HILDEGARD OF BINGEN
Prophetess of her Time
Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) is regarded one of the most important women of the German Middle Ages and is known today far beyond the borders of her Rhenish homeland. Her contemporaries were under her spell as well as people nowadays, seeking for sense of life, orientation, universality and salvation.
Hildegard's work and the way she saw herself are strongly marked by vision and prophecy. Both, divine origin of what she visualized and heard in the "living light', and sense of mission are special features of her character. Hildegard wanted to stir up the conscience of the people of her time and to oppose to godlessness. Nevertheless, she did not preach unworldly inwardness at all. Her aim was the religious interpretation of the whole universe and a consequent Christian life. Heaven and earth, faith and natural science, the human existence in all its facets and potentials, everything was a mirror of divine love to her, a present and challenge at the same time.
Hildegard's writings especially drew from the Scriptures, from liturgy and the Rule of St. Benedict, that is from the same sources Hildegard was living of as a religious in the Benedictine Order. But she also knew the Fathers of the Church. In her first work "SCIVIAS - Know the Ways" she is considering and contemplating on the history of creation and salvation, from the origin of the world and of man over the birth of the Church through Christ's salvation to the fulfillment at the end of times. The eternal story of God and mankind, their turning away from and returning to the Creator is brought to life in ever changing pictures. Impressing about Hildegard's visionary scriptures is, above all, her powerful eloquence. Thus, Hildegard proves to be not only a sovereign theologian, but also a dramatist, poet and composer.
The latter aspect found expression in the composition of 77 chants and a mystical play "Ordo Virtutum - Play of Virtues", portraying in 35 dramatic dialogues the eternal struggle between good and evil. Theologically, she raised the same theme again in her second great important work, the "Liber Vitae Meritorum - Book of Merits of Life". According to Hildegard's basic ideas, man is created as a free being. All his life the decision is left to him to correspond to his being God's image, founded in creation. "Man, become what you already are - a human being.' This saying, quoted so often today, could certainly be taken from Hildegard's thinking.
In her third work "Liber Divinorum Operum - Book of Divine Works", a monumental cosmic scripture, Hildegard depicts the world as a piece of art of God. The human being is seen as a microcosm reflecting in all his physical and mental conditions the laws of the whole macrocosm. Everything is related to each other, linked mutually and inseparably united in God.
The idea of oneness and wholeness is also a key to Hildegard's scriptures on nature and medicine. These are completely characterized by the idea that the salvation and curing of an ill person is only possible by turning towards faith, the unique quality leading to good deeds and a moderate order of life. In this respect Hildegard was not only a prophetess of her time, but she can give guidance and orientation to people today, too.
Hildegard gave a lasting expression to her prophetic ideas in her letters, of which more than 300 have been handed down until today. They are a testimony of fearless directness, radical truthfulness, admonishing concern, refreshing and humorous generosity, personal commitment for the poor and far-reaching political influence (concerning church-matters). Hildegard was considered an acknowledged authority of her time. Many asked her advice, even though it was not always a pleasant one. She was and remains a thorn in the flesh of the Church and the world - 900 years ago as well as today. She died in 1179 on September 17th in her Rupertsberg monastery near Bingen.
Sr. Philippa Rath OSB
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