“It was as if upon His Breast
He laid His pierced Hand,
And said, ‘To thee, beloved and blest,
I give this goodly land.’
O land of fountains and of deeps,
Of God’s exhaustless store―
O blessed land, where he who reaps
Shall never hunger more―
O summer land, forever fair
With God’s unfading flowers;
O land, where spices fill the air,
And songs the golden towers―
O land of safety, land of Home,
Of God my Father’s kiss,
To thee, O glorious land, I come;
My heritage of bliss!
Lord, not through works of righteousness,
The works that I have done,
But through the glory of Thy grace,
The merit of Thy Son,
To me this goodly land is given,
The heart of Christ to me―
My Home, my Blessedness, my Heaven,
My God, I worship Thee.”
―Gertrude Von Hackeborn, 1260-1330.
“AFTER this,” wrote the Abbess Gertrude, “on the Sunday before the fast, didst Thou show me what a land is that, which Thine abounding goodness has promised, when it is said, ‘To thee and to thy seed will I give this land.’
“It was as if in speaking these words Thou didst lay Thy Hand of might upon Thy heart of love. O blessed land I land which maketh blessed all who dwell there, where all the streams of love and gladness flow together in one. Fields of delight, fields of the corn of Heaven, whereof one grain can satisfy the hunger of all the chosen people I Land which bringeth forth eternally all that to the heart is sweet and delightsome, beautiful and lovely—all that longing can desire, all that desire can paint!
“And when I thought upon this, pondering these things not as I ought, yet as best I could, behold the grace and sweetness of the love of God our Saviour, which stood revealed to me! Not according to works of righteousness which I had done, not according to the deserving’s of mine unworthiness, but according to His unspeakable mercy did He show Himself to me.
“It was Thou, O my Lord, who knewest me worthy only of Thy curse, who didst make me Thy child by the birth from above, and thus meet to receive the adorable, the blessed union with Thyself, Christ my Saviour. Union more blessed than all the Heavens, more precious than all treasure, the union of my innermost heart with Thine.”
So is it said that He “who loved the Church and gave Himself for it” in the past, who “sanctifies and cleanses it by the washing of water by the Word” in the present, and who will in the future present it to Himself a glorious Church, “has made us even now to be one with Him, members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones, no more twain, but One.”
“Truly,” she wrote, “the cause lay within Thyself, in Thy nature, which is not loving only, but is love. And it was the sweetness of Thy love that moved Thee to call from the far country, from the farthest distance of baseness and of vileness, one who should be made one with Thee, who should have fellowship with Thee in Thy kingly glory, and be made partaker of Thy divine nature.
“For it seems to me, and so I hope it truly is, that none could be found less worthy of Thee, none who has so trampled upon Thy glorious gifts, none who has so hindered and stumbled others as I have done.
“And to me hast Thou opened the doors of the house of Thy treasures, and drawn my soul within, by the wondrous, the inexpressible, the unimaginable power of Thy love.
“To me—even to me is this treasury unclosed, the golden chambers of Thy heart of love, and there hast Thou shown me the unfathomable mystery, the inmost delight of God.
“O eternal summer! sure and quiet dwelling-place! Home where all is found that can rejoice the heart. Paradise of unfading blossoms! overflowing river of the pleasures of God! how dost thou allure the soul! All longing desires turn to thee, thou springtime of sweetest flowers; and the soul is drawn from afar by the enchantment of sweet music which is a heavenly speech, and the rich odors of the spites that restore the faint and weary, and all gentle sounds and songs that are as the nameless tenderness of the caresses of the Beloved!
“O blessed and thrice blessed, yea, blest with a blessing untold, is he who is guided by the hand of grace to enter in and to draw near, there where God awaits him, there to be made one with Christ!
“Marvelous worth bestowed upon the little grain of dust, which Christ the Stone most precious draws to Himself from the mire of the streets! Marvelous beauty granted to the little flower which the sunbeam draws forth from the black earth of the fens, to shine, as it were, in company with the sun, and to be made into a crown for Him who has created it!
“Thus are the souls who are made anew in the image of Him who created them; yet ever distinct from Him, as the creature from the Creator—distinct, yet one with Him who has redeemed them. Blessed are they who abide in this place which He has given them—a place which, alas, I abide in but for a short moment, and yet it is my eternal home.
“It is a blessed gift so to delight the soul amidst the spices of His garden, that we are unwilling for one instant to set our foot there where the sweet odors are not; but at the same time willing to go forth where love leadeth us, to blessed service and labor, carrying with us the fragrance of the spices of God, that others may be drawn to Him!
“That Thou canst give to me this gift, I doubt not, O my God, for all power is Thine, and I trust Thee assuredly so to do. And that Thou wilt give it me, I doubt not, for Thy love is immeasurable. But that Thou shouldst give it to one so unworthy, is a mystery I cannot fathom; it is a mystery of the wisdom of God, and I can but worship before Thee as I own it, and bless Thy holy name.
“And when I had written awhile, and the words I had written seemed to me unfit and unworthy, I ceased to write, and betook myself to other services.
“Then did the Lord speak to my heart, saying, ‘Know of a truth, thou shalt not pass out of the dungeon of the flesh till thou hast paid the farthing that thou holdest back from Me.’ Then I bethought me, that though I could not write, yet I might speak with my lips the words that might profit my neighbor. But the Lord spake further, saying, ‘Had the words of salvation been meant only for those present, they would have been spoken only, but not written. But the words written have served for the salvation of many souls.’
“Thereupon a burden was laid upon my heart, for I thought how difficult, nay, how impossible would it be, to find words or sentences wherein such things as the Lord showed me could be expressed without stumbling those who should read them.
“But to my faintheartedness the Lord appeared for my strengthening, and it was as if a torrent of mighty rain rushed down upon my soul, beneath which I, a young and tender plant, fell beaten to the earth, unable to receive the blessing poured down upon me, or to take into my soul more than a few solemn words which were above and beyond my human understanding.
“Then did I ask, all the more burdened and helpless, whereunto this should serve? And Thou, O my God, who tallest to Thee the weary and the heavy laden, that Thou mayest give them rest, Thou didst call to me, and revive my soul, saying thus to me, ‘Since the pouring out of the mighty waves upon thee seemeth to thee unhelpful, behold I will lay thee upon my heart of love, that I may speak to thee the same words in speech soft and low, tenderly measuring forth My message as thou art able to receive it.’
“Lord, I own before Thee, that Thou hast fulfilled Thy promise, for Thy Word is truth. For day by day, thereafter, didst Thou, in quiet hours, give me to write that which is now written. Thou didst make” the words to flow into my heart, so that without thought beforehand, and without weariness, I could write as though I knew it all by heart, and when I had written my daily portion I could by no effort of mind determine what I should write on the day following. But when the day came all was given to me richly, and I wrote without labor.”