Gertrude was never formally canonized, but a liturgical office of prayer, readings, and hymns in her honor was approved by Rome in 1606.
The Feast of St. Gertrude was extended to the Catholic Church by Clement XII and today is celebrated on November 16, the date of her death.
Some religious communities, including the Benedictines, celebrate her feast on November 17.
Pope Benedict XIV gave her the title "the Great" to distinguish her from Abbess Gertrude of Hackeborn and to recognize the depth of her spiritual and theological insight.

Gertrude showed "tender sympathy towards the souls in purgatory" and urged prayers for them.
She is therefore invoked for suffering souls in purgatory.
The following prayer is attributed to St. Gertrude, and is often depicted on her prayer card:
Eternal Father, I offer Thee the Most Precious Blood of Thy Divine Son, Jesus, in union with the Masses said throughout the world today, for all the Holy Souls in Purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the universal Church, for those in my own home and in my family.
Amen.

Perhaps for that reason, her name has been attached to a prayer that, according to a legend of uncertain origin and date (neither are found in the Revelations of Saint Gertrude the Great), Christ promised to release a thousand souls from purgatory each time it was said; despite the fact that practices relative to alleged promises to free one or more souls from purgatory by the recitation of some prayer were prohibited by Pope Leo XIII.
Nonetheless, the material that is found in her Revelations, such as the celebration of Gregorian Masses for the departed, is well in line with the devotions approved by the Catholic Church.
Gertrude was never formally canonized, but a liturgical office of prayer, readings, and hymns in her honor was approved by Rome in 1606. The Feast of St. Gertrude was extended to the Catholic Church by Clement XII and today is celebrated on November 16, the date of her death. Some religious communities, including the Benedictines, celebrate her feast on November 17. Pope Benedict XIV gave her the title "the Great" to distinguish her from Abbess Gertrude of Hackeborn and to recognize the depth of her spiritual and theological insight.
Gertrude showed "tender sympathy towards the souls in purgatory" and urged prayers for them. She is therefore invoked for suffering souls in purgatory. The following prayer is attributed to St. Gertrude, and is often depicted on her prayer card:
Eternal Father, I offer Thee the Most Precious Blood of Thy Divine Son, Jesus, in union with the Masses said throughout the world today, for all the Holy Souls in Purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the universal Church, for those in my own home and in my family. Amen.
Perhaps for that reason, her name has been attached to a prayer that, according to a legend of uncertain origin and date (neither are found in the Revelations of Saint Gertrude the Great), Christ promised to release a thousand souls from purgatory each time it was said; despite the fact that practices relative to alleged promises to free one or more souls from purgatory by the recitation of some prayer were prohibited by Pope Leo XIII. Nonetheless, the material that is found in her Revelations, such as the celebration of Gregorian Masses for the departed, is well in line with the devotions approved by the Catholic Church.
Gertrude the Great