R255: Mönchskonvent von St. Eucharius in Trier an Hildegard von Rupertsberg
Greeting to the Bridegroom's Beloved
The convent of Saint Eucharius greets Hildegard as one clinging to the heavenly Bridegroom and extends fraternal charity to all who do the Father's will.
The convent of Saint Eucharius. To Hildegard. To Hildegard, clinging continually in the embraces of the heavenly Bridegroom. And likewise to all those living together with us in Christ! The entire convent of the monastery of Saint Eucharius in Trier. That in which nothing is better. All who strive to do the will of the Father who is in heaven!✦ They themselves are brothers.
Hildegard as Mother in the Lord
The convent honors Hildegard with the title of mother because her admonitions and teachings spiritually nourish them, and they marvel that God has revealed great things to her humility.
They are called sisters and mothers of the Lord. Whoever, then, has earnestly tried to draw others to a better state by admonishing them, as it were by nourishing them,1 this one will especially obtain the dignity of a mother. For this reason we do not undeservedly venerate you before the others, like a mother in the Lord. By the abundant consolations and teachings of which, we are richly refreshed in our inmost parts.2 We also magnify him, who alone does great wonders. who has hidden these things from the wise and the prudent until now, but has wondrously revealed them in our days to your humility.✦3 Take heed, because we cannot run in the way of God's commandments with an enlarged heart!
Desire for Admonition and Prayer
The convent asks Hildegard to stir them with admonition, prays that God will grant her words as He gave her vision, and humbly requests her prayers and counsel.
We long to be stirred up by the goads of your admonition. May God grant you the words, just as he has given you the vision. We earnestly desire this. From this point on, know this without any doubt. Because we have taken delight in your writings — that is, in the book *Scivias* — as in all riches. Finally, we humbly ask that by your holy prayers we may be helped before God, and by your counsels we may be fortified. This we humbly beseech.
Read the original Latin
Conuentus sancti Evcharij. hildegardi. Hildigardi sponsi celestis amplexibus iugiter inherenti. necnon omnibus secum in christo conuersantibus! cenobij sancti Eucharij in treuira omnis conuentus. id quo nichil est melius. Quicumque uoluntatem patris qui in celis est facere conantur! ipsi fratres.
sorores et matres domini uocantur. Quisquis uero alios commonendo quasi lactando in melius prostrahere studuerurit! hic dignitatem matris specialiter obtinebit. Unde non immerito te pre ceteris uelut matrem in domino ueneramur. cuius consolationis et eruditionis uberibus in intimis affluenter reficimur. Ipsum quoque qui facit mirabilia magna solus magnificamus. qui hęc a sapientibus et prudentibus hactenus abscondit quę mirabiliter diebus nostris humilitanti tuę reuelauit. Prouide quia uiam mandatorum dei corde dilatato currere non possumus!
admonitionis tuę stimulis excitari. prout deus tibi dederit. uehementer desideramus. De cetero indubitanter cognoscas. quia in litteris tuis scilicet in libro sciuias delectati sumus sicut in omnibus diuitijs. Denique sanctis orationibus uestris nos apud deum adiuuari et consilijs premuniri! humiliter deposcimus.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Matt.7.21 — Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
- ↩Matt.11.25 — At that time Jesus answered and said, 'I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and have revealed them to infants.'" Use "for" to strengthen the prayer's causal movement and reduce repetition with v.26.
Notes
- 1 ↩The rare verb prostrahere and the uncertain form studuerurit make the precise sense and sentence boundary uncertain; the clause may be a participial continuation of s1 rather than a self-contained sentence.
- 2 ↩Relative pronoun cuius likely refers back to Hildegard (te), but could grammatically refer to domino; theologically it refers to the gifts flowing through her.
- 3 ↩Echoes the thanksgiving of Matt 11:25 / Luke 10:21 (hidden from the wise and revealed to little ones); 'humility' stands for the 'little ones' of the Gospel.
Epistolae: Letters to Frederick Barbarossa and Henry II of England companion
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