R143: Propst B. von Knechtsteden an Hildegard von Rupertsberg
Salutation and Blessing
The abbot greets Hildegard with a blessing of grace and a wish for a blessed end.
The abbot in Knechtsteden. of Hildegard. B. Whatever abbot, by the grace of God, in Knechtsteden. To the venerable handmaid of Christ, of Hildegard. May you be strengthened by the grace of the Holy Spirit! And brought to completion with a blessed end.
Desire for Personal Presence
The abbot expresses his longing to be present with Hildegard and closes with a blessing from the Father of lights.
If it could be managed that I be present with you. and we could take turns talking together.1 in every way I would wish for it. As for the things that surround me, the Lord alone knows. I would lay them out before you in much greater detail! which I did not wish to entrust individually to this present place for the sake of brevity. Grace, most beloved, which is from the Father of lights, from whom comes every best gift and every perfect gift from above.✦2
Confession and Request for Prayer
The abbot reports news of a favor being asked of Hildegard, confesses his faults, and earnestly begs her prayers.
We've heard that you're to be asked a favor. In this, of course, I place great confidence. I told those present that the sweetness of your love was a matter of real need! I earnestly beg you not to stop imploring God's mercy for my miseries with your devout prayers. In many things, I know full well that I have offended her. I know I haven't gotten away with it. Because I have recognized grace in you, I placed my greatest hope in it. So I judged it useful to seek the help of your prayers, which will be heard.
Appeal for Consolation and Farewell
The abbot asks for consolation, urges Hildegard to write, and entrusts himself to God's order in a final farewell.
I'm hoping to receive some kind of consolation from you. For Christ's sake, I beg you not to neglect writing to me. I entrust myself to them in the order by which I may better please God, and so avoid offending the divine majesty. Farewell in Christ, always.
Read the original Latin
Prepositus in knetstethde. hildegardis. B. Qualiscumque prepositus dei gratia in knetstethde. uenerabili ancillę christi. hildegardi. spiritus sancti gratia confortari! beatoque fine consummari.
Si fieri posset ut presens essem. et alternanti sermone uobiscum agere possem. modis omnibus optarem. Ea enim quę circa me sunt. quę dominus solus nouit. profusiori uobis relatione expositurus essem! quę singula breuiandi gratia presenti loco committere nolui. Graciam dilectissima quam pater luminum a quo est omne datum optimum et omne donum perfectum desursum.
uobis prerogari audiuimus. qua scilicet multum confidens. caritatis uestrę dulcedinem opus dixi presentibus conuenire! supplicans attentius quod pro meis miserijs diuinam clementiam deuotis precibus implorare non desistatis. In multis namque eam me offendisse scio. quod me impune non fecisse sentio. Quia igitur in gratia quam in uobis cognoui spem potiorem habui. utile existimaui auxilium exaudibilium orationum uestrarum implorare.
sperans me recepturum a uobis quodlibet remedium consolationis. quod pro christo precor non omittatis scriptis uestris. innectentes eisdem eisdem quo ordine magis placem offensam diuinę maiestatis. Valete in christo semper.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Jas.1.17 — Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.
Notes
- 1 ↩'alternanti sermone': 'alterno' here in the sense of alternating or taking turns in conversation; the dative 'alternanti' is taken as a dative of reference with 'uobiscum agere' — 'conduct (conversation) with you in turn.'
- 2 ↩The closing clause closely echoes James 1:17 ('every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights'). Candidate scripture allusion held for Moses resolution.
Epistolae: Letters to Frederick Barbarossa and Henry II of England companion
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