Cardinal Approved Prayer of St. Gertrude the Great

In a past issue, we had printed the ‘Prayer of St. Gertrude the Great’. The prayer was

originally printed on a holy card. Soon after our publication was sent out, we received a letter from a priest. He questioned the authenticity of the prayer. There was no ‘Imprimatur’ on the prayer card, nor was there an ‘Ecclesiastical Approval’.

The prayer, as we printed it follows :

(A Prayer Which Would Release 1000 Souls From Purgatory Each Time It Is Said).

Our Lord told St. Gertrude the Great that the following prayer would release 1000 souls from Purgatory each time it is said. The prayer was extended to include living sinners as well. (We don’t know who gave this ‘extension’[editors note].)

“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, those in my own home and within my family. Amen.”

We searched a lot of books about St. Gertrude, but found no reference to the prayer. But then, tucked away in an old book, and used as a ‘marker’ was a holy card with

The Prayer of St. Gertrude the Great.

The prayer as it was written went like this:

Our Lord told St. Gertrude The Great that the following prayer would release a*vast number of souls from purgatory each time it is said.

(*vast meaning very great size or proportions, huge, enormous.)

“ETERNAL FATHER, I OFFER THEE THE MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD OF THY DIVINE SON, JESUS, IN UNION WITH ALL THE MASSES BEING SAID THIS DAY ALL OVER THE WORLD FOR ALL THE HOLY SOULS IN PURGATORY. AMEN”

The words of this prayer above are certainly different from the one we originally published. The ‘extension’ is not in the original prayer. The number of souls is not mentioned. Only the words ‘vast number’ are mentioned.

Big difference! When Our Lord gives a certain prayer to be said, we stay with those words of that prayer, and THOSE words only. We make no additions or subtractions.

On this old holy card, we read: “Approval of His Eminence the Cardinal Patriarch of Lisbon, - 4/3/1936.”

PRAYER OF THE ROSARY-MAKER

O Holy Jesus! Bless these Rosaries made in honor of Thy Blessed Mother. May every Rosary be extremely fruitful, and fill the person who says the Rosary with pure Faith, Hope and Charity—in her honor. Amen.

(Kiss the finished Rosaries)