Feast of St. Gertrude, November 16th

(1256-1301) Born in Eisleben, Germany, Saint Gertrude was received into the Cistercian convent. She studied literature and philosophy and devoted herself as well to prayer and contemplation. In cooperation with her close friend and fellow mystic Saint Mechtildis, St. Gertrude wrote a compilation of prayers that became very popular. She introduced the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus which, centuries later, would spread throughout the Church.

St Gertrude's Cathedral is the seat of the Archbishop of the Old Catholic Church. That Church originated in the 18th century after a conflict with the Church of Rome. Now the Old Catholic Church is associated with churches in other countries, e.g. with the Church of England. The present Cathedral was built between 1912 and 1914. The Neo-Romanesque style was chosen, because the former Collegiate Church of St Mary's, which stood close by, was the most beautiful Romanesque church in Utrecht.
The Chapel of St Gertrude's preceded the Cathedral. This recently renovated chapel is the finest example of a 17th-century clandestine church in Holland. Its restoration was rewarded the Europa Nostra Award for Restoration and Conservation in 1993. In this hidden church was the ordination of Bishop Arnold Harris Matthews who sent missionaries to the United States.

Photos of the Cathedral and Chapel