R168: Hildegard von Rupertsberg an Äbtissin R. von Gerbstedt
Rise in the Nights
Hildegard calls the reader to rise in the nights through the elements, because night brings sadness and day brings joy, as Scripture says day pours forth word and night declares knowledge.
Hildegard's reply. You, daughter of God, rise up in the nights through the four elements! which in the day complete all their works. For night, through darkness, brings sadness. And day, through light, brings forth joy. For it is written: Day to day pours forth a word. And night to night declares knowledge.
God the Unchanging Day
Hildegard explains that God is the day never darkened or changed, who chose bright light for himself and completed creation, yet the serpent deceived the woman and she received it.
This is what that's like. God is that day which is never darkened, and which through the times of times is never changed! and for himself he chose the day — namely, bright light from light. because he made his whole creation complete in itself. that is, the human being, along with all the things that are present to them. But the serpent, coming upon the woman, breathed on her through its words. And she received it!
The Taste of the Flesh
The woman tasted the serpent’s words, gave them to her husband, and because man fully accomplishes all works, the taste of the flesh was taken up from the serpent, making human desire slippery and deceitful like the serpent’s counsel.
and she leaned back toward the serpent. And she gave to her husband what she had tasted from the serpent. and that remained in him! because man fully accomplishes all works. But God did not command this to be done! but the serpent deceived the woman through flattering and enticing words. In this way the taste of the flesh was taken up from the serpent. Therefore it is itself slippery and fickle and deceitful, like the counsel of the serpent.
Hidden Curse and Virgin Material
The serpent hid its curse behind a lie so humanity would not recognize its ruin, bringing knowledge of good and evil, yet God took virgin material for himself, in which he prepared his humanity by his word.
The serpent hid its curse from humanity behind a lie. Because if it had shown humanity its ruin, humanity would not have consented to its counsel. And so humanity has knowledge of good and evil! and so the serpent holds treachery and a curse. But then a swift deer and a strong lion took her into their chamber!1 how could he have separated these things?2 For God chose a virgin material for himself.3
Christ the Day Overcoming Night
Because the virgin does not know the commingling from the taste of the flesh, the Word was strangely made human; Christ advanced from day to day, overcame the serpent, and washed away the taste of the flesh through corrected repentance, making the human race his own.
—in which he prepared his humanity by his word. because the virgin does not know the commingling that comes from the taste of the flesh! And so the word of God was strangely made human. In this way the human Christ advanced from day to day and deceived the serpent. who had blasphemed the human race. For the Day, that is Christ, overcame all the harmful things of the night. because he washed away, through corrected repentance, the taste of the flesh that the serpent had craftily sent into the human race. And in this way he makes the human race his own, once alien to him.
The Serpent’s Deceit and Human Struggle
The serpent hides its malice and harms many, making them doubtful, faithless, and hopeless, yet many fight back, trusting their Creator will not destroy them unless they perish for their sins; this is the fight.
when it draws that limb of its own back to itself. The serpent also, with its own deceit in which it hides its malice, often harms many. And it makes them doubtful, so that they do not know God. So that it tears them apart without faith and without hope. Many, however, fight against this, saying: My Creator will not destroy me! Unless I perish for my sins. This is the fight.4
Night Made Beautiful in God
This struggle is likened to the torturers of the martyrs and Christ’s wounds; the first woman was Night, who made knowledge known to her husband, so the reader is urged to make herself beautiful through the martyrdom of good work so her soul may shine in God.
It is likened to the torturers of the martyrs and to the pain of Christ's wounds. The first woman mentioned above was Night.5 And she herself made knowledge known to the Night — that is, to her husband.6 You, daughter of God, make yourself beautiful through the martyrdom of a good work!7 so that your soul may shine forth in God.
Read the original Latin
Responsum hildegardis. Tu filia dei in noctibus per quatuor elementa ascende! quę in die omnia opera complent. Nox enim per tenebras tristiciam. et dies gaudium per lucem profert. Scriptum est enim. Dies diei eructat uerbum! et nox nocti indicat scientiam.
Hoc tale est. Deus dies illa est quę non obscuratur. et quę per tempora temporum numquam mutatur! et sibimetipsi diem scilicet claram lucem de luce elegit. quia ipse facturam suam integram fecit. uidelicet hominem cum omnibus quę sibi assunt. Sed serpens ueniens mulierem per eloquium afflauit. et ipsa illud suscepit!
et se ad serpentem reclinauit. Et quod a serpente gustauerat uiro suo dedit. et illud in ipso permansit! quia uir omnia opera pleniter perpetrat. Hoc autem deus fieri non iussit! sed serpens per blanda et lusoria uerba mulierem decepit. Tali modo gustus carnis a serpente susceptus est. ideo ipse lubricus et leuis ac fallax ut consilium serpentis est.
Serpens namque homini maledictionem in fallacia abscondit. quoniam si ei perditionem ostendisset. consilio eius non consensisset. Et ut homo scientiam boni et mali habet! sic et serpens dolum et maledictionem habet. Sed deinde uelox ceruus et fortis leo in cubiculo suo habuit! quomodo hęc diuideret. Deus enim uirginalem materiam sibi elegit.
in qua uerbo suo humanitatem preparauit. quia uirgo commixtionem gustus carnis non cognoscit! et ita uerbum dei aliene homo factum est. Sic homo christus de die in diem processit et serpentem decepit. qui hominem blasphemauerat. Dies enim scilicet christus omnia noxialia noctis superauit. quia gustum carnis quem serpens blande in hominem misit per emendatam penitentiam abluit. et hominem alienum in hoc modo facit.
cum illum membrum suum ad se colligit. Serpens etiam cum fallacia sua in qua maliciam abscondit multos sepe ledit. et eos dubios esse facit sicut deum nesciant. ita quod ipsos sine fide et sine spe discerpit. Multi tamen contra hoc pugnant dicentes. Creator meus me non perdet! nisi pro peccatis meis peream. Pugna hęc.
tortoribus martirum et dolori uulnerum christi assimilatur. Prima autem mulier nox supradicta fuit. et ipsa nocti scilicet uiro suo scientiam indicauit. Tu filia dei per martirium boni operis te decoram fac! ita ut anima tua in deo clarescat.
Notes
- 1 ↩The 'swift deer and strong lion' are symbolic figures in Hildegard's visionary theology, likely representing Christ (the lion) and perhaps the Virgin Mary or the faithful soul (the deer). The 'chamber' (cubiculum) evokes intimacy and bridal imagery from the Song of Songs.
- 2 ↩The antecedent of 'he' and the referent of 'these things' (hęc) are ambiguous in the Latin. Likely the serpent or God is the subject, and 'these things' refers to the curse/treachery from the preceding sentence.
- 3 ↩'Virgin material' (uirginalem materiam) is a key Hildegardian concept: the pure, uncorrupted substance from which the Incarnation was fashioned, often identified with the Virgin Mary.
- 4 ↩The Latin reads 'Pugna hęc' with an abbreviation (hęc = haec). The normalized text preserves the abbreviation; translation assumes the demonstrative 'this' modifying 'fight.'
- 5 ↩autem is rendered as a continuative rather than adversatively; Hildegard is continuing the allegorical narrative, not contrasting.
- 6 ↩scilicet clarifies that 'the Night' (nocti) is identified with 'her husband' (uiro suo); the dative nocti is taken as an indirect object of indicavit.
- 7 ↩martirium boni operis may mean martyrdom consisting in a good work, or martyrdom rewarded for a good work; rendered as 'martyrdom of a good work' to preserve the ambiguity of the genitive.
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