R43: Heinrich von Frankreich an Hildegard von Rupertsberg
Greeting to Hildegard
The bishop of Béez sends a formal greeting to Hildegard, the beloved mistress of the sisters on the mountain of Saint Robert of Bingen.
The bishop of Béez. To Hildegard. Henry, by the grace of God, of Béez — called bishop in name only! To Hildegard, beloved mistress of the sisters on the mountain of Saint Robert of Bingen.
Blessing and Fragrance of Mercy
A sinner's prayer rises, blessing God who anointed Hildegard with mercy so that many may be drawn to devotion through her.
If a sinner's prayer has any power at all in a broken and humbled spirit — Blessed is the Lord, who has blessed you with every spiritual blessing! So that in the fragrance of the ointment with which God anointed you with the oil of his mercy, through you, the devotion of many in distant parts of the world may be drawn to him.
Consolation in a Troubled Age
The writer finds great consolation in God's favor toward Hildegard and trusts in Christ's mercy through her merits and prayers.
For God's gracious regard toward you is clearly seen. And it's a great consolation to me, a sinner weighed down by the whirlwinds of this age. Even though I'm far from you in body, I'm not far from you in mind. For we're confident, without a doubt, that through your merits and prayers Christ's mercy lies open to everyone. The help of your prayers for those who faithfully seek it.
Humble Prayer from Afar
Distrusting his own conscience and works, he humbly begs Hildegard to implore the Lord's forgiveness for his sins.
Therefore, we distrust our own conscience. Having no confidence in our own actions for obtaining salvation. Through the love of the Holy Spirit, we beseech you from distant lands.
Appeal for a Consoling Reply
He asks Hildegard to write back with consolation and admonition, trusting God to satisfy the longing of his heart.
Ask the Lord to forgive our sins through your prayers. And your beloved self should not find it burdensome to write back to us with whatever comfort or warning our salvation requires, however small. He himself, who can do all things — and from whom no thought escapes — may he deign to satisfy the longing of our heart according to his own good pleasure, through his own prayers.
Read the original Latin
Episcopus de beuez. hildegardi. Heinricus dei gratia de beuez solo nomine uocatus episcopus! hildegardi dilectę magistrę sororum in monte sancti roberti de pingis! si quid in spiritu contrito et humiliato ualet peccatoris oratio. Benedictus dominus qui benedixit te omni benedictione spirituali! ita ut in odore unguenti quo unxit te deus unctione misericordię suę. trahatur etiam per te in longinquis partibus mundi multorum deuotio.
Nam manifesta dei circa te dignatio. mihi peccatori ac turbinibus seculi grauato magna est consolatio! quamuis a te corpore sed non mente plurimum remoto. Confidimus enim sine dubio meritis ac precibus tuis christi misericordiam patere cunctis! auxilium orationum tuarum fideliter quęrentibus. Nos igitur proprię conscientię diffidentia. nullam in actibus nostris adipiscendę salutis habentes confidentiam! per caritatem sancti spiritus te obsecramus in remotis regionibus.
ut orationibus tuis indulgentiam peccatis nostris implores a domino. Preterea quantulamcumque consolationem seu admonitionem saluti nostrę necessaria nobis rescribere non pigeat tuam dilectionem. Ipse autem qui omnia potest. et quem nulla latet cogitatio. secundum beneplacitum suum precibus suis satisfacere dignetur cordis nostri desiderio.
Epistolae: Letters to Frederick Barbarossa and Henry II of England companion
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