Ellen JOHNSON. This Is My Body: Eucharistic Theology and Anthropology in the Writings of Gertrude the Great of Helfta. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2020. pp. 246. $34.95 pb. ISBN 9780879072803. Reviewed by Richard SHIELDS, University of St. Michael’s College, Toronto, ON M5S 1J4

Ellen Johnson is a professor at St. Ambrose University (Iowa), with a special interest in medieval women mystics. The title of the current work (This is My Body: Eucharistic Theology and Anthropology in the Writings of Gertrude the Great of Helfta.) not only signals a liturgical connection, but indicates the physical-sensual character of the spiritual teachings of Gertrude the Great of Helfta. This book is more than a historical recovery of the rich theological and mystical tradition of the Cistercian cloister at Helfta during its 13th century prime as a center for women’s rigorous intellectual and theological education. It is a nuanced and well referenced argument that “Gertrude’s highly nuanced and sophisticated theology merits a place in the canon of medieval theological works.” The thesis (originally Johnson’s doctoral dissertation) unfolds in seven chapters. With limited primary sources from which to draw (The Exercises and The Herald of Divine Love), Johnson has her work cut out for her. Johnson’s line of argument begins with two chapters that describe Gertrude’s life and writings, followed by an account of the intellectual and spiritual environment of the Helfta monastery, because “a satisfactory analysis of the innovations that Gertrude made in Eucharistic theology and anthropology depends upon a thorough understanding of her life experiences, of the women with whom she lived and wrote, and of the way her books were formed (56).”

In the following two chapters Johnson locates Gertrude within the theological tradition of the “spiritual senses,” as an essential step toward understanding the uniqueness and theological depth of the Helfta nun’s devotional teachings. Starting with Origen, through Augustine, and Bernard of Clairvaux, Johnson illustrates Gertrude’s ability to transform what was originally a dichotomous doctrine into a theological anthropology that sees the body as an integral part of the Christian’s path to intimacy with God. The fifth chapter is an in-depth study of how Gertrude grounds her spiritual teachings in an anthropology that emanates from the Mass, specifically the Eucharistic host—the concrete reality which facilitates connecting the physical and spiritual senses in her doctrine. The union with God that occurs in the eating of the host serves as the basis of Gertrude’s “reimagining deeply rooted institutions in the structure of Christian thought,” and challenging devotional tropes that reinforced gender stereotypes. This issue is discussed in the next chapter, which explores Gertrude’s appropriation of roles traditionally reserved to men and to clergy. A final chapter reiterates and summarizes the key themes of this study.

While the modern reader may find the images in Gertrude’s devotional teachings off-putting, the book offers a serious contribution to medieval studies, particularly in regard to how the Mass was viewed and how the consecrated host formed divergent devotional practices. Johnson’s study also provides important insights into the rich intellectual, cultural, and spiritual life of women’s monasteries in the 13-14th centuries. Finally, Johnson’s bibliography will acquaint the reader with the substantive contribution being made by women theologians in today’s academic and ecclesiastical milieu.