Gertrude the Great, OSB (or Saint Gertrude of Helfta; , , ; January 6, 1256 – November 17, 1302) was a German Benedictine nun and mystic. She is recognized as a saint by the Catholic Church and figures in the General Roman Calendar on November 16 for optional celebration as a memorial throughout the Roman Rite. In recent times the Episcopal Church has added Gertude to the Episcopal Calendar of Saints on November 21. Life Little is known of the early life of Gertrude who was born on the Feast of the Epiphany, January 6, 1256, in Eisleben, Thuringia (within the Holy Roman Empire). At age four, she entered the monastery school at St. Mary at Helfta (variously described both as Benedictine and as Cistercian), under the direction of its abbess, Gertrude of Hackeborn. It is speculated that her devout parents offered her as a child oblate to the church. However, given that Gertrude implies in the Herald that her parents were long dead at the time of writing, it is also possible that she entered the monastery school as an orphan. Gertrude was entrusted to the care of Mechtilde, younger sister of the Abbess Gertrude, and joined the monastic community in 1266. It is clear from her own writings that she received a thorough education in a range of subjects. She, and the nun who authored Books 1 and 3-5 of the Herald, are thoroughly familiar with scripture, the Church Fathers such as Augustine of Hippo and Gregory the Great, and also more contemporary spiritual writers such as Richard and Hugh of St. Victor, William of St Thierry, and Bernard of Clairvaux. Moreover, Gertrude's writing demonstrates that she was well-versed in rhetoric, and her Latin is very fluent. In 1281, at age 25, she experienced the first of a series of visions that continued for the rest of her days, and which changed the course of her life. Her priorities shifted away from secular knowledge and toward the study of scripture and theology. Gertrude devoted herself strongly to personal prayer and meditation, and began writing spiritual treatises for the benefit of her fellow nuns. Gertrude became one of the great mystics of the 13th century. Together with her friend and teacher Mechtilde, she practiced a spirituality called "nuptial mysticism," that is, she came to see herself as the Bride of Christ. Gertrude died at Helfta, near Eisleben, Saxony, around