R210: Hildegard von Rupertsberg an Heinrich von Utrecht
The Voice of God's Eternal Plan
Hildegard opens with a mystical proclamation of God's eternal being and his ancient plan to accomplish great works through rational nature.
Hildegard's reply. A mystical breath and voice of wisdom. It sounds forth. God is eternal. And in his own being he held this plan: that he willed to do a great work. So that all his wonders might sound forth in that being through rational nature.1 And in this ancient plan he took great delight! For he ought to build his work — the many structures of goodness.2
Man as God's Image and the Two Ways
God made man in his image with a golden breath, yet man possesses two ways—one that sustains heaven and one that touches the darkness of evil.
And so God made man. Man, however, is the image of God, into which God sent a golden breath. And this image has within itself two ways, in the knowledge of good and evil. The one sustains heaven. The other shows evil. That one sustains heaven. So that God accomplishes the power of his might in the golden breath of man with shining works. But this one touches the breath of darkness of the first beginning of evil.
The Inner Senses Caught Between Light and Shadow
The five senses belong to both ways, and the addressee is torn between the splendid light of longing for good and a black whirlwind, yet is called to rise as a soldier of God.
because he chose to fight against God. And in these two ways the five senses of man belong with wisdom and knowledge, and with understanding and will they are reckoned to great honor. just as also the orders placed for the praise of God, who stand in his presence, are established. But now, O servant of God, small windows appear in you in the better way, in the splendid light. so that in longing for the good you desire it. But in the other way you are caught up in a black whirlwind. But rise up, O soldier, with the bright army!
Rise, Be Warned, and God Will Rest in You
God's grace reaches out, warning the reader to turn from evil, do good, and know that God seeks and will rest in them.
And conquer this whirlwind. Because God's grace reaches out to you and warns you!3 Just as you can also understand in the knowledge of your secret.4 Turn away from evil.✦ And do good.✦ And God seeks you and will rest in you.5
Read the original Latin
Responsum hildegardis. Misticum spiramen et uox sapientię. sonat. Deus eternus est. et in semetipso hoc consilium habuit quod magnum opus facere uoluit. ita ut omnia miracula sua in illo per racionalitatem sonarent. Et in hoc antiquo consilio ualde delectabatur! quia opus suum plurima edificia boni edificare debuit.
Et sic deus hominem fecit. Homo autem imago dei est in quam deus aureum spiraculum misit. quod in se duas uias in scientia boni et mali habet. Altera celum sustinet. altera malum ostendit. Illa celum sustinet. ita quod deus uirtutem potentię suę perficit in aureo spiraculo hominis fulgentibus operibus. Ista autem tangit flatum nigredinis primi incipientis mali!
quod contra deum pugnare uoluit. Et in his duabus uijs quinque sensus hominis cum sapientia scientia. intellectu et uoluntate ad magnum honorem computati sunt. sicut etiam ordines ad laudem dei positi sunt qui in conspectu eius assistunt. Nunc autem o serue dei paruę fenestellę in meliore uia in splendido lumine in te apparent. ita quod exoptando bonum desideras. in altera uero uia in nigro turbine occupatus es. Sed tu o miles cum clara milicia surge.
et turbinem hunc uince. quoniam gratia dei te tangit et monet! sicut etiam in scientia secreti tui intelligere potes. Declina a malo. et fac bonum. et deus te requirit et in te quiescet.
Scripture echoes
Notes
- 1 ↩per racionalitatem — rendered 'through rational nature' to capture Hildegard's sense that the human being's rational capacity is the medium through which God's wonders resound; could also bear the sense 'through reason' or 'through rationality.'
- 2 ↩plurima edificia boni — the genitive boni is ambiguous; rendered here as 'structures of goodness' (genitive of quality), i.e., edifices characterized by good. An alternative reading is 'the many buildings of the good' or 'the many works of the good [person].' The phrase is compressed and Hildegardian in its density.
- 3 ↩gratia dei rendered 'grace of God' per lexeme policy. te tangit et monet: 'touches and admonishes' — here 'reaches out to you and warnings you' captures both the intimate contact and the corrective urgency of the Latin.
- 4 ↩in scientia secreti tui: 'in the knowledge of your secret' — the phrase is compressed and somewhat ambiguous. It may mean 'by the knowledge of your (inner) secret' or 'in the knowledge that is hidden from you.' Rendered here as 'in the knowledge of your secret,' taking secreti as a genitive of the inner, hidden reality of the person that grace illuminates.
- 5 ↩et in te quiescet: 'and will rest in you' — quiescet may carry the sense of 'will dwell' or 'will find its rest' in the soul, echoing the divine indwelling. Rendered 'will rest in you' to preserve the literal force while allowing the theological resonance.
Epistolae: Letters to Frederick Barbarossa and Henry II of England companion
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