R118: Hildegard von Rupertsberg an Abt N. von Selbold
God's Grace and the Unbuilt Mind
Hildegard greets the abbot by acknowledging God's grace in bringing him to the water of life, yet warns that his mind is not yet truly built up and must be fortified through discernment.
Hildegard's response. The grace of God has led you to the water of drinking. And your mind is not built up in the building up in which you exist. So provide for the fortress of your mind, discerning what and of what kind these things are.
The Deception of Apparent Health
Hildegard warns that outward good intentions can mask a soul that only appears healthy, while in truth the abbot dwells in a mixed cloud and suffers inner distress from his labors.
Your works. Since sometimes in good intention toward God you look as if you are healthy in your soul. But you are in a mixed cloud. When you have a tearing of your mind in tribulation of sighs and trouble because of the establishment of your labor.
Rise and Humility
Hildegard urges the abbot to test himself, embrace radical humility, and trust that God dwells not in the self-sufficient but in the self-forgetful, granting them the finest ointment and a saving life.
At times your mind even rises to a height, as though you were someone of real worth. so that you may be useful. So test yourself, and keep your eyes sharp and alive in all you do; then throw yourself flat on the ground as though you knew nothing at all — and you will live. For God does not dwell in any dwelling that wants to stand on its own. But that house He loves which does not know itself. And to that one He gives the finest ointment. May you have a good and saving life.
Read the original Latin
Responsvm hildegardis. Gracia dei induxit te ad aquam potationis. et mens tua non edificata est in edificatione in qua es. Unde prouide castellum mentis tuę discernens quę et qualia sint. opera tua. quoniam interdum in bona intentione ad deum aspicis quasi sanus sis in anima tua. Sed in mixta nube es. quando scissuram mentis tuę habes in tribulatione suspiriorum et molestię propter constitutionem laboris tui.
Aliquando etiam mens tua in altum uadit. uelut utilis sis. Proba ergo teipsum et habe uiuentes oculos in opere et prosterne te in terram quasi te nescias et uiues. quia deus non habitat in illo habitaculo quod in seipso stare uult. sed amat domum illam quę se nescit. et dat illi unguentum optimum. Vnde sit tibi bona et salutaris uita.
Epistolae: Letters to Frederick Barbarossa and Henry II of England companion
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