R248: Hildegard von Rupertsberg an Mönchskonvent von Eberbach
Greeting and Lament for the Congregation
Hildegard greets the monks of Eberbach and grieves over the spiritual storm and weakness that have overtaken them.
To the congregation at Eberbach. Hildegard. The mystical things of God order me to speak these things in the shadow of vision. You have climbed a very high mountain! And you wanted to look into the valley. Meanwhile, a fierce storm came upon you. Alas! Alas, the weakness that is in your loins!
The Psalmist's Sorrow and a Warning Against Recklessness
Quoting the voice of David, Hildegard describes daily sorrow and inward deception, then warns the monks not to cast away God's predestined blessing through reckless ambition.
As the tested servant says — David, that is: All day long I was filled with sorrow as I went on my way. because my loins are filled with delusions, and there is no health in my flesh. And so your eyes grow faint from sheer want. Beware, then, lest you cast away that happiness which is seen to be in you by God's predestination. you throw it away backward. through the excess of reckless wars!
The Fall of the First Angel and the Transfer of Grace
Hildegard recalls the glorious beauty and subsequent pride of the first angel, the loss of his glory, and God's transfer of brightness to another vineyard, warning the monks not to lose their own grace through the ancient serpent's work.
Because when God had made the face of the first angel like a surpassingly beautiful and lightning-flashing stone,✦ that one presumed beyond measure. Therefore his glory perished in him! For he desired nothing that is good. And he planted that one's brightness in another vineyard.✦ And because God has no fellowship with evil, take care that the special grace of God is not removed from you. by the work of the ancient serpent!✦ For he rejoices in himself and says:
Resisting the Devil and God's Planting
The devil's prideful will is contrasted with the call to resist him, and the monks are assured that though they may stumble, God's grace will rebuild them as His planting.
I find my will, with discord among the spiritual people, and I walk with them with head held high. Resist the devil, so that the light of glory doesn't fail you. Don't let it fail you. Just as it was taken from them through their own pride. For they sometimes stumble, and then rise again. They won't lack the inheritance of God's grace, but they'll be bent in the whirlwind of God's vengeance, and yet afterward God rebuilds in them the root of the first beginning of the sacrifice of God's power. And I say to you, you are God's planting. Over your place they speak of these mystical things of God.
Assurance of Blessing in the Living Light
Hildegard promises that God will not blot out the congregation, points to the fulfillment of prophecy in diabolical recklessness, and seals them with the blessing of Abraham and the living light.
I will never blot you out, since you do not resist me in the reckless impulse that does not wish to be washed clean. So too the recklessness of diabolical craft, as was foretold, makes this plain. In the blessing of Abraham.✦ The living light blesses you.
Read the original Latin
Congregationi in eberbach. hildegardis. Mistica dei me dicere iubent hęc in umbra uisionis. Vos ascendistis in montem ualde excelsum! et in uallem aspicere uoluistis. Interea ualida tempestas superuenit. He. he languorem qui est in lumbis uestris!
sicut dicit probatus seruus scilicet dauid. Tota die contristatus ingrediebar. quoniam lumbi mei impleti sunt illusionibus! et non est sanitas in carne mea. Et ideo oculi uestri languent pre inopia. Cauete ergo ne felicitatem illam quę in predestinatione dei in uobis esse uidetur. retrorsum abiciatis. per nimietatem bellorum temeritatis!
quia cum deus faciem primi angeli uelut ualde elegantem et fulminantem lapidem fecisset. ille temeritatem inijt. unde gloria ipsius in ipso perijt! quoniam nulla bona desiderauit. Et claritatem illius in alia uinea plantauit. Et quia deus societatem cum malo non habet prouidete ne specialis gratia dei a uobis moueatur. in opere antiqui serpentis! quoniam ille gaudet in semetipso et dicit.
Uoluntatem meam inuenio cum discordia in spirituali populo et in erecto collo cum eis ambulo. Quapropter diabolo resistite ne lumen claritatis. deficiat uobis. sicut illi per superbiam suam ablatum est. Qui enim interdum labuntur et iterum resurgunt. non carebunt hereditate gratię dei sed in turbine uindictę dei incuruantur et tamen deinde reedificat deus in eis radicem primę inceptionis sacrificij uirtutis dei. Et dico uobis qui plantatio dei estis. Super locum uestrum mistica dei dicunt hęc.
Numquam delebo te cum mihi non resistis in impia temeritate quę non desiderat ablui. uelut etiam temeritas diabolicę artis ut predictum est ostendit. In benedictione abrahę. lux uiuens te benedicit.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Ezek.28.13 — You were in Eden, the garden of God. Every precious stone was your covering: carnelian, topaz, and emerald; chrysolite, onyx, and jasper; sapphire, turquoise, and beryl; and gold, the workmanship of your settings and sockets, was in you. On the day you were created they were prepared.
- ↩Isa.5.7 — For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the man of Judah is his delightful planting. He looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, a cry of distress.
- ↩Rev.12.9 — And the great dragon was thrown down—the ancient serpent, the one called the Devil and Satan, the one who deceives the whole world. He was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
- ↩Gal.3.14 — so that the blessing of Abraham might come to the nations in Christ Jesus, so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
Epistolae: Letters to Frederick Barbarossa and Henry II of England companion
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