St. Gertrude: The Herald of Divine Love: Chapter 28. The Cloister of the Lord's Body

St. Gertrude: The Herald of Divine Love: Chapter 28. The Cloister of the Lord's Body

At Vespers, while they were singing "Vidi aquam egredientem" the Lord said to her: "Behold my heart; now it will be your temple. And now look among the other parts of my body and choose for yourself other places, in which you can lead a monastic life, because from now on my body will be your cloister. To this she said: "Lord, I do not know how to seek further or how to choose, because I find such sweet plenty in your sweetest heart, which you deign to call my temple, that apart from it I am unable to find any rest or refreshment, both of which are necessary in a cloister. " Then the Lord said: "If it pleases you, you may find both these things in my heart; for you have heard about others who, like Dominic," never left the temple, eating and even sleeping there. Do choose, however, some other places which you think it would be expedient to have in your cloister. '

Then, at the Lord's bidding, she chose the Lord's feet for a hall or ambulatory; his hands for workshop; his mouth for parlor and chapter house; his eyes for library where she might read; and his ears for confessional. Then the Lord taught her that she should always go up to it after each fall, as though ascending the five steps of humiliation, which are to be remembered by these five expressions: "I, a wretch, a sinner, a beggar, evil, unworthy, come to you as to the overflowing abyss of mercy, to be washed from every stain and to be cleansed from every sin. Amen."