christ. St Gertrude’s writing can help us structure our daily life of prayer using this model, but her advice can also be applied over a lifetime. While lay people are not the intended audience for her Spiritual Exercises, we can still gain so much wisdom from Gertrude’s writing. We are all called to this spiritual union with Christ no matter our vocation, and St Gertrude can provide helpful guidance for praying for this kind of relationship.
[1] St Gertrude the Great of Helfta, Spiritual Exercises, translated by Gertrud Jaron Lewis and Jack Lewis, pg 23.
[2] Pg. 25.
[3] Pg 38.
[4] Pg 38.
[5] Pg. 57.