Gertrude the Great
[1256-1302]
Gertrude was a prolific writer of the 13th century and the only female saint to be called “Great.” But in a 1902 lecture, the psychologist-philosopher William James wasn’t impressed. Citing one of her writings, where her headaches were cured by prayer, James called Gertrude an “undeserving person of the most absurd and puerile sort” for thinking God was “interested exclusively in dealing out personal favors.”
But what, then, of Gertrude’s famous prayer for the people in purgatory? Though just a sentence long, every time it’s spoken it’s said to send a thousand trapped souls to heaven. Or at least that’s how it used to be. Around the time James condemned her, Pope Leo XIII ruled that Catholics aren’t allowed to say prayers that promise to free souls from purgatory. Instead, you’re supposed to visit a cemetery on All Saints Day — ah, two weeks ago, just missed it.