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Chapter 16HildE.1.16

R16: Christian I. von Buch an Hildegard von Rupertsberg

Greeting and Good Wishes

Christian, archbishop of Mainz, greets Hildegard and the sisters, wishing them growth in virtue and the vision of God.

Christian, archbishop. To Hildegard. Christian, by the grace of God, archbishop of the see of Mainz. To the reverend and beloved in Christ, Lady Hildegard. And to all the spouses of Christ who, together with her, serve God. To rise from virtue to virtue. And to see the God of gods in Zion.✦ And if in the admirable and praiseworthy power of God —

Humility and Gratitude for Hildegard’s Intercession

The archbishop confesses his unworthiness, commends himself to Hildegard’s prayers, and gives thanks to God who has illumined her soul.

and by the clemency of our Savior we are by no means sufficient. No, rather, we are altogether unworthy. Yet trusting earnestly in your intercession, most dear lady in Christ, that we may be made worthy through it.1 We honor Him with the offering of thanks.2 from whom comes every best gift.✦ and every perfect gift, coming down, that is, from the Father of lights.✦ in whom it has worthily pleased Him, in your soul.3 and He has indeed illumined her with His own inestimable light.

Hildegard’s Contemplative Calling and Authority

Christian praises Hildegard’s God-given contemplative devotion, likening her to Mary at the Lord’s feet, and acknowledges the binding power of her holy vows.

By whose grace—both preceding and following—a gift has been bestowed on your holy devotion, so that you sit with Mary at the feet of the Lord.✦ And to devote yourself to the visions of the heavenly Jerusalem.✦ These are the clear signs of your holy conduct. And the astonishing testimonies of truth. So, dearest lady in Christ, our soul is held by your commands— I should say, bound by your prayers. So that whatever we have ever known to be added to your holy vows to this we ought rightly to incline the purpose of our heart.

Confidence in Her Prayers amid Common Trial

Expressing confidence in Hildegard’s holiness and prayers, the archbishop links her intercession to divine mercy and notes the shared suffering caused by the suspension of divine offices.

Hoping, and having the greatest confidence in your holiness after God, we receive the grace of God — coming before and following after — through the most holy fragrance of your prayers. and this sinful soul of ours, through the intervention of your holiness, the mercy of its creator. to find it at last pleasing to himself. This is why the sacred assembly, along with you, endures the tribulation and affliction it suffers from the suspension of the divine offices.

The Burial and Excommunication Case

The archbishop explains the circumstances of the excommunicated man buried at Hildegard’s church and the resulting canonical dilemma.

The more clearly we can weigh your innocence in this matter, the more closely we sympathize with you. But because it was well established in the church that the deceased had been buried at your church and had incurred a sentence of excommunication in his lifetime while it remained uncertain to the same church concerning his absolution for the meantime, on account of the decrees of the holy fathers, which must not be set aside for us to avoid the outcry of the clergy and it was exceedingly dangerous to conceal the scandal to the church.4

Sympathetic Action and Conditional Permission

Sympathizing with Hildegard, the archbishop informs her that he has written to Mainz, making the resumption of divine services conditional on proof of absolution.

until there is suitable testimony from good men and before the church he may be shown to have been absolved. Therefore, sympathizing—as is fitting—with your affliction from the depths of our heart, we have written back to the church of Mainz in this way. so that, if by the truthful testimony of good men concerning the absolution of the aforementioned deceased it has been shown to him, we command that divine services be celebrated for you. asking and earnestly beseeching your holiness in order that, if through our fault or ignorance we have troubled you in this matter

Final Petition and Blessing

The letter closes with a plea for mercy, a request for Hildegard to intercede with the Father of mercies, and a blessing of health and holiness.

To the one who seeks forgiveness, do not withhold your mercy. And deign to entreat the Father of mercies for us,✦ so that he may present us, healthy and unharmed, to your holy presence and the church of Mainz, to the honor of God and of your church. and for the salvation of our soul. May the Lord preserve for you health and holiness.

Read the original Latin

Cristianus archiepiscopus. hildegardi. Cristianus dei gratia moguntinę sedis archiepiscopus. reuerendę et in christo dilectę domine hildegardi. et uniuersis sponsis christi cum ipsa deo famulantibus. de uirtute in uirtutem ascendere. et deum deorum in syon uidere. Et si in admiranda ac laudanda potentia dei.

et saluatoris nostri clementia minime sufficientes. immo prorsus indigni simus. tuo tamen ut digni efficiamur carissima in christo domina sedulo confisi suffragio. illum gratiarum actione prosequimur. a quo omne datum optimum. et omne donum perfectum descendens utpote a patre luminum. cui in anima tua digne complacuit. et eam uero et inestimabili lumine suo illustrauit.

cuius gratia preueniente et subsequente collatum est sanctę deuotioni tuę cum maria ad pedes domini sedere. et supernę ierusalem uisionibus uacare. Hęc manifesta sanctę conuersationis tuę indicia. et stupenda ueritatis testimonia. ita animam nostram carissima in christo domina tuis iussionibus. ne dicam precibus obligatam tenent. ut quicquid umquam sanctis uotis tuis accedere nouerimus. ad hoc cordis nostri intentionem merito inclinare debeamus.

sperantes. et summam post deum in tua sanctitate fiduciam habentes. nos sanctissimo odoramento orationum tuarum gratiam dei preuenientem et subsequentem percipere. et hanc peccatricem animam nostram. tuę sanctitatis interuentu. clementiam creatoris sui. sibi tandem placitam inuenire. Inde est quod super tribulatione et afflictione quam ex suspensione diuinorum una tecum sacer conuentus sustinet.

tanto artius uobis condolemus quanto euidentius innocentiam uestram in hac parte perpendere ualemus. Verum quia constabat ęcclesię. sepultum apud ęcclesiam uestram defunctum. in uita sua excommunicationis sententiam incurrisse. dum adhuc eidem ęcclesię de absolutione ipsius incertum extitit. nobis interim propter statuta sanctorum patrum non euitanda. clamorem cleri declinare. et scandalum ęcclesię dissimilare periculosum nimis fuit.

donec idoneo testimonio bonorum uirorum. in facie ęcclesię illum absolutum fuisse comprobetur. Proinde uestrę ut dignum est afflictioni ex intimo corde compatientes ęcclesię maguntinę rescripsimus. in hunc modum. ut si bonorum uirorum ueraci assertione de absolutione prefati defuncti ei ostensum fuerit. diuina uobis officia celebrari precipimus. rogantes et obnixe sanctitati uestrę supplicantes. quatinus si ex culpa nostra uel ignorarantia uos in hac parte molestauimus.

petenti ueniam. non subtrahatis misericordiam. et patrem misericordiarum pro nobis exorare dignemini. ut sanos et incolumes nos uestro sancto conspectui. et ęcclesię maguntinę representet ad honorem dei et ęcclesię uestrę. et salutem animę nostrę. Conseruet uobis dominus sanitatem et sanctitatem.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩Ps.84.8 — They go from strength to strength; each one appears before God in Zion.
  2. ↩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.
  3. ↩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.
  4. ↩Luke.10.39 — She had a sister called Mary, who also sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his word.
  5. ↩Heb.12.22;Rev.21.2 — But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, Rev.21.2 — And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
  6. ↩2Cor.1.3 — Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,

Notes

  1. 1 ↩The Latin word order is compressed: 'tuo … suffragio' (through your intercession) governs the purpose clause 'ut digni efficiamur' (that we may be made worthy). The vocative 'carissima in Christo domina' is addressed to Hildegard.
  2. 2 ↩gratiarum actio (lit. 'action of thanks') is the standard liturgical phrase for thanksgiving or the offering of thanks.
  3. 3 ↩The syntax is compressed: 'cui … complacuit' means 'in whom [i.e., in your soul] He has been pleased.' The referent of 'cui' is 'anima tua' (your soul).
  4. 4 ↩dissimilare: the reading may be a variant of dissimulare (to hide, dissemble); rendered as 'conceal' in context.

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