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Herald of God's Loving-Kindness: Book 5

Herald of God's Loving-Kindness: Book 5

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Paperback / softback

£35.99

Publisher: Liturgical Press
ISBN: 9780879071868
Number of Pages: 296
Published: 15/08/2020
Width: 14 cm
Height: 21.6 cm

Gertrud the Great (1256-1302) entered the monastery of Helfta in eastern Germany as a child oblate. At the age of twenty-five she underwent a conversion that led to a series of visionary experiences. These centered on "the divine loving-kindness," which she perceived as expressed through and symbolized by Christ's divine Heart. Some of these experiences she recorded in Latin "with her own hand," in what became book 2 of The Herald of God's Loving-Kindness. Books 1, 3, 4, and 5 were written down by another nun, a close confidant of the saint, now often known as "Sister N." Book 5 details the sickness, deaths, and afterlife fates of various Helfta nuns, novices, and lay brothers, as witnessed by Gertrud in her visions. It also describes Gertrud's preparations for her own death and her predictive visions of her ultimate glorification in heaven. The Herald concludes with Sister N.'s personal account of her presentation of the whole book to the Lord at Mass, the welcome he gave it, and the privileges he attached to it. The Book of Special Grace, which mainly records the visions of Mechtild of Hackeborn, was probably compiled by Gertrud herself with the help of Sister N. Parts 6 and 7 recount the deaths of the abbess Gertrud and of Mechtild, her younger sister. As many passages overlap, sometimes verbatim, with corresponding chapters in book 5 of The Herald, a translation has been included for purposes of comparison.

CONTENTS
List of Abbreviations   xi
Introduction   xiii
THE HERALD OF GOD’S LOVING-KINDNESS
Prologue   3
Chapter 1: The Glorious Death of the Reverend Lady G, Abbess, of Sweetest Memory   5
Chapter 2: The Soul of E., Compared to a Lily by the Lord   29
Chapter 3: The Soul of G., Who Was Devoted to the Blessed Virgin   31
Chapter 4: The Blessed Death of Mechtild the Chantress of Pious Memory   37
Chapter 5: The Souls of the Sisters M. and E.   53
Chapter 6: The Soul of S., Whose Place in the Lord’s Bosom Was Predicted   57
Chapter 7: The Happy Death of M of Blessed Memory   61
Chapter 8: The Soul of M., Who Was Helped by the Prayers of Her Friends   65
Chapter 9: The Souls of G. and S., on Whom the Lord Conferred Similar Blessings   69
Chapter 10: S., Who Died with a Burning Desire   75
Chapter 11: The Soul of Brother S., Who Was Consoled at His Death for His Kindliness   79 
Chapter 12: The Soul of Brother H., Who Was Rewarded for His Loyalty   81
Chapter 13: The Soul of Brother John, Who Was Raised Up for His Faithful Labors   85
Chapter 14: The Soul of Brother Th, Who Gave Thanks for His Blessings   87
Chapter 15: How Devout Prayer Helped the Soul of Brother F.   89
Chapter 16: A Soul Aided by the Suffrages of the Church Through Her Prayers   91
Chapter 17: The Liberation of the Souls of Relatives of the Community   95
Chapter 18: The Power of the Great Psalter   97
Chapter 19: A Soul Helped by the Great Psalter   99
Chapter 20: That a Reward, Offered Up, Is Increased   103
Chapter 21: The Reward of a Good Will   105
Chapter 22: The Punishment of Disobedient Murmurers   107
Chapter 23: How Her Desire for Death Was Incited   111
Chapter 24: Preparation for Her Final Journey   115
Chapter 25: Love’s Arrow   117
Chapter 26: Keeping Safe the Soul’s Preparations   119
Chapter 27: Her Death Anticipated   121
Chapter 28: Consolation by the Lord and the Saints   129
Chapter 29: Firm Promises and Privileges Bestowed by the Lord   131
Chapter 30: Sweet Repose   135
Chapter 31: Recompense Offered the Virgin Mary   141
Chapter 32: Her Death Foreshadowed   143
Chapter 33: The Commendation of This Book   149 
Chapter 34: The Acceptability of This Book   151
Chapter 35: The Offering of This Book   153
Chapter 36: Conclusion   155
The Mass Personally Sung in Heaven by the Lord Jesus for a Certain Virgin Called Trutta While She Was Still Alive   157
THE BOOK OF SPECIAL GRACE, PART SIX
Chapter 1: The Life and Death of the Venerable Lady Abbess Gertrud   171
Chapter 2: The Service of Twelve Angels   177
Chapter 3: That Christ Stood Proxy for Her   179
Chapter 4: Her Happy Passing   183
Chapter 5: The Same Subject Continued   185
Chapter 6: The Hour of Her Most Happy Passing   187
Chapter 7: The Greetings Given That Most Blessed Soul  191
Chapter 7A: On Her Sister’s Soul, and That the Souls of the Blessed Offer to God All the Words Recited for Them  193
Chapter 7B: Her Sister’s Soul , and That Human Desire Lives on after Death   195
Chapter 8: A Vision of Her on Her Month’s Mind   197
Chapter 9: The Anniversary of the Same Lady Abbess   201
THE BOOK OF SPECIAL GRACE, PART SEVEN
Chapter 1: The Last Days of the Blessed Sister Mechtild, Glorious Virgin, Nun at Helfta   207
Chapter 2: Her Summoning by the Lord Jesus Christ   209
Chapter 3: She Is Divinely Warned to Be Anointed   211
Chapter 4: Each of the Saints Gave Her All the Fruitfulness of Their Rewards When She Was Anointed   213 
Chapter 5: Her Devout Intention and Her Huge and Fervent Desire for All   217
Chapter 6: That the Blessed Virgin Mary Accepted from Her the Care of the Community, Entrusted Into Her Hands   219
Chapter 7: The Prayers Recited by the Sisters at the Sick Woman’s Bed   221
Chapter 8: Christ Greets That Blessed Soul in an Inconceivable Way   225
Chapter 9: The Holy Trinity and the Saints Greet Her Soul   229
Chapter 10: Drawing Her with His Breath, in a Wonderful Way Jesus Christ Makes That Soul Fit for Future Glory   231
Chapter 11: Her Flight and Her Welcome Within the Divine Heart   233
Chapter 12: The Saints’ Joy and the Increase of Their Merit   235
Chapter 13: How to Pray to God Through the Merits of This Virgin   237
Chapter 14: The Utility of Offering Christ’s Merits and Those of the Saints for Souls at the Offertory   239
Chapter 15: No Christian Soul Entered Hell on the Day of Her Passing   241
Chapter 16: God’s Praise Should Be Sought above All Things and Rendered with Single-Minded Intention   243
Chapter 17: The Name of This Book, That Is, “Of Special Grace,” and Its Utility   247
Chapter 18: An Assurance for Those Celebrating Her Funeral Rites   249
Chapter 19: Our Lord Jesus Christ Loves His Own and Chastises Them   251
Chapter 20: The Blessed Soul of Count B Our Founder   253 
Chapter 21: God’s Extraordinary Love for the Soul of Blessed Sister Mechtild   257
Chapter 22: This Soul to Some Extent Compared to the Blessed Virgin Mary in Her Virtues   259
Scriptural Index   261

Gertrud the Great of Helfta, Alexandra Barratt

Alexandra Barratt is professor emeritus at the University of Waikato in New Zealand. She studied at the Universities of Cambridge and Toronto and has published extensively on religious writing by medieval women in Latin and English. She has previously translated Books One and Two (CF035) and Book Three (CF063) of The Herald for the Cistercian Fathers series.    

"With this book, Alexandra Barratt completes her translation of all five parts of Herald of God's Loving-Kindness and therefore significantly contributes to Gertrudian studies. Her inclusion of parts six and seven of The Book of Special Grace, associated with Mecthild of Hackeborn, provides an invaluable tool for continuing scholarship on the thirteenth-century Helfta community." Ella Johnson, author of This is My Body: Eucharistic Theology and Anthropology in the Writings of Gertrude the Great of Helfta "The importance of Helfta monastery in medieval religious culture is well established, as is the role of Gertrud the Great. Barratt's translation of Gertrud's Herald, which makes this profoundly significant text accessible in a polished and reliable rendition, is now complete with the publication of Book 5, along with related material from Mechtild of Hackeborn. Book 5 deals with the terminal illnesses, deaths, and afterlives of nuns and others connected with Helfta, and it shows how posthumous purgation and the intercession of the living were viewed in a late medieval setting. As Barratt points out, this final book also gives rich depiction of the monastic community. This book is the capstone to a project of the utmost significance for the study of medieval religious culture." Richard Kieckhefer, Northwestern University

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