St. Mechtilde

St. Mechtilde (Mechtild of Hackeborn) was born around 1241 into a noble family in Saxony (in modern Germany), and died on 19 November 1298 at the monastery of Helfta. Entrusted to the convent as a child, she became a Benedictine nun of Helfta, which under the leadership of her sister, Abbess Gertrude of Hackeborn, flourished as one of the great centers of learning and mysticism of the age. Gifted with a beautiful voice, she directed the choir and was known as 'the nightingale of Helfta.'

A woman of deep prayer and joy, she received throughout her life profound mystical experiences and visions of Christ. Late in her life these were written down by her sisters — among them St. Gertrude the Great, whom she helped form — and published as the Book of Special Grace, which spread widely and nourished the growing devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. She is venerated as a saint and counted among the mystics of Helfta.