Gertrud of Helfta

On Work and Prayer

The revelation concerning the unlearned person was this: she was depressed because she seemed to be prevented from prayer by the various cares of the office entrusted to her. And so when [Gertrud] was praying for her she received this reply from the Lord: "I have not chosen her so that she should serve me only at one hour of the day, but rather that she should be with me all day long without any respite: that is, she should do all her work unceasingly to my praise, with the intention with which she would like to pray. And let her add this devotion, that is, that in all the work in which she toils in the course of duty, let her always desire that those who make use of her labors should not only be refreshed in body but should also be drawn in spirit to my love, and strengthened in all good. And whenever she does this, it seems to me that she seasons well each of the dishes of her work and labor with the strongest salt."

The Herald of God's Loving Kindness; CF 63:209