GERTRUDE VAN OOSTEN. - Mystic, born c. 1300 at Voorburg (Holland), died at Delft on 6 Jan. 1358. Various writers call her either saint or blessed; Bollando gives her the title of venerable. Her poor parents placed her in service with a family at Delft. Humble work did not prevent her from leading a very intense interior life, hidden from the world. She formed friendships with several pious young women, with whom she sang religious songs in public squares in order to urge passers-by to love her Divine Spouse.
Disappointed in an honourable engagement, G. entered the Béguinage of the same city, where her spiritual life received fresh impetus. She had a particular devotion to the Passion of Jesus, which impressed the stigmata upon her as early as eighteen years before her death. Her mystical life was marked by many extraordinary phenomena, and her humility and purity, self-denial and mortification, life of charity and zeal, and union with God seem to demonstrate their divine origin. Only two of her songs remain, though their authenticity is still disputed. It is claimed that her nickname (van Oosten) derived from the first line of her best-known song: Het déghiet in den Oosten (“The day breaks in the east”). As late as 1631, Gedolfo stated that he knew of the existence of her manuscript poems, which are now considered lost.