Pope Benedict XVI has proclaimed two new Doctors of the Church: St. John
of Avila and St. Hildegard of Bingen.
Below find Pope Benedict XVI’s
reflections on St. Hildegard delivered during his general audiences
September, 2010.
Saint Hildegard of Bingen
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
In 1988, on the occasion of the Marian Year, Venerable John Paul II wrote an Apostolic Letter entitled on
the precious role that women have played and play in the life of the
Church. "The Church", one reads in it, "gives thanks for all the
manifestations of the feminine "genius' which have appeared in
the course of history, in the midst of all peoples and nations; she
gives thanks for all the charisms that the Holy Spirit distributes to
women in the history of the People of God, for all the victories which
she owes to their faith, hope and charity: she gives thanks for all the
fruits of feminine holiness" ().
Various female figures stand out
for the holiness of their lives and the wealth of their teaching even in
those centuries of history that we usually call the Middle Ages. Today I
would like to begin to present one of them to you: St Hildegard of
Bingen, who lived in Germany in the 12th century. She was born in 1098,
probably at Bermersheim, Rhineland, not far from Alzey, and died in 1179
at the age of 81, in spite of having always been in poor health.
Hildegard belonged to a large noble family and her parents dedicated her
to God from birth for his service. At the age of eight she was offered
for the religious state (in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict,
chapter 59), and, to ensure that she received an appropriate human and
Christian formation, she was entrusted to the care of the consecrated
widow Uda of Gölklheim and then to Jutta of Spanheim who had taken the
veil at the Benedictine Monastery of St Disibodenberg. A small
cloistered women's monastery was developing there that followed the Rule
of St Benedict. Hildegard was clothed by Bishop Otto of Bamberg and in
1136, upon the death of Mother Jutta who had become the community magistra (Prioress),
the sisters chose Hildegard to succeed her. She fulfilled this office
making the most of her gifts as a woman of culture and of lofty
spirituality, capable of dealing competently with the organizational
aspects of cloistered life. A few years later, partly because of the
increasing number of young women who were knocking at the monastery
door, Hildegard broke away from the dominating male monastery of St
Disibodenburg with her community, taking it to Bingen, calling it after
St Rupert and here she spent the rest of her days. Her manner of
exercising the ministry of authority is an example for every religious
community: she inspired holy emulation in the practice of good to such
an extent that, as time was to tell, both the mother and her daughters
competed in mutual esteem and in serving each other.
During the
years when she was superior of the Monastery of St Disibodenberg,
Hildegard began to dictate the mystical visions that she had been
receiving for some time to the monk Volmar, her spiritual director, and
to Richardis di Strade, her secretary, a sister of whom she was very
fond. As always happens in the life of true mystics, Hildegard too
wanted to put herself under the authority of wise people to discern the
origin of her visions, fearing that they were the product of illusions
and did not come from God. She thus turned to a person who was most
highly esteemed in the Church in those times: St Bernard of Clairvaux,
of whom I have already spoken in several Catecheses. He calmed and
encouraged Hildegard. However, in 1147 she received a further, very
important approval. Pope Eugene iii, who was presiding at a Synod in
Trier, read a text dictated by Hildegard presented to him by Archbishop
Henry of Mainz.
The Pope authorized the mystic to write down her visions
and to speak in public. From that moment Hildegard's spiritual prestige
continued to grow so that her contemporaries called her the "Teutonic
prophetess". This, dear friends, is the seal of an authentic experience
of the Holy Spirit, the source of every charism: the person endowed with
supernatural gifts never boasts of them, never flaunts them and, above
all, shows complete obedience to the ecclesial authority. Every gift
bestowed by the Holy Spirit, is in fact intended for the edification of
the Church and the Church, through her Pastors, recognizes its
authenticity.I shall speak again next Wednesday about this great woman,
this "prophetess" who also speaks with great timeliness to us today,
with her courageous ability to discern the signs of the times, her love
for creation, her medicine, her poetry, her music, which today has been
reconstructed, her love for Christ and for his Church which was
suffering in that period too, wounded also in that time by the sins of
both priests and lay people, and far better loved as the Body of Christ.
Hildegard's mystical visions resemble those of the Old Testament
prophets: expressing herself in the cultural and religious categories of
her time, she interpreted the Sacred Scriptures in the light of God,
applying them to the various circumstances of life. Thus all those who
heard her felt the need to live a consistent and committed Christian
lifestyle. In a letter to St Bernard the mystic from the Rhineland
confesses: "The vision fascinates my whole being: I do not see with the
eyes of the body but it appears to me in the spirit of the mysteries....
I recognize the deep meaning of what is expounded on in the Psalter, in
the Gospels and in other books, which have been shown to me in the
vision. This vision burns like a flame in my breast and in my soul and
teaches me to understand the text profoundly" (Epistolarium pars prima I-XC: CCCM 91).
Hildegard's
mystical visions have a rich theological content. They refer to the
principal events of salvation history, and use a language for the most
part poetic and symbolic. For example, in her best known work entitled Scivias, that
is, "You know the ways" she sums up in 35 visions the events of the
history of salvation from the creation of the world to the end of time.
With the characteristic traits of feminine sensitivity, Hildegard
develops at the very heart of her work the theme of the mysterious
marriage between God and humanity that is brought about in the
Incarnation. On the tree of the Cross take place the nuptials of the Son
of God with the Church, his Bride, filled with grace and the ability to
give new children to God, in the love of the Holy Spirit (cf. Visio tertia: PL 197, 453c).
From
these brief references we already see that theology too can receive a
special contribution from women because they are able to talk about God
and the mysteries of faith using their own particular intelligence and
sensitivity. I therefore encourage all those who carry out this service
to do it with a profound ecclesial spirit, nourishing their own
reflection with prayer and looking to the great riches, not yet fully
explored, of the medieval mystic tradition, especially that represented
by luminous models such as Hildegard of Bingen. The Rhenish mystic is also the author of other writings, two of which are particularly important since, like Scivias, they record her mystical visions: they are the Liber vitae meritorum (Book of the merits of life) and the Liber divinorum operum (Book of the divine works), also called De operatione Dei.
In the former she describes a unique and powerful vision of God who
gives life to the cosmos with his power and his light. Hildegard
stresses the deep relationship that exists between man and God and
reminds us that the whole creation, of which man is the summit, receives
life from the Trinity. The work is centred on the relationship between
virtue and vice, which is why human beings must face the daily challenge
of vice that distances them on their way towards God and of virtue that
benefits them. The invitation is to distance themselves from evil in
order to glorify God and, after a virtuous existence, enter the life
that consists "wholly of joy". In her second work that many consider her
masterpiece she once again describes creation in its relationship with
God and the centrality of the human being, expressing a strong
Christo-centrism with a biblical-Patristic flavour. The Saint, who
presents five visions inspired by the Prologue of the Gospel according
to St John, cites the words of the Son to the Father: "The whole task
that you wanted and entrusted to me I have carried out successfully, and
so here I am in you and you in me and we are one" (Pars III, Visio X: PL 197, 1025a).
Finally,
in other writings Hildegard manifests the versatility of interests and
cultural vivacity of the female monasteries of the Middle Ages, in a
manner contrary to the prejudices which still weighed on that period.
Hildegard took an interest in medicine and in the natural sciences as
well as in music, since she was endowed with artistic talent. Thus she
composed hymns, antiphons and songs, gathered under the title: Symphonia Harmoniae Caelestium Revelationum (Symphony
of the Harmony of Heavenly Revelations), that were performed joyously
in her monasteries, spreading an atmosphere of tranquillity and that
have also come down to us. For her, the entire creation is a symphony of
the Holy Spirit who is in himself joy and jubilation.
The
popularity that surrounded Hildegard impelled many people to seek her
advice. It is for this reason that we have so many of her letters at our
disposal. Many male and female monastic communities turned to her, as
well as Bishops and Abbots. And many of her answers still apply for us.
For instance, Hildegard wrote these words to a community of women
religious: "The spiritual life must be tended with great dedication. At
first the effort is burdensome because it demands the renunciation of
caprices of the pleasures of the flesh and of other such things. But if
she lets herself be enthralled by holiness a holy soul will find even
contempt for the world sweet and lovable. All that is needed is to take
care that the soul does not shrivel" (E. Gronau, Hildegard. Vita di una donna profetica alle origini dell'età moderna, Milan
1996, p. 402). And when the Emperor Frederic Barbarossa caused a schism
in the Church by supporting at least three anti-popes against Alexander
iii, the legitimate Pope, Hildegard did not hesitate, inspired by her
visions, to remind him that even he, the Emperor, was subject to God's
judgement. With fearlessness, a feature of every prophet, she wrote to
the Emperor these words as spoken by God: "You will be sorry for this
wicked conduct of the godless who despise me! Listen, O King, if you
wish to live! Otherwise my sword will pierce you!" (ibid., p. 412).
With
the spiritual authority with which she was endowed, in the last years
of her life Hildegard set out on journeys, despite her advanced age and
the uncomfortable conditions of travel, in order to speak to the people
of God. They all listened willingly, even when she spoke severely: they
considered her a messenger sent by God. She called above all the
monastic communities and the clergy to a life in conformity with their
vocation. In a special way Hildegard countered the movement of German cátari (Cathars). They cátari means
literally "pure" advocated a radical reform of the Church, especially
to combat the abuses of the clergy. She harshly reprimanded them for
seeking to subvert the very nature of the Church, reminding them that a
true renewal of the ecclesial community is obtained with a sincere
spirit of repentance and a demanding process of conversion, rather than
with a change of structures. This is a message that we should never
forget. Let us always invoke the Holy Spirit, so that he may inspire in
the Church holy and courageous women, like St Hildegard of Bingen, who,
developing the gifts they have received from God, make their own special
and valuable contribution to the spiritual development of our
communities and of the Church in our time.