Chapter 29: Renewal of Her Spiritual Marriage -- Chapter 30: Wednesday: Spiritual Fertility -- Chapter 31: How Useful It Is to Entrust All One's Works to God -- Chapter 32: On the Octave Day of Easter: How She Received the Holy Spirit -- Chapter 33: The Greater Litany on the Feast of Mark -- Chapter 34: Saint John before the Latin Gate -- Chapter 35: Preparation before the Feast of the Ascension -- Chapter 36: The Solemn Day of the Lord's Ascension -- Chapter 37: Preparation for the Feast of Pentecost -- Chapter 38: The Honey-Sweet Feast of Pentecost -- Chapter 39: Compensation for Her Spiritual Attitude -- Chapter 40: The Grace of the Holy Spirit -- Chapter 41: The Feast of the Glorious Trinity -- Chapter 42: Saint John the Baptist -- Chapter 43: Saint Leo the Pope -- Chapter 44: The Holy Apostles Peter and Paul -- Chapter 45: Saint Margaret the Virgin -- Chapter 46: Saint Mary Magdalene -- Chapter 47: Saint James the Apostle -- Chapter 48: The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin -- Chapter 49: Saint Bernard the Abbot -- Chapter 50: The Worth of Saint Augustine, Saint Dominic, and Saint Francis -- Chapter 51: The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary -- Chapter 52: The Dignity of the Holy Cross -- Chapter 53: On Angels: The Feast of Michael the Archangel -- Chapter 54: The Feast of the Eleven Thousand Virgins -- Chapter 55: The Feast of All Saints -- Chapter 56: Saint Elizabeth -- Chapter 57: Saint Catherine, Virgin and Martyr -- Chapter 58: The Feast of the Dedication of the Church -- Chapter 59: The Consecration of the Chapel

Gertrud the Great (1256–1302) entered the monastery of Helfta in eastern Germany as a child oblate. At the age of twenty-five she underwent a conversion that led to a series of visionary experiences. These centered on “the divine loving-kindness,” which she perceived as expressed through and symbolized by Christ’s divine Heart. Some of these experiences she recorded in Latin “with her own hand,” in what became book 2 of The Herald of God’s Loving-Kindness. Books 1, 3, 4, and 5 were written down by another nun, a close confidant of the saint, now often known as "Sister N." Book 5 details the sickness, deaths, and afterlife fates of various Helfta nuns, novices, and lay brothers, as witnessed by Gertrud in her visions. It also describes Gertrud’s preparations for her own death and her predictive visions of her ultimate glorification in heaven. The Herald concludes with Sister N.’s personal account of her presentation of the whole book to the Lord at Mass, the welcome he gave it, and the privileges he attached to it. The Book of Special Grace, which mainly records the visions of Mechtild of Hackeborn, was probably compiled by Gertrud herself with the help of Sister N. Parts 6 and 7 recount the deaths of the abbess Gertrud and of Mechtild, her younger sister. As many passages overlap, sometimes verbatim, with corresponding chapters in book 5 of The Herald, a translation has been included for purposes of comparison.

Gertrud the Great (1256–1302) entered the monastery of Helfta in eastern Germany as a child oblate. At the age of twenty-five she underwent a conversion that led to a series of visionary experiences. These centered on “the divine loving-kindness,” which she perceived as expressed through and symbolized by Christ’s divine Heart. Some of these experiences she recorded in Latin “with her own hand,” in what became Book 2 of The Herald of God’s Loving-Kindness. Books 1, 3, 4, and 5 were written down by another nun, a close confidant of the saint, now often known as “Sister N.” Book 4 records Gertrud’s many vivid spiritual experiences, which took place on various liturgical feasts when she was too sick to take part in the community’s worship. Foregrounding visions of the court of heaven and dialogues with Christ, the Virgin Mary, and other saints, they further develop devotional themes already present in the earlier books. Often profoundly indebted to the liturgy of Mass and office, they have been carefully arranged according to the ecclesiastical year by the medieval compiler.

Privileging both a transnational and a sociological approach, this volume explores the position of women in the early modern literary field, emphasising the international scope of their literature and examining their historical position, influence, network and dialogues.

What does it mean for our daily realities to claim the Roman Catholic tradition? Bringing together theology and personal memoir, Matthew Levering offers this vulnerable, honest, and hopeful of why he identifies as Roman Catholic–without shying away from challenges the tradition presents.

Gestures of Grace is a celebration of the life and career of Robert Sweetman, H. Evan Runner Chair in the History of Philosophy at the Institute for Christian Studies (2001–present). These essays, written by students and colleagues, testify to the remarkable breadth and depth of Sweetman’s research and teaching, from his early scholarly career at the Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies to his time at ICS. Throughout the volume, there is extensive engagement with Sweetman’s influential historical scholarship on topics such as the emergence and development of the Dominican order in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, medieval women authors, Thomas Aquinas and Duns Scotus, and indeed on Sweetman’s own systematic contribution to the nature and promise of Christian scholarship today.

Interest in early modern women writers is on the rise. However, familiarity with their works varies greatly from one country to another, and resources to assess their historical significance remain insufficient. Yet empirical evidence suggests that women writers who are no longer well-known today played surprisingly varied roles in the literary field of early modern Europe. The papers collected in this volume address early modern female authorship from the late Middle Ages to the end of the eighteenth century, ranging geographically from Portugal to Russia, and from Italy to Denmark. In particular, they focus on three themes: the creation of female spaces or communities; women's appropriation of existing or developing literary genres; and transnational perspectives on early modern women's writings. Contributors include: Vanda Anastácio, Bernadette Andrea, Mónica Bolufer, Philiep Bossier, Hans Bots, Kathleen Garay, Nina Geerdink, Perry Gethner, Elena Gretchanaia, Ineke Janse, Madeleine Jeay, Anne-Marie Mai, Christine Mongenot, Meredith Ray, Ina Schabert, and Lynn Lara Westwater.

The German mystic Gertrude the Great of Helfta (c.1256–1301) is a globally venerated saint who is still central to the Sacred Heart Devotion. Her visions were first recorded in Latin, and they inspired generations of readers in processes of creative rewriting. The vernacular copies of these redactions challenge the long-standing idea that translations do not bear the same literary or historical weight as the originals upon which they are based. In this study, Racha Kirakosian argues that manuscript transmission reveals how redactors serve as cultural agents. Examining the late medieval vernacular copies of Gertrude's visions, she demonstrates how redactors recast textual materials, reflected changes in piety, and generated new forms of devotional practices. She also shows how these texts served as a bridge between material culture, in the form of textiles and book illumination, and mysticism. Kirakosian's multi-faceted study is an important contribution to current debates on medieval manuscript culture, authorship, and translation as objects of study in their own right.

Open your heart and mind and discover—through the sacred art of lovingkindness—the image and likeness of God in yourself and others. "The question at the heart of this book is this: Will you engage this moment with kindness or with cruelty, with love or with fear, with generosity or scarcity, with a joyous heart or an embittered one? This is your choice and no one can make it for you.... Heaven and hell are both inside of you. It is your choice that determines just where you reside.” —from the Introduction We are all born in the image of God, but living out the likeness of God is a choice. This inspiring, practical guidebook provides you with the tools you need to realize the divinity within yourself, recognize the divinity within others, and act on the obligation to manifest God’s infinite compassion in your own life. Guided by Rabbi Rami Shapiro, you will explore Judaism’s Thirteen Attributes of Lovingkindness as the framework for cultivating a life of goodness. Shapiro translates these attributes into practices—drawn from the teachings of a variety of faith traditions—that allow you to actualize God’s glory through personal deeds of lovingkindness. You will enrich your own capacity for lovingkindness as you: Harvest kindness through compassionate honesty Make room in your heart for reality Recognize the manifestations of God Embrace the paradoxical truth of not-knowing Be present in the moment Do right by others With candor, wit, and honesty, Shapiro shows you that by choosing to act out of love rather than fear, with kindness rather than anger, you can transform how you perceive the world and ultimately lead a more complete spiritual life.