St. Gertrude the Great was a Benedictine mystic, patroness of the West Indies, much and revered by St. Teresa of Avila. Gertrude was born in Eisleben, Germany, and was placed with the Benedictine nuns of Helfta in Saxony at the age of five, becoming a student of St. Mechtilde.

As a nun, Gertrude had her first vision of Christ at the age of twenty-six. She authored the Exercita Spiritualia, a collection of prayers, and the highly respected Legatus Divinae Pietatis, a magnificent expression of Christian mysticism; Gertrude herself wrote the Second Book of the Legatus, the other portions being written from her notes. With St. Mechtilde, she wrote prayers that spread devotion of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. She died on November 17, 1302.