R132: Hildegard von Rupertsberg an Propst G. von St. Viktor in Mainz
A Vision of the Whirlwind
Hildegard introduces her reply with a serene vision of a mountain rising into a whirlwind, signaling the prophetic light at work.
Hildegard's reply. The Light speaks in serenity. A mountain rises up. And it goes into a whirlwind!
Scripture's Straight Path
Hildegard weaves psalmist counsel and exhortation to turn from evil, seek peace, and gather good things so the soul does not fail.
Remember this, son, so that you make your paths straight in the taste of good understanding, as the psalmist says.✦ Turn from evil and do good!✦ Seek peace and pursue it.✦ But also gather good things to yourself, so that your soul does not fail.
Mercy for the Just and the Sinner
Hildegard reminds the reader that God upholds the just and receives sinners, urging the choice of right paths that lead to eternal life.
Because God doesn't abandon the just! But in his mercy he receives sinners.1 So choose right paths for yourself, and you'll live forever.
The Thorns Among Which We Sit
Hildegard warns against deception, describes sitting among thorns and gathering worldly things, yet affirms that goodwill still lives in the addressee.
Keep your mind's eye pure and clear.2 So that deception doesn't lead you astray.3 You sit among thorns, looking around on every side. And you gather all sorts of things to yourself. And yet goodwill remains alive in you!4
Rise Before the Sun Sets
Hildegard urgently calls the son of God to rise out of the thorns, because God takes no pleasure in work built among them, before the sun sets.
But there is still some weakness in what you do. So get up now, and don't let weariness take hold of you — rise up out of these thorns before they choke you. For God takes no pleasure in work that is built among thorns. So get up quickly, O son of God! Before the sun sets on you.✦✦
Read the original Latin
Responsum hildegardis. Lux in serenitate dicit. Mons ascendit. et in turbinem uadit! unde memor esto fili ut recta itinera facias in gustu boni intellectus sicut psalmista dicit. Declina a malo et fac bonum! inquire pacem et persequere eam. Sed etiam bona ad te collige quatenus anima tua non deficiat.
quia deus iustos non derelinquit! sed in sua pietate suscipit peccatores. Vnde elige tibi rectas uias et in eternum uiues. purosque oculos in mente habe. ut illusio non decipiat te. Tu inter spinas sedes et undique circumspicis. et diuersas res ad te colligis. et beniuolentia in te manet!
sed tamen in operibus tuis quidam defectus est. Unde nunc surge et ne tedium habeas ut de spinis surgas ne te suffocent. quia deus non delectatur in opere illo quod inter spinas edificatur. Ergo o fili dei cito surge! antequam sol tibi occidat.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Ps.36.4;Ps.38.4 — The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit; he has ceased to act wisely, to do good. Ps.38.4 — There is no soundness in my flesh because of your wrath; there is no peace in my bones because of my sin.
- ↩Ps.33.15;Ps.35.14 — He forms the hearts of them all; he understands all their deeds. Ps.35.14 — I walked about as though it were my friend or my brother; I mourned deeply, as one grieving for a mother, bowed down in sorrow.
- ↩Ps.33.15;Ps.35.14 — He forms the hearts of them all; he understands all their deeds. Ps.35.14 — I walked about as though it were my friend or my brother; I mourned deeply, as one grieving for a mother, bowed down in sorrow.
- ↩Eph.5.16 — making the most of the time, because the days are evil.
- ↩John.9.4 — We must work the works of the One who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work.
Notes
- 1 ↩pietate rendered as 'mercy' rather than 'piety' or 'compassion'; the sense here is God's tender mercy toward sinners.
- 2 ↩purosque oculos in mente habe: literally 'have pure eyes in (your) mind.' Rendered as 'mind's eye' to capture the interior, contemplative sense of spiritual sight.
- 3 ↩ut rendered as purpose ('so that … not') rather than result; illusio as 'deception' in the sense of spiritual delusion.
- 4 ↩beniuolentia: could mean 'goodwill,' 'benevolence,' or 'kindly favor.' The exclamatory tone suggests Hildegard is affirming a genuine grace still present in the recipient despite his failings.
Epistolae: Letters to Frederick Barbarossa and Henry II of England companion
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