GERARD of STERNGASSEN. - Dominican mystic of the 14th century. GERARDO DI STERNGASSEN (v.), G. was a lecturer in theology and a trusted figure among many, as evidenced by his role as an executor of wills. Although a confrere of Eckhart in Cologne, he was not influenced by the latter’s doctrine but adhered instead to the school and texts of St. Thomas.
He left behind a sermon preached to the Antonines of Cologne, preserved in the *Life of the Saints* by Hermann of Fritzlar and published by F. Pfeiffer in *Deutsche Mystiker*, Leipzig 1845, pp. 60-63. His principal work is *De anima languentis*, of which M. Grabmann described the somewhat abridged text in the Munich codex Clm. 13587, comparing it with the two parts preserved in codices from Trier: Part I (*Pratum animae*) in codex 589 of the Trier Municipal Library, and Part II (*Medela*) in codex 126 of the Trier Major Seminary.
In Part I, G. treats of the vices, drawing examples from the lives of the Desert Fathers and descriptions of the conflict between vice and virtue; he does not refrain from commenting on the conditions of his contemporaries, and after describing the vicious, he depicts the eschatological states. Part II is devoted to the doctrine of Christian virtues, preceded by an exposition of the questions concerning grace and merit, all closely dependent on St. Thomas. With care, G. explains charity as friendship with God and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The doctrine of contemplation is found in the chapter on the Beatitudes. His explanation of the contemplative life is more extensive than that of St. Thomas, enlivened by examples and more theological than psychological in character.