"God Made Me a Priest"
Poor Gertrude, triply silenced in a Christian cocoon of misogyny.
You are Eve, daughter of Satan: your mouth speaks only evil.
You, a woman, are under obedience: your voice is irrelevant,
Your superiors speak for you, if speech is necessary, which from women is rarely so.
You are less than nobody in God’s church: was it not you, a woman, who dealt with the devil, and caused sin to grow and drag down forever the church of God?
You caused the death and suffering of Jesus; now take your place submissively as an evil irrelevancy.
But God said to Gertrude:
Write, speak, forgive sins in my name: I will never let your words be in vain,
I now make you a priest of God, you are my mouthpiece.
My words are your words and yours mine.
The words of the powerful are shallow like pebbles in an empty can.
I now touch your mouth, today I make you my priest:
Feed the people,
Bless the bread,
Share the wine.
Speak for me to them.
Remove their doubts and scruples.
Lift their burdens.
Help the women to stand tall.
Tell them, “Come.”
No wonder we call her Gertrude the Great,
Ordained by God Herself, spokesperson of the Holy One.
God of Gertrude, Gertrude of God,
Touch our mouths with courage,
Loosen our tongues to speak,
Straighten our back to stand tall,
Priest us! Priest the women,
God the Great, Gertrude the Great.
Poor Gertrude, triply silenced in a Christian cocoon of misogyny.
You are Eve, daughter of Satan: your mouth speaks only evil.
You, a woman, are under obedience: your voice is irrelevant,
Your superiors speak for you, if speech is necessary, which from women is rarely so.
You are less than nobody in God’s church: was it not you, a woman, who dealt with the devil, and caused sin to grow and drag down forever the church of God?
You caused the death and suffering of Jesus; now take your place submissively as an evil irrelevancy.
But God said to Gertrude:
Write, speak, forgive sins in my name: I will never let your words be in vain,
I now make you a priest of God, you are my mouthpiece.
My words are your words and yours mine.
The words of the powerful are shallow like pebbles in an empty can.
I now touch your mouth, today I make you my priest:
Feed the people,
Bless the bread,
Share the wine.
Speak for me to them.
Remove their doubts and scruples.
Lift their burdens.
Help the women to stand tall.
Tell them, “Come.”
No wonder we call her Gertrude the Great,
Ordained by God Herself, spokesperson of the Holy One.
God of Gertrude, Gertrude of God,
Touch our mouths with courage,
Loosen our tongues to speak,
Straighten our back to stand tall,
Priest us! Priest the women,
God the Great, Gertrude the Great.
Marie Bouclin
Inspired by Gertrude the Great of Helfta (Mary Malone, Praying with the Women Mystics, Novalis, 2006
Inspired by Gertrude the Great of Helfta (Mary Malone, Praying with the Women Mystics, Novalis, 2006
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