Welcome!

It is good to have you share in this retreat and I hope that the material provided will help you with your prayer and reflection. 

There are two videos and some written material on the teaching of St Hildegard. 

The first Video Conference reflects on the importance of music in the spiritual life - as you will see, expressed forcefully by Hildegard. 

The second Video Conference explores the theme of 'greenness' that is central to her music and her writings.

Together I hope they give you a good taste of this truly remarkable woman.

Fr Brendan

How many are your works, O Lord!

In wisdom you have made them all.

The earth is full of your riches.

There is the sea, vast and wide,

with its moving swarms past counting,

living things great and small.

The ships are moving there

and the monsters you made to play with.

All of these look to you

to give them their food in due season.

You give it, they gather it up:

you open your hand, they have their fill.

You hide your face, they are dismayed;

you take back your spirit, they die,

returning to the dust from which they came.

You send forth your spirit, they are created;

and you renew the face of the earth.

May the glory of the Lord last for ever!

May the Lord rejoice in his works!

He looks on the earth and it trembles;

the mountains send forth smoke at his touch.

I will sing to the Lord all my life,

make music to my God while I live.

May my thoughts be pleasing to him.

I find my joy in the Lord.

Let sinners vanish from the earth

and the wicked exist no more.

Bless the Lord, my soul.

O God, by whose grace your servant Hildegard, kindled with the Fire of your love, became a burning and shining light in your Church: 

Grant that we also may be aflame with the spirit of love and discipline, and walk before you as children of light; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

Pope Benedict, about a week before his visit to Britain gave a talk about Hildegard and used the phrase 'feminine genius.'  

Many of you may have first come across Hildegard through her music. In 1981 Gothic Voices released A feather on the breath of God. It helped the world wake up to the genius that was Hildegard. 

She was one of the towering figures of her century: theologian and visionary, poet and musician, impassioned preacher, herbalist and healer, Benedictine nun and and monastic founderess.   She was a truely accomplished woman.

She speaks with great timeliness to us today, through her love for creation, her medicine, her poetry, her music, her love for Christ and for his Church, wounded also in that time by the sins of both priests and lay people, but still the Body of Christ. 

She was born in the Rhineland in 1098 and died in 1179 at the age of 81. In 1141 her prophetic call came in the form of a vision from the 'Living Light' of the Godhead. In her own day she became known as a fearless prophet and preacher, with the approval of the then Pope Eugene III.

The official proceedings for her canonization began in 1227/1228, under Pope Gregory IX. However they were not completed and she was not formally canonized until 2012 by Pope Benedict.

The saint, who once referred to herself as “I, a poor little untaught Nobody of a woman” was soon after  declared a Doctor of the Church, again by Pope Benedict..

[God speaks:] I, the highest and fiery power, have kindled every spark of life … I, the fiery life of divine essence, am aflame beyond the beauty of the meadows, I gleam in the waters, and I burn in the sun, moon, and stars. With every breeze, as with invisible life that contains everything, I awaken everything to life. The air lives by turning green and being in bloom. The waters flow as if they were alive. The sun lives in its light, and the moon is enkindled, after its disappearance, once again by the light of the sun so that the moon is again revived … And thus I remain hidden in every kind of reality as a fiery power. Everything burns because of me in the way our breath constantly moves us, like the wind-tossed flame in a fire. 

De Operatione Dei, Vision One

All living creatures are, so to speak, sparks from the radiation of God's brilliance, and these sparks emerge from God like the rays of the sun … But if God did not give off those sparks, how would the divine glory become fully visible? … 

There is nothing in creation that does not have some radiance- either Greenness or seeds or flowers or beauty-otherwise it would not be part of creation.

De Operatione Dei, Vision Four

O Viridissima Virga

Hail, O greenest branch,

sprung forth in the airy breezes

of the prayers of the saints.

So the time has come

that your sprays have flourished:

hail, hail to you,

because the heat of the sun has exuded from you

like the aroma of balm.

For the beautiful flower sprung from you

which gave all parched perfumes

their aroma.

And they have radiated anew

in their full freshness.

Whence the skies bestowed dew upon the pasture,

and all the earth was made joyful

because her womb

brought forth corn,

and because the birds of the firmament

built their nests in her.

Then there was harvest ready for Man

and a great rejoicing of banqueters,

whence, O sweet Virgin,

no joy is lacking in you.

Eve rejected all these things.

Now let there be praise to the Highest.

This is what your Creator does. 

God loves you exceedingly, for you are God’s creatures, and God gives you the best of treasures, a vivid intelligence, and hence you must think every hour how to make so great a gift as useful to others as to yourself, so that it will reflect the splendour of sanctity from you, and people will be inspired by your good example to praise and honour God. 

Think every hour how to make so great a gift as useful to others as to yourself, so that it will reflect the splendour of sanctity from you, and so that people will be inspired by your good example to praise and honour God.  

Scivias, Book Ten

Hildegard has been called a 'multimedia artist'. 

Her first text is a visionary theology that amounts to nearly 500 pages in a modern edition. It is called Scivias, short for the Latin Scito vias Domini, ‘‘Know the Ways of the Lord’’ and is divided it into three books. 

At around 1165, in Hildegard’s later years, a deluxe edition was prepared at her monastery in Rupertsberg that included thirty-five magnificent illustrations of the visions that she describes. 

Tragically, this manuscript disappeared during World War II, during the time of the bombing of Dresden. Fortunately, black-and-white photos of the original had been made back in 1925, and between 1927 and 1933 the nuns of Eibingen made a fresh copy by hand, with illustrations redrawn according to their original colour scheme. Thus we can see with extraordinary accuracy what the original manuscript looked like. 

They offer a visual record of the work’s theology. It is not thought that Hildegard herself painted the images, but that she oversaw their design and execution. 

There are further illustrations to her texts in other manuscripts.

Image Nine: “The Choirs of Angels”

This mandala image illustrates the nine choirs of angels, who deliver prayers to God and God’s answers to man. The angels serve the glory of God and the salvation of man. Each type of angel protects in a unique manner. This vision informs by introducing the  individual choirs presented in Scivias.

Image 11: “True Trinity in Unity”

The middle image  is among the more famous images, having emerged from the original Scivias Codex manuscript. It illustrates the unity of divine trinity, using basic images of a sapphire-blue human form, surrounded by multi-gold-colored circles, in the midst of a broad background and border. Light flows from the background to emphasize the contrast.

Image 21: “The Building of Salvation”

The third is  Hildegard’s vision of building strong foundations and setting solid cornerstones helps to illustrate her belief in the basic partnership between God and man, which is implicit in all human undertaking and enterprise.

Taken from: 

https://www.healthyhildegard.com/scivias-illustrations/

Read the full story of the Scivias Manuscript.

The Creator is a living light, 

the Son a flash of light, the Holy Spirit fire.

 O Trinity, you are music, you are life!' 

All of creation is a symphony of the Holy Spirit 

which is joy and jubilation.

Be not lax in celebrating. 

Be not lazy in the festive service of God. 

Be ablaze with enthusiasm. 

Let us be an alive, 

burning offering before the altar of God.

Some of Hildegard's writings are not for the fainthearted. Apart from her music, her letters are probably Hildegard at her most accessible. This is a dense letter, which is why I tried to summarize it in the video. But it provides an insight into many aspects of Hildegard for those who wish to read further.

Letter of Hildegard to the Prelates of Mainz, trans: Baird & Ehrman, Letter23

     “By a vision, which was implanted in my soul by God the Great Artisan before I was born, I have been compelled to write these things because of the interdict by which our superiors have bound us, on account of the certain dead man buried at our monastery, a man buried without any objection, with his own priest officiating. Yet only a few days after his burial, these men ordered us to remove him from our cemetery.  Seized by no small terror, as a result, I looked as usual to the True Light, and, with wakeful eyes, I saw in my spirit that if this man were disinterred in accordance with their commands, a terrible and lamentable danger would come upon us like a dark cloud before a threatening thunderstorm. 

     Therefore, we have not presumed to remove the body of the deceased inasmuch as he had confessed his sins, had received extreme unction and communion, and had been buried without objection.  Furthermore, we have not yielded to those who advised or even commanded this course of action.  Not certainly, that we take the counsel of upright men or the orders of our superiors lightly, but we would not have it appear that, out of feminine harshness we did injustice to the sacraments of Christ, with which this man had been fortified while he was still alive.  But so that we may not be totally disobedient we have, in accordance with their injunction, ceased from singing the divine praises and from participation in Mass, as had been our regular monthly custom.

     As a result, my sisters and I have been greatly distressed and saddened.  Weighed down by this burden, therefore, I heard these words in a vision: “It is improper for you to obey human words ordering you to abandon the sacraments of the Garment of the Word of God, Who, born virginally of the Virgin Mary, is your salvation.  Still, it is incumbent upon you to seek permission to participate in the sacraments from those prelates who laid the obligation of obedience upon you.  For ever since Adam was driven from the bright region of paradise into the exile of this world on account of his disobedience, the conception of all people is justly tainted by that first transgression.  

Therefore, in accordance with God’s inscrutable plan, it was necessary for a man free from all pollution to be born in human flesh, through whom all who are predestined to life might be cleansed from corruption and might be sanctified by the communion of his body so that he might remain in them and they in him for their fortification.  That person, however, who is disobedient to the commands of God, as Adam was, and is completely forgetful of Him must be completely cut off from participation in His body, just as he himself has turned away from Him in disobedience. And he must remain so until, purged through penitence, he is permitted by the authorities to receive the communion of the Lord’s body again.  In contrast, however, a person who is aware that he has incurred such a restriction not as a result of anything he has done, either consciously or deliberately, may be present at the service of the life-giving sacrament, to be cleansed by the Lamb without sin, Who, in obedience to the Father, allowed Himself to be sacrificed on the altar of the cross that he might restore salvation to all.”

     In the same vision I also heard that I had erred in not going humbly and devoutly to my superiors for permission to participate in the communion, especially since we were not at fault in receiving that dead man into our cemetery. For, after all, he had been fortified by his own priest with proper Christian procedure, and, without objection to anyone, was buried in our cemetery, with all Bingen joining in the funeral procession.  And so God has commanded me to report these things to you, our lords and prelates.  Further, I saw in my vision also that by obeying you we have been celebrating the divine office incorrectly, for from the time of your restriction up to the present, we have ceased to sing the divine office, merely reading it instead.  And I heard a voice coming from the Living Light concerning the various kinds of praises, about which David speaks in the psalm: “Praise Him with sound of trumpet: praise Him with psaltery and harp,” and so forth up to this point: “Let every spirit praise the Lord.” (Ps 150.3-5)  These words use outward, visible things to teach us about inward things.  Thus the material composition and the quality of these instruments instruct us how we ought to give form to the praise of the Creator and turn all the convictions of our inner being to the same.  When we consider these things carefully, we recall that man needed the voice of the living Spirit, but Adam lost this divine voice through disobedience.  For while he was still innocent, before his transgression, his voice blended fully with the voices of the angels in their praise of God.  Angels are called spirits from that Spirit which is God, and thus they have such voices by virtue of their spiritual nature.  But Adam lost that angelic voice which he had in paradise, for he fell asleep to that knowledge which he possessed before his sin, just as a person on waking up only dimly remembers what he had seen in his dreams.  And so when he was deceived by the trick of the devil and rejected the will of his Creator, he became wrapped up in the darkness of inward ignorance as the just result of his iniquity.  God, however, restores the souls of the elect to that pristine blessedness by infusing them with the light of truth. And in accordance with His eternal plan, He so devised it that whenever He renews the hearts of many with the pouring out of the prophetic spirit, they might, by means of His interior illumination, regain some of the knowledge which Adam had before he was punished for his sin. 

     And so the holy prophets, inspired by the Spirit which they had received, were called for this purpose: not only to compose psalms and canticles (by which the hearts of listeners would be inflamed) but also to construct various kinds of musical instruments to enhance these songs of praise with melodic strains.  Thereby, both through the form and the quality of the instruments, as well as through the meaning of the words which accompany them, those who hear might be taught, as we said above, about inward things, since they have been admonished and aroused by outward things.  In such a way, these holy prophets get beyond the music of this exile and recall to mind that divine melody of praise which Adam, in company with the angels, enjoyed in God before his fall. 

     Men of zeal and wisdom have imitated the holy prophets and have themselves, with human skill, invented several kinds of musical instruments, so that they might be able to sing for the delight of their souls, and they accompanied their singing with instruments played with the flexing of fingers, recalling, in this way, Adam, who was formed by God’s finger, which is the Holy Spirit.  For, before he sinned, his voice had the sweetness of all musical harmony. Indeed, if he had remained in his original state, the weakness of mortal man would not have been able to endure the power and resonance of his voice. 

    But when the devil, man’s great deceiver, learned that man had begun to sing through God’s inspiration and, therefore, was being transformed to bring back the sweetness of the songs of heaven, mankind’s homeland, he was so terrified at seeing his clever machinations go to ruin that he was greatly tormented.  Therefore, he devotes himself continually to thinking up and working out all kinds of wicked contrivances.  Thus he never ceases from confounding confession and the sweet beauty of both divine praise and spiritual hymns, eradicating them through wicked suggestions, impure thoughts, or various distractions from the heart of man and even from the mouth of the Church itself, wherever he can, through dissension, scandal, or unjust oppression. 

     Therefore, you and all prelates must exercise the greatest vigilance to clear the air by full and thorough discussion of the justification for such actions before your verdict closes the mouth of any church singing praises to God or suspends it from handling or receiving the divine sacraments. And you must be especially certain that you are drawn to this action out of zeal for God’s justice, rather than out of indignation, unjust emotions, or a desire for revenge, and you must always be on your guard not to be circumvented in your decisions by Satan, who drove man from celestial harmony and the delights of paradise. 

     Consider too that just as the body of Jesus Christ was born of the purity of the Virgin Mary through the operation of the Holy Spirit so too the canticle of praise, reflecting celestial harmony, is rooted in the Church through the Holy Spirit. The body is the vestment of the spirit, which has a living voice, and so it is proper for the body, in harmony with the soul, to use its voice to sing praises to God. Whence, in metaphor, the prophetic spirit commands us to praise God with clashing cymbals and cymbals of jubilation (cf.Ps 150), as well as other musical instruments which men of wisdom and zeal have invented, because all arts pertaining to things useful and necessary for mankind have been created by the breath that God sent into man’s body.  For this reason it is proper that God be praised in all things. 

     And because sometimes a person sighs and groans at the sound of singing, remembering, as it were, the nature of celestial harmony, the prophet, aware that the soul is symphonic and thoughtfully reflecting on the profound nature of the spirit, urges us in the psalm (cf.Ps 32) to confess to the Lord with the harp and to sing a psalm to Him with the ten-stringed psaltery.  His meaning is that the harp, which is plucked from below, relates to the disciplines of the body; the psaltery, which is plucked from above, pertains to the exertion of the spirit; the ten chords, to the fulfilment of the law. 

     Therefore, those who, without just cause, impose silence on a church and prohibit the singing of God’s praises and those who have on earth unjustly despoiled God of His honour and glory will lose their place among the chorus of angels, unless they have amended their lives through true penitence and humble restitution.  Moreover, let those who hold the keys of heaven beware not to open those things which are meant to be kept closed nor to close those things which are to be kept open, for harsh judgment will fall upon those who rule, unless, as the apostle says (cf. Rom 12.8), they rule with good judgment. 

     And I heard a voice saying thus: Who created heaven?  God.  Who opens heaven to the faithful? God. Who is like Him?No one.And so, O men of faith, let none of you resist Him or oppose Him, lest he fall on you in His might and you have no helper to protect you from His judgment. This time is a womanish time, because the dispensation of God’s justice is weak.  But the strength of God’s justice is exerting itself, a female warrior battling against injustice so that it might fall defeated.” 

God of all times and seasons: 

Give us grace that we, after the example of your servant Hildegard, may both know and make known the joy and jubilation of being part of your creation, and show forth your glory not only with our lips but in our lives; 

Through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son, 

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Hildegard of Bingen

A feather on the breath of God at play,

You saw the play of God in all creation.

You drew eternal light into each day,

And every living breath was inspiration.

You made a play with every virtue playing,

Made music for each sister-soul to sing,

Listened for what each herb and stone was saying,

And heard the Word of God in everything.

Mother from mother earth and Magistra,

Your song revealed God’s hidden gift to us;

The verdant fire, his holy harbinger

The greening glory of viriditas.

‘Cherish this earth that keeps us all alive’

Either we hear you, or we don’t survive.

Malcolm Guite, is poet priest. This poem can be found in his collection: The Singing Bowl.

Thanks for following this retreat.

Pray for us all at Belmont as we pray that you and your loved ones stay safe and well.