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Chapter 276HildE.1.276

R276: Hildegard von Rupertsberg an Werner von Kirchheim

A Vision of the Radiant Woman

Hildegard, lying ill in 1170, sees in body and soul a supremely beautiful, heavenly woman whose stature and radiance reach from earth to heaven.

Hildegard. Lying in bed from sickness for a long time, in the year of the Lord's Incarnation one thousand one hundred and seventy. I saw, awake in body and in soul, a most beautiful image of womanly form. She was most chosen in sweetness and most beloved in delights, of such great beauty. So that no human mind could comprehend her. And her stature reached from earth all the way to heaven. Her face also shone forth with the greatest brightness. And with her own eyes she looked into heaven.

Beauty Sullied and Mourning

The visionary woman, though clothed in dazzling splendor, is defiled in face, garment, cloak, and shoes, and cries out in lament that she has no helper or consoler.

She was also clothed in a radiant garment of white silk. and with a cloak of most precious stones — emerald and sapphire. She was also surrounded by rods and adorned with pearls. Her shoes were of onyx, fitted around her feet. But her face was sprinkled with dust. and her garment had been torn on the right side. and her cloak had lost its elegant beauty. and her shoes above had been blackened. And she herself, with a great and mournful voice, cried out into the height of heaven, saying, Hear, heaven, that my face is defiled. And earth, mourn, for my garment is torn. And abyss, tremble, for my shoes are blackened. Foxes have their dens, and the birds of heaven their nests!✦ But I have no helper and no consoler. I have no staff to lean on, and nothing from which to be upheld.

Hidden in the Father, Grieved by Priests

The woman hides in the Father, longs for the Son of Man, and is betrothed by Christ’s blood, yet priests who should adorn her instead defile her face, garment, cloak, and shoes.

And again she said: I hid myself in the heart of the Father. How long will the Son of Man, who was conceived and born in virginity, be hidden?✦1 He poured out his blood, and with that same blood he betrothed me to himself and endowed me.✦2 So that in the pure and simple regeneration of spirit and water I might regenerate those stained and contaminated by the serpent's foam.✦3 But my nourishers — that is, the priests, who should make my face glow like the dawn —4 They have made my garment gleam like lightning, my cloak shine like precious stones, and my sandals radiate brightness —✦5 they have splattered my face with dust.✦6 And they tore my garment apart. And they made my cloak dark and shadowed. And they blackened my shoes! And those who should have adorned me everywhere abandoned me in all these things. For through this they defile my face. Because they handle and receive the Body and Blood of my Bridegroom with great uncleanness, with the wantonness of their own conduct and the great filth of their fornications and adulteries, with the worst plunder of greed by buying and selling, and whatever unseemly things they traffic in.7 And they roll around in such great filth, just as if an infant were placed in the mud before pigs. For just as when God made man from the mud of the earth and breathed into his face the breath of life.✦8

The Sacred Feast Profaned

God’s power truly transforms bread, wine, and water into Christ’s flesh and blood on the altar, yet priests profane these sacred wounds by their sins.

Soon he became flesh and blood. In this way, then, the very same power of God transforms the offering of bread, wine, and water upon the altar through the words of the priest who calls upon his divinity.9 Into the true flesh and true blood of Christ — my Bridegroom, that is. And yet this is so only because of the blindness by which humanity, in its fallen state, has been blinded. A person with merely human eyes cannot see this. The imprint of my Bridegroom's wounds is fresh and open. As long as human sins' wounds remain uncovered. These same wounds of Christ — the priests who ought to make me white and serve me in brightness.10

Judgment Threatened on Corrupt Priests

Priests who abandon discipline and run from church to church defile God’s house, so heaven sends pains, rain, mist, drought, and cosmic trembling in judgment.

They run from church to church in their excessive greed, and they defile them. In doing this, they tear my garment. Because they are transgressors of the law and of the gospel and of their own priesthood. And they obscure my pallium by this. Because they neglect in every way the precepts that have been given to them. They don't hold to abstinence as if it were an emerald. Nor in the giving of alms as if it were a sapphire. Nor in other good and just works by which God is honored, as if by other kinds of gems. They carry out with good will and perfect work. But they also blacken my shoes from above. Since they themselves have neither the straight paths—that is, neither the harsh and rough ways of justice.11 Nor do they offer good examples to their own subjects. Although beneath my shoes, as if in my secret place, I have the brightness of truth in some.12 False indeed are the priests, deceived in themselves. Since they wish to have the honor of priestly office without the work, which cannot be. Because to no one will a reward be given unless preceded by the labor of work. But where the grace of God touches a person, there God causes that person to work so as to receive the reward he has earned.13 Heaven therefore sends various pains that are set against humanity—14 let it rain down in God's vengeance.15 and let a mist cover the whole earth.✦16 so that its greenness dries up.17 and let its adornments turn dark.18 Let the abyss also tremble.19

The Rage of Nations Against the Priests

In fury God will let princes and reckless peoples rise against the priests, strip their riches, and cast them out as adulterers and robbers, fulfilling Psalm 2.

since in vengeance and grief, together with heaven and earth, he will be driven to fury. For princes and a reckless people will rush upon you, O priests, who have neglected me until now, and they will cast you down and put you to flight. And they will take your riches away from you. because you have not attended to the time of your priestly office. And they will speak about you. Adulterers, robbers, and those full of every evil. Let us cast them out from the church. And by this deed they wish to have shown obedience to God! Because they say the church has been polluted through you. Whence Scripture says: Why do the nations rage,✦ and the peoples meditate on vanities?✦ The kings of the earth stood by,✦ and the princes gathered together as one,✦ For by God's permission, many nations and many peoples will begin to rage against you in their plots and meditate vanities about you.20 when your priestly office and your consecration are counted as nothing.21

The Church Revealed and the Preaching Mandate

A heavenly voice declares the image is the Church and commands Hildegard to proclaim these laments to the priests, echoing Christ’s charge to go into all the world.

In this your downfall, the kings of the earth will stand by with earthly things gaping open.✦ And the princes who will rule over you will come together in this one counsel, to drive you out from their boundaries.✦ Because you have put the innocent lamb to flight from you through your most wicked deeds.✦ And I heard a voice from heaven saying: This image shows the church. Therefore, you — O man — who see these things and hear words of lamentation: bring them forth to these priests who are appointed and ordained to rule and teach the people of God! To whom it was said together with the apostles:✦ Go into the whole world!✦ And proclaim the gospel to every creature.✦ For when God created man, he marked every creature in him. Just as in a small space on parchment the time and number of a whole year is described, And so God named man every creature.

The Sword Over Spiritual Places

Hildegard sees a sword hanging in the air over the spiritual people, who should live in dove-like simplicity but are now corrupt, and places are cut off as Jerusalem was.

And again, I saw a drawn sword hanging in the air, in my poor, feminine form. Its blade, one edge toward heaven, the other turned toward the earth. And this sword was stretching out over the spiritual people—the one the prophet had once foreseen when he said in wonder: Who are these who fly like clouds!✦ and like doves to their windows?✦ For those who have been raised from the earth and set apart from the common people should have lived holy lives, in the dove-like simplicity of character and action.✦ But now they are corrupt in their character and in their actions. And I saw that this sword was cutting down certain places of spiritual people! just as Jerusalem was cut off after the passion of the Lord.✦

A Remnant Preserved and Fire Poured Out

God will preserve many God-fearing, pure, and simple priests in this adversity, as Elijah was preserved a remnant, and the Holy Spirit’s fire is poured out for their conversion.

But I have also seen that God will watch over very many priests who are God-fearing, pure, and simple in this adversity. Just as Elijah answered where he said: that he had left to himself in Israel seven thousand knees of all who are not bowed to Baal. But now the unquenchable fire of the Holy Spirit. so that you may be converted to the better part, he may pour out upon you.

Read the original Latin

Hildegardis. In lecto egritudinis diu iacens anno dominicę incarnationis millesimo centesimo septuagesimo. uidi uigilans corpore et animo pulcherrimam imaginem muliebrem formam habentem. quę electissima in suauitate et carissima in delicijs tantę pulcritudinis erat. ut eam humana mens nequaquam comprehendere ualeret. et cuius statura a terra usque ad celum pertingebat. Facies quoque ipsius maxima claritate effulsit. et oculis suis in celum aspexit.

Candidissima etiam ueste ex albo serico induebatur. et pallio preciosissimis lapidibus scilicet smaragdo saphiro. bachis quoque et margaritis ornato circumdabatur. calciamenta ex onichino circa pedes habens. Sed facies eius puluere aspersa erat. et uestis ipsius in dextro latere scissa fuerat. atque pallium eius elegantem pulcritudinem suam amiserat. et calciamenta ipsius superius denigrata erant.

Et ipsa uoce magna et lugubri. in altitudinem celi clamabat dicens. Audi celum quod facies mea sordidata est. et terra luge quod uestis mea scissa est. et abysse contremisce quod calciamenta mea denigrata sunt. Uuolpes foueas habent et uolucres celi nidos! ego autem adiutorem et consolatorem non habeo. nec baculum super quem incumbam et a quo sustenter.

Et iterum dicebat. Ego in corde patris latui. quousque filius hominis qui in uirginitate conceptus et natus est. sanguinem suum fudit qui etiam cum eodem sanguine me sibi desponsauit et dotauit. quatenus in pura et simplici regeneratione spiritus et aquę contractos et contaminatos a spuma serpentis regenerarem. Nutricij autem mei uidelicet sacerdotes qui faciem meam facere deberent uelut auroram rubere. et uestem meam ut fulgur choruscare ac pallium meum ut preciosos lapides radiare et calciamenta mea ut candorem fulgere. faciem meam puluere consparserunt.

et uestem meam sciderunt. palliumque meum umbrosum fecerunt. et calciamenta mea denigrauerunt! et qui me ubique ornare debuerant me in omnibus his destituerunt. Nam faciem meam per hoc sordidant. quod corpus et sanguinem sponsi mei cum magna immundicia lasciuię morum suorum et magna spurcicia fornicationum et adulteriorum et pessima rapina auaricię uendendo et emendo quęque inconuenientia tractant et accipiunt. atque tanta sorde circumuoluunt uelut si infans in lutum ante porcos poneretur. Sicut enim homo cum deus ipsum de limo terrę fecit et in faciem eius spiraculum uitę inspirauit.

mox caro et sanguis factus est. ita etiam eadem uirtus dei oblationem panis uini et aquę super altare ad uerba sacerdotis diuinitatem inuocantis. in ueram carnem et in uerum sanguinem christi uidelicet sponsi mei transfert! quod tamen propter cecitatem hanc qua homo in casu adę cecatus est. homo carnalibus oculis uidere non potest. Fixura namque uulnerum sponsi mei recens et aperta est. quamdiu uulnera peccatorum hominum patebunt. Hęc eadem uulnera christi sacerdotes qui me candidam facere et mihi in candore seruire deberent.

in nimia auaricia sua de ęcclesijs ad ęcclesias discurrentes contaminant. Vestem quoque meam per hoc scindunt. quoniam preuaricatores legis et ęuangelij ac sacerdotij sui sunt. et pallium meum in hoc obfuscant. quia precepta quę eis instituta sunt per omnia negligunt. nec ea in abstinentia uelut in smaragdo. nec in largitione elemosinarum uelut in saphiro. nec in alijs bonis et iustis operibus quibus deus uelut alijs generibus gemmarum honoratur.

bona uoluntate et perfecto opere complent. Sed et calciamenta mea superius denigrant. quoniam ipsi nec recta scilicet nec dura et aspera iusticię itinera habent. nec bona exempla subditis suis prebent. cum tamen subtus in calciamentis meis quasi in secreto meo candorem ueritatis in aliquibus habeam. Falsi quippe sacerdotes in semetipsis decepti sunt. quoniam honorem sacerdotalis officij sine opere habere uolunt quod esse non potest. quia nulli merces nisi premisso labore operis dabitur.

Ubi autem gratia dei hominem tangit. ibi ipsum operari ut mercedem accipiat facit. Celum itaque uarios dolores qui hominibus contrarij sunt. in ultione dei pluat. et totam terram nebula obtegat. ita ut uiriditas eius arescat. et ornamenta ipsius fusca fiant. abyssus quoque contremiscat.

quoniam in ultione et dolore cum celo et terra in furorem mouebitur. Principes enim et temerarius populus super uos o sacerdotes qui me hactenus neglexistis irruent et uos abicient et fugabunt. et diuitias uestras uobis auferent. pro eo quod tempus sacerdotalis officij uestri non adtendistis. Et de uobis dicent. Adulteros istos et raptores et plenos omni malo. ab ęcclesia eiciamus. Et in hoc facto obsequium deo se exhibuisse uolunt!

quia ęcclesiam per uos pollutam esse dicunt. Vnde scriptura dicit. Quare fremuerunt gentes! et populi meditati sunt inania? Astiterunt reges terrę! et principes conuenerunt in unum. Nam permissione dei super uos in iudicijs suis fremere incipient plurimę gentes et multi populi de uobis meditabuntur inania! cum sacerdotale officium uestrum et consecrationem uestram pro nichilo computabunt.

His assistent in euersione uestra reges terrę cum terrenis rebus inhiabunt. et principes qui uobis dominabuntur conuenient in hoc uno consilio quatenus uos de terminis suis expellant. quoniam innocentem agnum a uobis per pessima opera fugastis. Et audiui uocem de celo dicentem. Imago hęc ęcclesiam demonstrat. Quapropter tu homo quę ista uides et audis plangentia uerba hęc sacerdotibus qui ad regendum et docendum populum dei constituti et ordinati sunt profer! quibus cum apostolis dictum est. Ite in orbem uniuersum!

et predicate ęuangelium omni creaturę. Cum enim deus hominem creauit. omnem creaturam in ipso signauit. quemadmodum in paruo loco membranę tempus et numerus totius anni describitur. Et ideo deus hominem nominauit omnem creaturam. Et iterum ego paupercula feminea forma gladium euaginatum in aere pendentem uidi. cuius acies altera ad celum. altera ad terram uersa erat.

Et gladius iste super spiritalem populum extendebatur quem propheta olim preuiderat cum admirando dicebat. Qui sunt hi qui ut nubes uolant! et quasi columbę ad fenestras suas? Isti etenim qui de terra eleuati et de communi populo separati. sancte uiuere et in columbina simplicitate morum et operum esse debuerunt. nunc praui in moribus et in operibus suis sunt. Et uidi quod gladius iste quędam loca spiritalium hominum abscidebat! quemadmodum ierusalem post passionem domini abscisa est.

Sed tamen etiam uidi quod plurimos timoratos puros et simplices sacerdotes in aduersitate ista sibi deus obseruabit! uelut helię respondit ubi dicebat. quod dereliquisset sibi in israel septem milia uniuersorum genua quę non sunt incuruata baal. Nunc autem inextinguibilis ignis spiritus sancti. ut ad meliorem partem conuertamini uobis infundat.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩Matt.8.20;Luke.9.58 — And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have dens, and the birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." Luke.9.58 — And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head."
  2. ↩Matt.16.13;John.1.51 — Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" John.1.51 — And he said to him, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.'
  3. ↩Luke.22.20 — In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you."
  4. ↩John.3.5 — Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
  5. ↩Matt.17.2;Dan.10.6 — And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his garments became white as the light. Dan.10.6 — His body was like beryl, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and the sound of his words like the roar of a crowd.
  6. ↩Gen.3.19;Job.42.6 — By the sweat of your brow you shall eat bread, until you return to the ground, for from it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return. Job.42.6 — Therefore I despise myself, and I repent in dust and ashes.
  7. ↩Gen.2.7 — Then the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
  8. ↩Gen.2.6 — But a mist would rise from the earth and water the whole surface of the ground.
  9. ↩Ps.2.1 — Why do the nations rage, and the peoples plot in vain?
  10. ↩Ps.2.1 — Why do the nations rage, and the peoples plot in vain?
  11. ↩Ps.2.2 — The kings of the earth take their stand, and the rulers gather together against the LORD and against his Anointed.
  12. ↩Ps.2.2 — The kings of the earth take their stand, and the rulers gather together against the LORD and against his Anointed.
  13. ↩Ps.2.2 — The kings of the earth take their stand, and the rulers gather together against the LORD and against his Anointed.
  14. ↩Ps.2.2 — The kings of the earth take their stand, and the rulers gather together against the LORD and against his Anointed.
  15. ↩John.1.29;Isa.53.7 — The next day he sees Jesus coming toward him and says, "Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" Isa.53.7 — He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; like a lamb led to slaughter, and like a sheep silent before its shearers, so he did not open his mouth.
  16. ↩Mark.16.15;Matt.28.19 — And he said to them, "Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation." Matt.28.19 — Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
  17. ↩Mark.16.15 — And he said to them, "Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation."
  18. ↩Mark.16.15 — And he said to them, "Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation."
  19. ↩Isa.60.8 — Who are these that fly like a cloud, and like doves to their windows?
  20. ↩Isa.60.8 — Who are these that fly like a cloud, and like doves to their windows?
  21. ↩Matt.10.16 — Look, I am sending you out as sheep among wolves; therefore be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.
  22. ↩Luke.19.41-Luke.19.44 — And as he drew near, when he saw the city, he wept over it, Luke.19.42 — saying, "If only you had known on this day, even you, the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes." Luke.19.43 — For the days will come upon you when your enemies will build a barricade against you, surround you, and hem you in on every side. Luke.19.44 — and they will dash you to the ground, and your children within you, and they will not leave upon you stone upon stone, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.

Notes

  1. 1 ↩The Latin quousque introduces a question or exclamation of duration ('how long?'). The sentence is syntactically incomplete as a standalone — it reads as the beginning of a longer clause — but is rendered here as a complete rhetorical question, which best captures the prophetic lament.
  2. 2 ↩The bridal mysticism language (desponsauit et dotauit) draws on the tradition of Christ as Bridegroom and the soul (or Church) as Bride, echoing Hosea, Ephesians 5, and the Song of Songs.
  3. 3 ↩Regeneratione spiritus et aquae echoes John 3:5 ('born of water and the Spirit'). Spuma serpentis is a vivid image for the devil's corruption, drawing on Genesis 3 and apocalyptic serpent imagery.
  4. 4 ↩Nutricij (nourishers/foster-fathers) is rendered as 'nourishers' to preserve the metaphor of priests as those who should spiritually feed and form the speaker. Uelut auroram rubere evokes the dawn's red glow, suggesting the radiant holiness priests ought to reflect.
  5. 5 ↩The ut clauses here are ironic or accusatory in context: the priests were supposed to make these things radiant through holiness, but instead they have done the opposite (see s8). The gleaming garments may also echo the transfigured Christ (Matt 17:2) or the bride's adornment in the Song of Songs.
  6. 6 ↩The contrast with s7 is stark: instead of radiant beauty, the priests have brought defilement. Dust evokes mortality, humiliation, and the fall (Gen 3:19).
  7. 7 ↩The Latin forms lasciuię, spurcicia, auarici, and quęque show textual difficulties; the translation follows the most plausible intended sense of each.
  8. 8 ↩Allusion to Genesis 2:7 (God forming man from dust and breathing the breath of life). Final resolution deferred to Moses stage.
  9. 9 ↩The syntax is compressed: the power of God is said to act upon the oblation through the priest's words. The Latin lacks a finite verb in the clause, reading more as a participial/absolute construction; rendered here as a declarative statement to preserve coherence.
  10. 10 ↩The sentence is grammatically incomplete in the Latin, breaking off after 'deberent'. It reads as the beginning of a relative clause whose main clause is missing — likely continuing into the next section. Rendered here as a fragment to reflect the source.
  11. 11 ↩iusticię: manuscript form; lemma and gender uncertain, rendered as 'justice' following the most plausible reading.
  12. 12 ↩cum + tamen read concessive: 'although'.
  13. 13 ↩ut rendered as purpose ('so as to'); result reading ('so that he receives') also possible. Chosen purpose to align with the logic of divine causation: God moves the person to work in order that the reward may be received.
  14. 14 ↩hominibus is ambiguous between dative ('to/for men') and ablative ('by/with men'). Rendered as dative of reference ('set against humanity') to convey that these pains are opposed to human welfare.
  15. 15 ↩pluat is jussive/optative subjunctive, rendered as an imperative-like petition: 'let it rain.' This continues the prophetic tone of divine judgment.
  16. 16 ↩obtegat is jussive/optative subjunctive, continuing the prophetic petition series.
  17. 17 ↩arescat is jussive/optative subjunctive; ut after ita marks result.
  18. 18 ↩fiant is jussive/optative subjunctive, continuing the prophetic petition series.
  19. 19 ↩contremiscat is jussive/optative subjunctive, rendered as a direct petition.
  20. 20 ↩meditabuntur inania: the passive of meditor here carries the sense of plotting or devising vain things against someone; rendered as 'meditate vanities' to preserve the echo of Psalm 2:1.
  21. 21 ↩cum here is likely temporal ('when') with a causal undercurrent; the sense is 'at the time when / given that' your office is treated as worthless.

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