R192: Hildegard von Rupertsberg an Äbtissin C. von St. Ursula in Köln
Steadfastness in the Straight Path
Hildegard urges the abbess to bear her burden with obedience, restrain her community, and prefer this focused discipline over a scattered mind, since God's authority is present everywhere according to human works.
A reply from Hildegard. Carry your burden firmly on a straight path. And restrain your sheep as best you can. And this is better for you than a scattered mind wandering in every direction. Because God holds equal authority in every place, according to the works of human beings.
The Restless Mind and Its Sorrows
Hildegard warns against letting the mind wander restlessly, comparing it to a brief clear day followed by a whirlwind, and acknowledges that the abbess sometimes sinks into unbearable inner bitterness.
With God's help, then, keep yourself from letting your mind get caught up in restless wandering — like a day that breaks a little while in the clear light of the sun. And then, for a little while, in a whirlwind. Your mind sometimes sinks into such deep bitterness that you can't bear it.
Weariness and Weariness of Heart
The abbess also experiences weariness.
Sometimes also in weariness.
Rise in God's Pure Light
Hildegard calls the abbess to rise in true sunlight and warmth because God desires her and has made her an eye for others, urging her not to turn away.
But now rise up in the purest sunlight and in true warmth. Because God wants you. And he has made you, as it were, an eye for others, no matter how much you may waver!1 And so do not turn away from him.
Read the original Latin
Responsum hildegardis. Onus tuum in recto itinere firmiter porta. et oues tuas quantum potes coherce. et hoc tibi melius est quam diuersa uagatio mentis! quia deus in omnibus locis equaliter potestatem secundum opera hominum habet. Cum adiutorio enim dei prohibe a te ne mens tua in uagatione sit similis diei qui precedit aliquantulum in puro sole! et aliquantulum in turbine. Mens tua aliquando in tanta amaritudine est quod eam sustinere non potes.
aliquando etiam in lassitudine. Nunc autem in purissimo sole et in recto calore surge. quia deus te uult. et te quasi oculum alijs constituit quamuis quocumque modo uacilles! et ideo ab illo non recede.
Notes
- 1 ↩uacilles: rare Medieval Latin verb (uacillo, uacillare), meaning to totter, waver, or be unsteady. Rendered here as 'waver' to capture the sense of spiritual instability amid the metaphor of being an eye for others.
Epistolae: Letters to Frederick Barbarossa and Henry II of England companion
Read one voice like Hildegard's every morning
Chosen Portion delivers daily excerpts from Hildegard and 77 other historic devotional writers, free on iOS.
Hildegard directed souls through short written portions sent one at a time, and Chosen Portion continues that letter-a-day rhythm as daily devotionals.
- Daily 2-minute readings including Hildegard's letters and visions
- 78 complete historic works, translated into modern readable English
- A weekly email tracing one writer's story in depth