St. Gertrude, a Dutch peasant girl, supported herself in domestic service. At one point she was betrothed to be married, but when her fiancé chose instead to marry another she was bereft, unable to work, and found herself reduced to begging. Eventually she was accepted into a Beguine community in Delft where she spent the rest of her life. The Beguines, a remarkable network of religious women, were then flourishing in the Lowlands. In these communities, unmarried women devoted themselves to prayer, study of Scripture, and charitable works, while supporting themselves through needlework or other crafts.  

For some years Gertrude led an unremarkable life. Then, on Good Friday in 1340, she received the five marks of Christ’s wounds on her body. These wounds would bleed seven times a day. When Gertrude confided this news to one of her fellow Beguines, the news quickly spread and she was besieged by curious onlookers. This attention proved a severe mortification, and when she prayed to Christ to withdraw the favor, the bleeding stopped. But she remained a gifted spiritual counselor, skilled at reading the souls of others and even prophesying the future.  

After uttering her last words—“I am longing to go home”—she died on the feast of the Epiphany in 1358.  

“Draw and unite me entirely to yourself. May I remain inseparably attached to you even when I am obliged to perform external duties for my neighbor’s good. And afterwards may I return to seek you within me when I have accomplished them.” —St. Gertrude of Delf