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The saints

St. Gertrude the Great

A brilliant young nun who loved her books, until Jesus became her first love.

Feast: 16 November · 1256 to about 1302 · The Middle Ages · Helfta, Saxony

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Painting of St. Gertrude in a black habit, an image of the Child Jesus on her heart, reading a book.

Miguel Cabrera, 1763. Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.

Home / The saints / St. Gertrude the Great

The convent of Helfta, Saxony

Gertrude was given to the convent at Helfta at five and grew up a gifted student.1

At twenty-five she had a vision of Christ that changed her.1

She turned from her studies to Scripture and prayer.

Patron of the West Indies2

01St. Gertrude the Great

The Heart of Jesus

Her writings tell of the love of the Heart of Jesus, centuries before the Sacred Heart devotion spread.1

Live it this week

Turn one hobby into prayer

Gertrude turned her love of study to God. Take one thing you love doing (music, running, reading) and dedicate it to God before you start each time this week.

Notes

How we know · 2 sources for this page
  1. Franciscan Media, Saint of the Day: “Saint Gertrude the Great”. franciscanmedia.org. franciscanmedia.org
  2. Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), “St. Gertrude the Great”. New Advent edition. newadvent.org

The Catholic Encyclopedia (1913) is in the public domain; we quote the New Advent edition. Texts of the Holy See are quoted briefly from vatican.va. Scripture: World English Bible, Catholic edition (public domain); Verse numbers are modern, with Douay-Rheims numbers in brackets where they differ. Photographs: Wikimedia Commons, credited under each image; full list on the photo credits page.

Lines in the narrator’s voice, without a note, are our reflection, not a historical claim. Stone & Incense restates Church teaching in plain words; our wording is not an official Church text. Report an errorCorrections.