Gertrudis Magna

Gertrude the Great
Gertrude the Great
Kapanganakan	6 Enero 1256 (Huliyano); ; (Mansfeld-Südharz, Sahonya-Anhalt, Alemanya);
Kamatayan	17 Nobyembre 1302 (Huliyano); ; (Mansfeld-Südharz, Sahonya-Anhalt, Alemanya);
Mamamayan	Alemanya
Trabaho	manunulat

Si Gertrudis Magna (o Santa Gertrudis ng Helfta ; Italyano: Santa Gertrude ; 6 Enero 1256 - c. 1302) ay isang Aleman na Benediktinang madre, mistiko, at teologo. Kinikilala siya bilang isang santo ng Simbahang Katoliko, at nakasulat sa Pangkalahatang Kalendaryo Romano, para sa opsyonal na pagdiriwang sa buong Roman Rite bilang pag-alaala, noong Nobyembre 16.

Kakaunti lamang ang kaalaman sa buhay ni Gertrudis. Si Gertrudis ay ipinanganak sa Pista ng Epipanyo, 6 Enero 1256, sa Eisleben, Thuringia (sa loob ng Banal na Imperyong Romano ). Apat na taong gulang^[1] siya nang pumasok sa monasteryong paaralan ng Santa Maria sa Helfta (na hindi mapagkasunduan ng mga eksperto kung ito nga ay Benedictine o Cistercian),^[2] sa ilalim ng direksyon ng kanilang superyora, Gertrudis ng Hackeborn . Ipinagpalagay na siya ay inalok bilang isang alay o handog sa Simbahan ng kanyang mga madasaling magulang. Dahil sa ipinahiwatig ni Gertrudis sa Herald na ang kanyang mga magulang ay matagal nang namatay ayon sa ulat,^[3] gayunpaman, posible rin na pumasok siya sa paaralan ng monasteryo bilang isang ulila.

Si Gertrudis ay inilagak sa pangangalaga ni Mechtilde, na nakababatang kapatid na babae ng Abadesang Gertrudis, at sumali sa napakalaking pamayanan noong 1266. Malinaw sa kanyang sariling mga akda na nakatanggap siya ng isang masusing edukasyon sa ilang mga asignatura. Siya, at ang madre na may akda ng Mga Aklat 1 at 3-5 ng Herald, ay lubos na pamilyar sa Bibliya, ang mga Ama ng Simbahan tulad nina Agustin at Gregorio ang Dakila, at ganoon din sa mga ka-panahong manunulat tulad nina Richard at Hugh ng San Victor, William ng San Thierry, at Bernard ng Clairvaux . Bukod dito, ang pagsulat ni Gertrudis ay nagpapakita na siya ay may kasanayan sa retorika, at ang kanyang napakahusay na Latin .^[4]

Si Gertrudis ay hindi kanonisadong santo, ngunit isang dasal na pang-liturhiya, babasahin, at mga himno sa kanyang karangalan ay naaprubahan ng Roma noong 1606. Ang Pista ni San Gertrudis ay pinalawak sa Simbahang Katoliko ni Clement XII at ngayon ay ipinagdiriwang sa Nobyembre 16, ang petsa ng kanyang pagkamatay. Ang ilang mga relihiyosong samahan, tulad ng mga Benedictines, ay nagdiriwang ng kanyang kapistahan tuwing Nobyembre 17. Binigyan siya ni Pope Benedict XIV ng pamagat na "the Great" upang makilala ang kaibhan niya kay Abbess Gertrudis ng Hackeborn at makilala ang lalim ng kanyang espirituwal at teolohikong pananaw.

Nagpakita si Gertrudis ng "malasakit para sa mga kaluluwang nasa purgatoryo" at hinikayat ang mga panalangin para sa kanila. Kaya't hinihiling ang kanyang panalangin para maibsan ang pagdurusa ng mga kaluluwa sa purgatoryo. Ang sumusunod na panalangin ay maiugnay kay San Gertrudis, at madalas na inilalarawan sa kanyang istampitang dasal :

Eternal Father, I offer Thee the Most Precious Blood of Thy Divine Son, Jesus, in union with the Masses said throughout the world today, for all the Holy Souls in Purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the universal Church, for those in my own home and in my family. Amen.

Marahil para sa kadahilanang iyon, ang kanyang pangalan ay nakakabit sa isang panalangin na, ayon sa isang alamat ng hindi tiyak ang pinagmulan at petsa (hindi rin matatagpuan sa Revelations ni Saint Gertrudis the Great ), ipinangako ni Kristo na palayain ang isang libong kaluluwa mula sa purgatoryo sa bawat oras na ito ay dasalin; sa kabila ng katotohanan na ang mga kasanayan na nauugnay sa sinasabing mga pangako na palayain ang isa o higit pang mga kaluluwa mula sa purgatoryo sa pamamagitan ng pagbigkas ng ilang panalangin ay ipinagbawal ni Pope Leo XIII. Gayunpaman, ang materyal na matatagpuan sa kanyang mga Revelations, tulad ng pagdiriwang ng Gregorian Masses para sa naalis, ay naaayon sa mga debosyon na naaprubahan ng Simbahang Katoliko.

Sa pagsunod sa isang petisyon mula kay Haring Felipe IV ng Espanya ay idineklara siyang Patronesa ng Kanlurang Indiyes; sa Peru ang kanyang kapistahan ay ipinagdiwang na isang malaking kapistahan, at sa New Mexico ang bayan na Santa Gertrudis de lo de Mora ay itinayo sa kanyang karangalan at pangalan.

Mga sanggunian

↑ Her biographer states "in her fifth year", leading some to misinterpret this as being when she was five years old. See Alexandra Barrett, 'Introduction', in Gertrud the Great of Helfta, The Herald of God's Loving-Kindness: Books One and Two, (Kalamazoo, 1991), p10
↑ This has been a point of some contention in twentieth-century studies of Gertrude. The best answer is that, technically, Helfta was a Benedictine monastery, but one which was strongly influenced by the Cistercian reform - this reflect the lack of clear-cut distinctions between the Orders at this time. Helfta, like many other monasteries of nuns following the Rule of St Benedict, was very much influenced by the Cistercian customs (and was in fact founded in 1258 by a group of nuns from Halberstadt who had adopted Cistercian customs. However, it was not - and could not - however, have been officially Cistercian, because in 1228 the General Chapter of Citeaux had forbidden the acceptance of any more monasteries of nuns into their Order, because the monks were already overburdened by the number of nuns under their care. Helfta, therefore, could not have been officially Cistercian. It is clear, though, that Helfta's customs seem to have been those of Citeaux, and certainly the works of Bernard of Clairvaux were extremely influential at Helfta. It is unclear whether the nuns wore a black 'Benedictine' or white 'Cistercian' habit, but interesting to note that both Gertrude and Mechthild are almost universally represented in black. The spiritual directors of the monastery were neither Benedictines nor Cistercians, but Dominicans. See Sr Maximilian Marnau, 'Introduction', in Gertrude of Helfta, The Herald of Divine Love, (New York: Paulist Press, 1993), p10; Caroline Bynum Walker, Jesus as Mother, (Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1982), pp174-5.
↑ Herald, Book 2, chapter 16
↑ Sr Maximilian Marnau, 'Introduction', in Gertrude of Helfta, The Herald of Divine Love, (New York: Paulist Press, 1993), p6

[1] Her biographer states "in her fifth year", leading some to misinterpret this as being when she was five years old. See Alexandra Barrett, 'Introduction', in Gertrud the Great of Helfta, The Herald of God's Loving-Kindness: Books One and Two, (Kalamazoo, 1991), p10

[2] This has been a point of some contention in twentieth-century studies of Gertrude. The best answer is that, technically, Helfta was a Benedictine monastery, but one which was strongly influenced by the Cistercian reform - this reflect the lack of clear-cut distinctions between the Orders at this time. Helfta, like many other monasteries of nuns following the Rule of St Benedict, was very much influenced by the Cistercian customs (and was in fact founded in 1258 by a group of nuns from Halberstadt who had adopted Cistercian customs. However, it was not - and could not - however, have been officially Cistercian, because in 1228 the General Chapter of Citeaux had forbidden the acceptance of any more monasteries of nuns into their Order, because the monks were already overburdened by the number of nuns under their care. Helfta, therefore, could not have been officially Cistercian. It is clear, though, that Helfta's customs seem to have been those of Citeaux, and certainly the works of Bernard of Clairvaux were extremely influential at Helfta. It is unclear whether the nuns wore a black 'Benedictine' or white 'Cistercian' habit, but interesting to note that both Gertrude and Mechthild are almost universally represented in black. The spiritual directors of the monastery were neither Benedictines nor Cistercians, but Dominicans. See Sr Maximilian Marnau, 'Introduction', in Gertrude of Helfta, The Herald of Divine Love, (New York: Paulist Press, 1993), p10; Caroline Bynum Walker, Jesus as Mother, (Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1982), pp174-5.

[3] Herald, Book 2, chapter 16

[4] Sr Maximilian Marnau, 'Introduction', in Gertrude of Helfta, The Herald of Divine Love, (New York: Paulist Press, 1993), p6

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