One day, when St. Gertrude the Great was ill, she saw one of the other nuns hurrying to hear the sermon about to be preached. St. Gertrude complained to Jesus saying: "You know, my Beloved, how happily I would now hear this sermon, if I were not prevented by sickness."

Hearing this, Our Lord kindly asked: "Do you wish, My dear spouse, that I preach to you Myself?"

The saint, of course, accepted this irresistible offer. Jesus then bade her to lean against His Heart. As Gertrude rested there, she could feel two most loving and powerful movements within this Divine Heart.

Our Lord said to her, "Each of these movements works toward the salvation of man in three different ways. The first works for the salvation of sinners; the second, for that of the just."

He then explained the three ways that this first heartbeat works for the salvation of sinners.

"By the first, I speak continually with My Eternal Father - I appease His anger against sinners, and I incline Him to show them mercy. By the second, I speak to my Saints, urging them, with the zeal and loyalty of a Brother, to intercede with God for sinners. By the third, I speak to sinners themselves, calling them mercifully to do penance, and awaiting their conversion with inexpressible desire."

The Lord then told Gertrude the meanings of the second heartbeat, and the three-fold manner in which it works for the salvation of the just.

"By the second movement of My Heart, I invite my Father to rejoice with Me for having poured forth My Precious Blood so effectively and fruitfully for the just, in whose merits I find so many delights. Secondly, I invite all the heavenly host to praise My works of Providence, that they may return Me thanks for all the benefits which I have granted them, and that I may grant them more benefits for the future. Thirdly, I speak to the just, giving them many beneficial consolations, and warning them to profit faithfully by these helps, from day to day, and hour to hour."

Our loving God then concluded,

"As the pulsing of the human heart is not interrupted by seeing, hearing, or any other occupation, but always continues without relaxation - so the care of governing Heaven and Earth, and the whole universe, cannot diminish or interrupt for a moment these two movements of My Divine Heart, which will continue to the end of ages."