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Mystic Moment: St. Hildegard of Bingen
“The Word is living, being, spirit, all verdant greening, all creativity.
This Word manifests itself in every creature.”
OPENING PRAYER
Gently lift us, Holy One, into the universal cloud of your Love, where all creatures are sisters and brothers. Enlighten us as we study the lives of holy ones who trod the Journey before us, mystics who have experienced your unspeakable presence beyond ritual or dogma. Open our eyes and hearts to what they have to teach us. Today, sharpen our perception of St. Hildegard of Bingen, whose courage and fearless endeavors during the Middle Ages were shocking to the culture then, and remain exemplary for us today. Amen
VIDEO Blessed Among Us: St. Hildegard of Bingen ( DENNIS – 2.3 minutes)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zF3mhF16rOY sheencenter.org
Abbess; Artist; Author; Botanist; Composer; Correspondent of Popes and Kings; Eco-Warrior; Healer; Musician; Physician; Playwright; Poet; Preacher; Theologian; Visionary.
READING 1
In much of our lifetime, St. Hildegard has been forgotten. About the year 2000, her name exploded on the scene in venues as polymaths we have known and loved; new age music; mystics; artists; fierce feminists; in cosmology; gender studies; medicine, healing and botany; musical composition, church music, theater and opera. She was the “social influencer” of her day, impacting the culture of Europe shaking up the contemporary milieu.
So, pray tell, how did 831 years pass without this phenomenal woman being Canonized? Hildegard of Bingen was a controversial figure in the 1200’s, openly and often criticizing civic and Church leaders’ failure in their Christian duties, especially the practice of simony. As Abbess, her fame spread as she completed 3 tours of preaching in cathedrals, churches, abbeys, monasteries and towns up and down the Rhine River Valley… an unheard-of practice for women in the Middle Ages.
At long last, theological heavyweight Abbess Hildegard with her 77 pieces of liturgical music, morality plays, botanic manual for medical and spiritual healing, visionary fame, functioning as a “Dear Abby” advice columnist to European kings and popes, she was formally Canonized in 2012. As well, Hildegard was named the 4th woman, 35th Doctor of the Universal Church in 2012. Only theologians who have significantly impacted Church Doctrine receive this honor. In 2017 Pope Francis said, “Women must not be reduced to servants of our recalcitrant clericalism.” Creation Spiritualist St. Hildegard’s time has come!
Dear St. Hildegard:
Help us begin to fathom how from the age of 3, your 26 Visions affected your life, reverberating your prophetic presence rolling down the centuries. Shower us with insights into universal connectedness with the Great Mystery. Your Visions set you apart as a courageous, prophetic mystic from other spiritual models of the Middle Ages. We struggle to imagine the emotional trauma you, your family, and the religious authorities experienced knowing your gifts could not stay hidden, but would burst forth from the cloister walls. You would enlighten the world forever. St. Hildegard, grant us the sensitivity to recognize the fruit of your gifts, unlock Divine Mysteries from your life, and courage to speak our truth in today’s world. Amen.
READING 2
Being a Visionary sets a saint apart from others. Although St. Hildegard began having Visions in childhood, during her 42nd year she experienced a series of painful visionary experiences, with the Divine call to write and speak of them. In 1147 she began to draw these Visions, part of her first published 600-page book of Theology, “Scivias,” or “Know the Ways.” The Vision depicted here is called, “The Universe,” and represents the earth surrounded by the voice of the Holy One.
Hildagard’s artistic renderings are her understanding of her Visions, how
the Holy One and humanity, the redemption, our relationship to the earth, and to all creatures and creation.
Abbess Hildegard travelled widely throughout Germany, preaching to large groups about her insights and Visions. European Royalty and the Vatican heard about her; she became revered up and down the Rhine River Valley and beyond.
When a monk asked Hildegard how her visions came to her, she replied: “A fiery light of exceeding brilliance came and permeated my whole brain, and inflamed my whole heart and my whole breast, not like a burning, but like a warming flame, as the sun warms anything its ray’s
touch.”
WHY St. HILDEGARD TODAY?
All of us invested in this learning experience are longing for mystical experience, that is, experiencing a profoundly, life-changing, deeper oneness with the Holy One. Our efforts guide us to radically change our lives, to live authentic lives, that is, connected to the teachings of Jesus. Spiritual Director and author Father Richard Rohr says, “Until someone has had some level of mystical inner spiritual experience, there is no point in asking them to follow in any life changing way the ethical ideals of Jesus or the mystery of Christian doctrines like the Holy Spirit, the Trinity, Salvation, or Incarnation. We simply don’t have the power to really understand or follow any of Jesus’ ideals such as loving others, forgiving enemies, nonviolence or the humble use of power except in and through a mystical union with God.” Rohr goes on to say that “mysticism teaches us how to find God, and a mystic is someone who has been recognized as doing this particularly well.”
Arial View of Benedictine Monastery at Bingen, Germany
MYSTICAL WISDOM OF ST. HILDEGARD (QUOTES)
“Woman may be made from man, but no man can be made
without a woman.”
“We shall awaken from our dullness and rise vigorously toward
justice. If we fall in love with creation deeper and deeper, we
will respond to its endangerment with passion.”
"The fire has its flame and praises God. The wind blows
the flame and praises God. In the voice we hear the word
which praises God. And the word, when heard, praises God."
“Drink beer for health.”
"All living creatures are sparks from the radiation of God's
brilliance, emerging from God like the rays of the sun."
"Give man a dog for the health of his soul."
"The earth which sustains humanity must not be injured. It
must not be destroyed!"
MUSICOLOGY
In Hildegard’s day Church music consisted of Gregorian chant, in existence since the 6th century. She wrote 77 compositions in her easily recognizable, ethereal sounding style. Her music burst the bonds of the 1-octave plain chant and allowed leaps and falls of voice to praise the Holy One. For Hildegard, music was almost sacramental, as it was a living channel of our thoughts, prayers, and emotions to the Holy One and from the Holy One to us. She wrote hymns, antiphons, responsories, sequences, etc. for the Liturgy of the Hours, for feast day celebration with her nuns, as well as the first morality play, “Ordo Virtutem,” (The Play of Virtues). It is the only musical drama to survive the centuries with both text and music.
Altogether in her last 3 decades, St. Hildegard wrote two more theological books related to medicine and natural healing, nearly 400 letters, and her great collection of music and poetry, Symphonia Armonie Celestium Revelationum.
CLOSING PRAYER
Dear St. Hildegarde: We are 21st Century seekers of holy wisdom, sojourners on the path birthing a world where all are welcome. We are “late bloomers” like you, learning new ways to bring creation together in peace and harmony. As we soak in your melodies, fill us with music that regenerates, purifies, and increases our sensitivity and thinking so that we too, can make our world holy and healthy. While we meditate on your visions shared on canvas, stand by us as we continue to pursue the way to connect with the Holy One and each other on the Journey to the Kin-Dom. Amen
Closing Song: The Flower Gleams (Hodie Aperuit) by Hildegarde of Bingen
https://youtu.be/O_5PW8prh9s?
TODAY’S BENEDICTINE MONASTERY OF ST. HILDEGARD IN BINGEN, GERMANY
“RUDESHEIM, HESSE - The St. Hildegard winery is the last in Germany that is still fully-owned by an abbey. The winery traces its beginning to the 11th century and the wine-making of the nuns from the St. Hildegard Abbey at Bingen, the Abbey's former location just across the Rhine river. The St. Hildegard varieties include Riesling and Spaetburgunder. The nuns sell the wine from the abbey store.” (PhotoS by Thomas Lohnes/Getty Images)
Enjoy these Photos of St. Hildegard Abbey
Grape Harvest at Benedictine Monastery of St. Hildegard in Bingen, Germany
“The earth sustains humanity. It must not be injured; it must not be destroyed.”
“The mystery of God hugs you in its all-encompassing arms.”
“All creation
is a song of praise to God.”
Benedictine Nuns at the Monastery Founded by St. Hildegard in Bingen, Germany
The fruit of the vine made by the Benedictine Nuns at Bingen, Germany
Now help yourself to one of Abbess Hildegard’s “Cookies of Joy!”
Cookies of Joy Recipe used by St. Hildegard of Bingen from Sam O'Brien Cookbook
Ingredients
12 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup raw honey
4 egg yolks
2 1/2 cups spelt flour (you can usually find it in the baking aisle)
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon nutmeg
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon cloves
Instructions
Melt the butter, then add it to a medium bowl with the sugar, honey, and egg yolks. Beat gently, then fold in the rest of the ingredients. Refrigerate the dough for an hour.
Flour a surface and then roll out the cookie dough until about a 1/4 inch thick. Cut the dough into small circles using a cookie cutter or an upturned glass.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, then bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 minutes, or until a golden-brown. Let cool, then enjoy.Gastro Obscura covers the world’s mo
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REFERENCES & RESOURCES FOR St. HILDEGARD “MOMENTS”
Baird, J.L. ed. (2006) The personal correspondence of Hildegard of Bingen. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Baom. J. & Jennifer Bain, ed., (2021) The Cambridge companion to Hildegard of Bingen. https://www.cambridge.org/.../60C953CC0C2B6E6CC80DB465F9D... )
Dronke, P. 1984. "Hildegard von Bingen." In Women Writers of the Middle Ages: A Critical Study of Texts from Perpetua to Marguerite Porete. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
Flanigan, S. (1989) Hildegard of Bingen: A visionary life. London: Routledge, 1989; reprint, New York: Routledge, 1993. (https://www.routledge.com/.../Flanagan/p/book/9780415185516
Fournier-Rosset, J. 2010. From Saint Hildegard's kitchen: Foods of health, foods of joy. Liguori.
Fox, M. (2002) Illuminations of Hildegard of Bingen. Bear & Co., Santa Fe, NM.
Highley, S. (2007) Hildegard of Bingen's unknown language. An Edition Translation and Discussion. Palgrave, Macmillan.
Hildegardis Bingensis, Opera minora. H. Feiss, C. Evans, B. M. Kienzle, C. Muessig, B. Newman, P. Dronke eds., Corpus Christianorum Continuatio Mediaevalis CCCM 226 (Turnhout Brepols, 2007)
Hildegardis Bingensis, Opera minora II. C. P. Evans, J. Deploige, S. Moens, M. Embach, K. Gärtner eds., Corpus Christianorum Continuatio Mediaevalis CCCM 226a (Turnhout Brepols, 2014)
Hildegardis Bingensis, Epistolarium pars prima I-XC edited by L. Van Acker, Corpus Christianorum Continuatio Mediaevalis CCCM 91A (Turnhout: Brepols, 1991)
Hildegardis Bingensis, Epistolarium pars secunda XCI-CCLr edited by L. Van Acker, Corpus Christianorum Continuatio Mediaevalis CCCM 91A (Turnhout: Brepols, 1993)
Hildegardis Bingensis, Epistolarium pars tertia CCLI-CCCXC edited by L. Van Acker and M. Klaes-Hachmoller, Corpus Christianorum Continuatio Mediaevalis XCIB (Turnhout: Brepols, 2001)
Hildegard of Bingen. The letters of Hildegard of Bingen: Volume I. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.
Hildegard of Bingen. The Letters of Hildegard of Bingen: Volume II. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.
Hildegard of Bingen. The Letters of Hildegard of Bingen: Volume III. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004.
Kerby-Fulton, K.1998. “Prophet and reformer.” In Voice of the Living Light: Hildegard of Bingen and Her World, ed. Barbara Newman, 70-90. University of California Press. Berkeley, CA.
Meconi, H. 𝘏𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘉𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘯 (https://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/?id=p083679 2018.
McGinn, Bernard. “The changing shape of late medieval mysticism,” Church History, Vol. 65, No.2 (Jun 1996), 197-219.
McGinn, Bernard. “Love, knowledge, and mystical union in western Christianity: twelfth through sixteenth centuries,” Church History, Vol. 56, No.1 (March 1987) : 7-24.
Newman, B. (1987) Sister of wisdom: St. Hildegard’s theology of the feminine. Berkeley: University of California Press, reprint 1989.
Newman, B. ed., 𝘝𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘓𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵: 𝘏𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘉𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘏𝘦𝘳 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 (1998: https://www.ucpress.edu/.../978.../voice-of-the-living-light )
Silvas, A. (1998) Jutta and Hildegard: The biographical sources. University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State University Press.
Strehlow, W. and Hertzka, G. (1987) Hildegard of Bingen's medicine. (Folk Wisdom Series) Bear & Co.
Throop, P. (1998) Physica; The Complete English Translation of Hildegard Von Bingen’s Classic work on health and healing. Healing Arts Press. Rochester, VT.
OTHER RESOURCES USED:
Bob Sessions Photo of St. Hildegard in St. Rochus Chapel
https://thecatholictravelguide.com/destinations/germany/eibingen-germany-benedictine-abbey-eibingen-saint-hildegard-bingen/ Source of the photos of nuns at St. Hildegard Abbey and Winery
Cookies of Joy Recipe from Hildegard. Source for recipe is:
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/medieval-cookie-recipe
Cookies of Joy, recipe https://www.atlasobscura.com/users/sam-o-brien?view=articles
Original A Capella: Hildegard von Bingen & Arrangement: Toni Castells
https://youtu.be/aEI1QrZINeg VISION short intro to movie Vision use this
https://youtu.be/Czpv38-it8A Medicine in Medieval gardens 2 minutes on St. Hildegarde
https://youtu.be/gWE5D461KzQ 4.29 excellent life of Hildegard
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