PONTIFICIUM ATHENAEUM S. ANSELMI DE URBE
INSTITUTUM MONASTICUM
BENNETT, Ambrose
Matriculation
number: 8231
THE HEART OF CHRIST IN
THE LEGATUS DIVINAE
PIETATIS OF ST. GERTRUDE OF HELFTA
Thesis ad Licentiam
in Sacra Theologia
Moderator: Prof. Alfredo Simón, osb
Romae 2006
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
Abbreviations and Initials 4
Bibliography 5
Introduction 10
CHAPTER 1. ST. GERTRUDE IN CONTEXT 12
1.1
Biography and education 12
1.2 Gertrude's writings 16
1.3 Historical,
monastic, and theological context 20
1.4 Helfta's
openness to newer spiritual currents 24
CHAPTER 2. ST. BERNARD'S
SERMONS, PIETAS, AND LIBERTAS
CORDIS: CONVERGING IN THE HEART OF CHRIST 28
2.1 Gertrude a disciple of Bernard--but not identical
to him 28
2.2 Bernard and the wound in Christ's side 33
2.3 The St. John
the Apostle in Bernard's Sermons and in Gertrude's Legatus 36
2.4 Pietas as divine attribute 41
2.5 Libertas cordis as fulfillment of the human
heart 49
CHAPTER 3. THE DIVINE AND DEIFIED HEART OF CHRIST 57
3.1
Gertrude's theological anthropology and the heart of Christ 57
3.2
Wound of love 62
3.3 Seal of the
covenant 65
3.4 A comparison
with William of St. Thierry 68
3.5 Exchange of
hearts 71
3.6 The divine
heart of Jesus as complex symbol 73
3.7 Divine heart
as lamp 74
3.8 Divine heart
as musical instrument: harp and lyre of the Trinity 78
CHAPTER 4. THE HEART OF CHRIST: UNITIVE CENTER OF THE MASS,
THE HEAVENLY LITURGY, AND THE INNER
CLOISTER 82
4.1 Sacrament
and sacrifice 82
4.1.1 Divine heart in the form of a chalice 82
4.1.2 Divine heart and the host: sacramental kenosis of Christ 84
4.1.3 Sacrifice and communion for the holy souls in purgatory 88
4.1.4 Heart of Christ and Mass without communion 91
4.2 Christ's glorious heart in heaven
and the symbolic cloister 99
4.2.1 Divine heart as the altar in heaven 99
4.2.2 Christ's heart as the inner sanctum of the symbolic cloister 101
4.3 Per Cor Jesu Christi Domini Nostri 105
Conclusion 108
Abbreviations and Initials
CCL Corpus
Christianorum, Series Latina
CCCM Corpus
Christianorum, Continuatio Mediaevalis
Cf. Confer
CSQ Cistercian
Studies Quarterly
DIP Dizionario degli Istituti di Perfezione
DSp Dictionnaire
de spiritualité ascétique et mystique
ed. edited
RB Rule of St. Benedict
SBO Sancti Bernardi Opera
SC Sources
Chrétiennes
tr. translated
vol. volume
All Biblical citations follow the
abbreviations used in the New Jerusalem
Bible.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
SOURCES
Works of St. Gertrude
GERTRUDE OF HELFTA, The Herald of
Divine Love, ed. M. Winkworth, Paulist Press, New York/Mahwah NJ 1993.
____, Oeuvres spirituelles. Vol. 1.
Les Exercices,
ed. J. Hourlier - A. Schmitt, SC 127,
Paris 1967.
____, Oeuvres spirituelles. Vol. 2.
Le
Héraut (Livres I et II), ed. P. Doyère, SC 139, Paris 1968.
____, Oeuvres spirituelles. Vol. 3.
Le
Héraut (Livre III), ed. P. Doyère, SC 143, Paris 1968.
____, Oeuvres spirituelles. Vol. 4.
Le
Héraut (Livre IV), ed. J.-M. Clément, SC
255, Paris
1978.
____, Oeuvres spirituelles. Vol. 5.
Le
Héraut (Livre V), ed. J.-M. Clément, SC
331, Paris
1986.
____, Life and Revelations of St. Gertrude the Great, Virgin and Abbess of
the Order of St. Benedict, tr. Poor Clares of Kenmare, TAN, Rockford IL
2002.
Other Sources
AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO, Confessionum libri tredecim, ed. L. Verhejen, CCL
27, Turnhout 1981.
BENEDICT OF NURSIA, The Rule of St. Benedict, in Latin and English with
Notes, ed. T. Fry et al., Liturgical Press,
Collegeville MN 1981.
BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX, Sancti Bernardi Opera. Vol. 1. Sermones super
Cantica Canticorum 1-35, ed. J. Leclercq - C.H. Talbot - H.M. Rochais, Editiones Cistercienses,
Rome 1957.
____, Sancti Bernardi Opera. Vol. 2. Sermones
super Cantica Canticorum 36-86, ed. J. Leclercq - C.H. Talbot - H.M. Rochais, Editiones Cistercienses,
Rome 1958.
____, On the Song of Songs. Vol. 1, tr. K. Walsh,
Cistercian Publications, Kalamazoo 1971.
____, On the Song of Songs Vol. 2, tr. K. Walsh, Cistercian Publications,
Kalamazoo 1976.
____, On the Song of Songs Vol. 3, tr. K. Walsh - I.M. Edmonds,
Cistercian Publications, Kalamazoo 1979.
____, On the Song of Songs Vol. 4, tr. I.M. Edmonds, Cistercian
Publications, Kalamazoo 1980.
IRENAEUS OF LYONS, Contre les hérésies, ed. A. Rousseau, SC
100, Paris
1965.
New Jerusalem Bible, Darton Longman & Todd, ed. Henry Wansbrough,
London 1985.
New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha, Revised Standard Version,
ed. H. G. May - B.M. Metzger, Oxford
University Press, New York 1977.
Nova Vulgata Bibliorum Sacrorum Editio, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Vatican City 1986.
WILLIAM OF ST. THIERRY, Works of William of St. Thierry. Vol. 1. On Contemplating God.
Prayer. Meditations, tr. Sister Penelope,
Cistercian Publications, Kalamazoo 1977.
____, La contemplation de Dieu. L'oraison de dom Guillaume, ed. J.
Hourlier, SC 61, Paris 1959.
____, Meditationes Devotissimae, ed. P. Verdeyen, CCCM 89, Brepols, Turnholt 2005.
STUDIES
BIFFI, I., Tutta la dolcezza della terra. Cristo e i monaci medievali, Jaca, Milano 2004.
BOTTE, B. - C. MOHRMANN, ed., L'Ordinaire de la messe, Cerf, Paris 1953.
BRITT, M., The Hymns of the
Breviary and Missal, Benziger, New York 1922.
CAROLA, J., Augustine of Hippo. The Role of the
Laity in Ecclesial Reconciliation, Gregorian, Rome
2005.
CASEY, M., «Gertrude of Helfta
and Bernard of Clairvaux», in Illumined
by God: Essays on Medieval Monastic Women from Tjurunga, ed. K. Harris, Benedictine
Union of Australia and New Zealand, Croydon 2000, 173-195.
____, «Nature and Grace in Saint Bernard of
Clairvaux», Tjurunga 23 (1982) 39-49.
CLEMONS, C., The Relationship Between Devotion to the Eucharist and Devotion to the
Humanity of Jesus in the Writings of St. Gertrude of Helfta, Catholic
University of America, Washington, D.C., 1995. Unpublished doctoral
dissertation.
COLOMBÁS, G. M., La tradición benedictina. Ensayo histórico. Vol. 5. Los siglos XIII y XIV, Ediciones Monte
Casino, Zamora 1995.
DOLAN, D. G., Sainte Gertrude. Sa vie intérieure, Lethielleux/Desclée, Paris 1922.
DOYÈRE, P., «Gertrude d'Helfta», in DSp
6, Beauchesne, Paris 1967, 331-339.
FINNEGAN, M.J., The Women of Helfta. Scholars and Mystics, University of Georgia
Press, Athens/London 1991.
FLORES ARCAS, J.J., «Santa Gertrudis y el fenómeno místico», in Mujeres del absoluto. El monacato femenino. Historia, instituciones,
actualidad. XX Semana de Estudios Monásticos , Studia Silensia XII,
Abadía de Silos 1986, 87-102.
GRACE, M., «Images of the Heart as Seen in the Writings of Beatrice of Nazareth and Gertrude the Great», CSQ 37
(2002) 261-271.
GUILLOU, M.-G., «La louange à
l'école de sainte Gertrude», Collectanea Cisterciensia
53 (1991) 174-194.
____, «Pour répondre à un amour
infini: la découverte de deux moniales I», Collectanea
Cisterciensia 56 (1994) 171-191.
____, «Pour répondre à un amour
infini: la découverte de deux moniales II», Collectanea
Cisterciensia 56 (1994) 261-279.
LECLERCQ, J., The Love of Learning and the Desire for God. A Study of Monastic Culture, tr. C. Misrahi, Fordham University
Press, New York 1982.
____Regards monastiques sur le Christ au moyen âge, Desclée, Paris 1992.
____,«Le
Sacré-Coeur dans la tradition bénédictine au
moyen âge», in Cor Jesu. Commentationes
in Litteras Encyclicas Pii PP. XII «Haurietis Aquas». Vol II: Pars Historica et Pastoralis,
ed. Augustinus Bea et al., Herder, Rome
1959.
LEWIS, G.J., «Libertas Cordis: The Concept of Inner Freedom in St Gertrude the Great of Helfta», CSQ 25 (1990) 65-74.
LUISLAMPE, P., «Gnade ist Freundschaft Gottes. Gertrude von Helfta-Hoffnungsgestalt der befreienden Liebe», Erbe
und Auftrag 61 (1985) 21-37.
LUNARDI, G., «Gertrude di Helfta», in
DIP 4, Rome 1977, 1111.
MERTON, T., «Saint Gertrude, Nun of Helfta, Germany», CSQ 38 (2003) 449-458.
MCGINN, B., The Flowering of Mysticism. Men and Women in the New Mysticism (1200-1350), Crossroad, New York 1998.
MINGUET, H., «Théologie
spirituelle de sainte Gertrude: le Livre II du Héraut
I», Collectanea Cisterciensia 51
(1989) 147-177.
____, «Théologie spirituelle de
sainte Gertrude: le Livre II du Héraut
II», Collectanea Cisterciensia 51
(1989) 252-280.
____, «Théologie spirituelle de
sainte Gertrude: le Livre II du Héraut
III», Collectanea Cisterciensia 51
(1989) 317-328.
MIRONES, E., «Trutta: libertad
sin ira», Cistercium (2001) 523-570.
NATALI, M.L., «L'esperienza mistica in Gertrude d'Helfta», in L'esperienza di Dio nella vita
monastica. La nostra risposta all ricerca dell'esperienza di Dio nella cultura
attuale. Atti del XXIII corso abadesse di monasteri
benedettini d'Italia, Monastero Santa Scolastica/Civitella San Paolo, Roma
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Continuum, New York, 1994.
O'DONNELL, T., Heart of the Redeemer.
An Apologia for the Contemporary and Perennial Value of the Devotion to the
Sacred Heart of Jesus, Ignatius Press, San
Francisco 1989.
OTT, L., Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma, tr. P. Lynch, ed. J.C. Bastible,
Herder, St. Louis MO 1954.
PORCILE, M.T., «Sainte Gertrude et la
liturgie», Liturgie 73 (1990)
158-168.
____, «Sainte Gertrude et la
liturgie», Liturgie 74 (1990)
220-255.
____, «Teología metafórica en el
vocabulario de Santa Gertrudis de Helfta», Cuadernos
Monásticos 101 (1992) 135-165.
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253-286.
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delle origini, tr. G. Cavallo-Guzzo - C. De Marchi, Vita e Pensiero, Milano
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cistercienses», Cistercium 210.1
(1998) 1051-1081.
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Expanded Heart: The Writings of Gertrud of Helfta and RB», CSQ 25 (1990)
219-232.
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Mystery in Gertrud of Helfta», CSQ 24 (1989) 324-337.
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21-38.
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in Litteras Encyclicas Pii PP. XII «Haurietis Aquas». Vol II: Pars Historica et Pastoralis,
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Introduction
The glorified heart of Christ is the unifying center of
the spiritual doctrine of St. Gertrude of Helfta precisely because it represents the center of Christ's identity and mission as
the Incarnate Word and as the one mediator between God and man. It is my
intention in this work to present the most significant passages concerning the
divine and deified heart of Christ from Gertrude's Legatus divinae pietatis,
in which she and other nuns who acted as her secretaries and confidantes
recorded Gertrude's revelations and mystical experiences. The familiar term
"Sacred Heart" will not be used except in quotations from other
authors because Gertude prefers to refer to the divine or deified heart of Christ. In addition, to refer to
the Sacred Heart of Jesus in connection with Gertrude's writings could
leave an anachronistic impression of a type of devotion that belongs to a later
historical period (though Gertrude was an important influence on this later development). The terms
"divine" and "deified" themselves express Christological
nuances in Gertrude's spiritual doctrine which would be obscured by using the
terminology of a later era.
The primary source is the text of the Legatus itself, in Latin and in English
translation. The Latin text is cited from the Sources Chrétiennes edition, with the notes and commentary of Pierre Doyère.
This is supplemented by the writings of Cipriano Vagaggini, Jean Leclercq, Mary Jeremy Finnegan, Cheryl Clemons, and Inos Biffi on the
spirituality of St. Gertrude, whose works are cited in the bibliography. Articles on St. Gertrude from
monastic journals will also be cited in order to elucidate the major aspects of
her doctrine on the heart of Christ. There will also be an extended examination of the influence of St.
Bernard of Clairvaux's Sermons on the
Songs of Songs on Gertrude's Legatus.
The first chapter
of this study will summarize the life and writings of St. Gertrude, and
then present the historical, monastic, and theological context of her monastery
at Helfta. The second chapter will examine the
influence of St. Bernard on Gertrude's doctrine of the heart of Christ in the Legatus and will
analyze the meaning of divine pietas
and of libertas cordis in Gertrude's writings, with
the intention of showing their convergence in the heart of the Savior. The
third chapter will proceed to an analysis of the divine and deified heart Christ in Gertrude's Legatus, with special emphasis on the
theological anthropology that underlies Gertrude's visions. This is followed and illustrated by commentary upon
texts from the Legatus, in which the Lord's divine and deified
heart is presented as the predominant image for Gertrude's union with Christ. This union will be
examined under the three aspects of the wound of love, the seal of the
covenant, and the exchange of hearts. Since the divine heart is a polyvalent
symbol in the Gertrudian writings, the fourth chapter will elucidate the
meaning of visions in which the Lord's heart reveals itself in visual images
that differ in form from Christ's physical heart. This, in turn, leads to the conclusion that the
deified heart is itself a kind of sacramental image that shapes and unifies Gertrude's approach to the
Mass, in its dual aspect of sacrament and sacrifice. Chapter 4 will conclude by examining passages
from the Legatus in which the
glorified heart of Jesus unites the Mass on earth with the heavenly liturgy, and in which Christ's heart is revealed as Gertrude's temple, with his
body as her cloister.
This study seeks to show that the glorious and deified
heart of the Savior unifies seemingly disparate aspects of Gertrude's spiritual
doctrine --the Mass, liturgical prayer, affective personal devotion to Christ, mystical espousal, and
eschatology--and reveals them as aspects of a single mystery of the indwelling
of the Incarnate Word in the hearts of those who belong to him.
CHAPTER ONE
ST. GERTRUDE IN CONTEXT
1.1
Biography and education
The primary source for the life of St. Gertrude is her Legatus divinae pietatis, especially the
Prologue and Book I, which were composed by another nun of Helfta, in a hagiographical
style, in order to commend Gertrude's writings and revelations. They consequently give little
information about her family background, focusing instead on her entrance into
the monastery as a young child, her intelligence and precocious interest in
secular learning, and her subsequent mystical experiences as related in the
rest of the Legatus. In Book II, she
writes that she was born on the feast of the Epiphany. J. Hourlier and A. Schmitt
deduce that she was born in 1256, based upon Gertrude's
statement that she was in her twenty-sixth year when she received her first
revelation.
It is evident that Gertrude was born near
Eisleben on 6 January 1256, on the feast of the Epiphany. However, there is no
record of any surname or family connection--a surprising circumstance since the
nuns of Helfta generally came from the well-known noble families of the area
near the monastery. This omission in the information concerning her family may
well indicate that she was of humble and perhaps illegitimate birth. Gertrude also implies in
Book II that her parents had been dead for many years. The account of her life
in Book I seems to imply that she may even have been an orphan at the time of
her entrance into the monastery as a child oblate.<